Bush: ‘What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?’

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) appeared completely unfamiliar with a major bill aimed at eliminating the wage gap between men and women when he was asked about the measure this week.

The potential 2016 presidential candidate was asked about the Paycheck Fairness Act at a campaign event for Terri Lynn Land, the Republican running for Senate in Michigan. Asked if Land should support the bill, Bush gave the impression that he had never heard of it.

{mosads}“What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?” Bush asked, in an exchange captured by the liberal opposition research outfit American Bridge.

Once the man he was speaking with defined it as a bill that would help women receive “equal pay for equal work,” Bush took issue with his phrasing.

“Equal pay for the same work, not for equal work — I think that’s the problem with it. I think there’s a definition issue,” he said, before declining to say whether or not he thought Land should support the legislation.

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Senate Democrats have pushed the act as one way to close the wage gap. It provides greater legal protections for workers who participate in an investigation into their employer’s pay practices or disclosed their wages to a colleague. The measure died after it was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

A Gallup poll released this week found that almost 4 in 10 Americans believe that the wage gap is the most important issue facing working women.