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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2009
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Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office) |
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HOLT JOINS HOUSE IN PASSING EQUAL PAY BILLS
Paycheck Fairness Act and Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Pass With Bipartisan Support
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(Washington, DC) – With Rep. Rush Holt’s (NJ-12) support, the House of Representatives today passed two bills to help ensure pay equity between men and women. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on average, women only make 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and close loopholes that allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would respond to the Ledbetter v. Goodyear ruling of the Supreme Court, which fundamentally weakened fair pay and employment protections that employees enjoyed for over 40 years since passage of the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear set a precedent that employees only are entitled to protection from wage discrimination if they can discover that they are being treated unfairly and take legal action to correct it within 180 days. The legislation would clarify that every paycheck or other compensation resulting from an earlier discriminatory pay decision constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
“We must level the playing field and ensure fair opportunities for women in education and the workplace,” Holt said. “The wage gap is not just a women's issue -- it is a family issue. When women earn less for equal work, families are forced to do more with less. Affording all of life's expenses is challenging enough -- it should not be made harder as a result of women being shortchanged on payday.”
The two measures are among the first to be considered by the 111th Congress. Both bills passed the House last session, but failed to clear the Senate. President-Elect Obama has indicated his strong support for both bills.
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