A signature piece of election-year Democratic legislation that would make equal pay for equal work among state contract workers the law in Colorado passed in the House and is headed to the Senate, where it is unlikely to ever reach the chamber floor.

It’s the latest in the main narrative of 2016’s divided Legislature so far — the seesaw of Democratic bills being killed in the Senate and of Republican bills being killed in the House.

House Bill 1001, by Reps. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, was cosponsored by every House Democrat. It would require companies contracted and subcontracted to work for the state to follow federal equal-pay laws. It would also require those companies to keep employee data, including pay rates, broken down by gender and race.

The bill was rolled out by Democrats at the end of January along with several other bills aimed at closing wage gaps. It passed on second reading Tuesday on a party-line vote.

Buckner and Danielson were optimistic about the bill’s future, but the fight mounted by Republicans in the House told a different story.

“I’m hopeful my colleagues across the aisle in the other chamber will take the lead of other states across the country that have passed these type of equal-pay measures with bipartisan support,” Danielson said. “When I go back into my district, which is pretty purple, equal pay for equal work, specifically equal pay in state contacts, is something I get support from Republicans, independents and Democrats alike. I really believe the folks outside of the building across the state are very much in favor of seeing a law like this passed, regardless of their party.”

Opponents argued the bill would expose proprietary company information, that it would lead to an avalanche of lawsuits and that it would tie up businesses with the work of reviewing the employment practices of countless subcontractors.

Rep. Kit Roupe, R-Colorado Springs, said pay inequity was a real issue but that the bill would fail to fix the system.

“We have to go back and look at what is the right solution to the problem,” Roupe said.

It’s little secret in the Capitol that gender politics could play big in this year’s elections, especially if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump top the party tickets.

“I know for a fact from all the people I talk to in my House district — independents, even some of my neighbors who are Republicans — they’ve been emailing me because they love this bill,” Buckner said. “Equal pay to me shouldn’t be about color lines or economic lines. In this election year, in my opinion, this would be for everyone, and our research is showing that.”

-Ramsey@coloradostatesman.com