“On April 14, Equal Pay Day, I stood with women all across New York to offer my support. Today, I continued fighting for full women’s equality by supporting measures that will ensure equal pay for equal work for all women across New York State. The notion that two people, with the same skill set, undertaking the same work are compensated differently because of their gender is not only disconcerting but outright deplorable.

“Today’s legislative package includes legislation that will enforce pay equity, broaden equal pay protections and ensure traditional female and minority jobs are not undervalued. The package also improves transparency by removing loopholes to help ensure women receive the wages they are owed and protects employees from retaliation for sharing wage information.

“There is no reason why, in 2015, women should continue to make an average of 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, with minority women earning even less. Equal pay for equal work is long overdue, and I remain committed to fighting for true pay equality so we can put an end to the gender wage gap once and for all.”