A bill meant to help close the wage gap between men and women failed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday as expected.
The Paycheck Fairness Act earned 52 votes in favor of proceeding to final consideration short of the 60 votes necessary. Senate Republicans voted en masse against the measure believing that it could adversely affect businesses if employees attempt to file pay-related lawsuits.
But Democratic senators spent the hours before the vote speaking about why the legislation is needed to protect women concerned with having lower pay rates than their male colleagues. No Republican lawmaker discussed the issue on the Senate floor ahead of Tuesdays vote.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) the bills chief sponsor noted that when compared to the compensation of male workers womens pay has climbed an average of 18 cents in 49 years.
In 1963 we made 59 cents for every dollar that men made. Now its 77 cents" she said. What does that mean? It means every five years we make an advancement of one penny. Oh no. No more. Were not just going to take it anymore."
But any effort to close the gap through legislation will have to wait a bit longer.
Before the vote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed the legislations purpose saying Weve got a lot of problems. Not enough lawsuits is not a problem."
The paycheck bill would have barred companies from retaliating against workers who inquire about pay disparities and permit employees to sue for punitive damages if they find evidence of broad differences in compensation between male and female workers. Democrats said the measure would have bolstered reforms enacted with the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter pay law that expanded the statute of limitations for filing equal-pay lawsuits.
President Obamas reelection campaign and Senate Democrats intend to use the bills failure as part of an ongoing push to paint congressional Republicans as hostile to womens interests Democratic aides have said. The strategy is part of an increasingly common practice in Congress of moving legislation aimed solely at producing political results. For House Republicans the strategy means votes to roll back parts of the Obama 2010 health-care reform bill or votes to highlight concerns with gasoline prices.
The Democratic strategy of focusing on legislation tied to womens rights may be working: A CNN-ORC poll released last week found that voters are generally split on whether to support Democratic or Republican congressional candidates. Among women the gap is wider: Fifty percent of female respondents said they plan to back Democratic congressional candidates an eight-point lead over the GOP.
A bill meant to help close the wage gap between men and women failed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday as expected.
The Paycheck Fairness Act earned 52 votes in favor of proceeding to final consideration short of the 60 votes necessary. Senate Republicans voted en masse against the measure believing that it could adversely affect businesses if employees attempt to file pay-related lawsuits.
But Democratic senators spent the hours before the vote speaking about why the legislation is needed to protect women concerned with having lower pay rates than their male colleagues. No Republican lawmaker discussed the issue on the Senate floor ahead of Tuesdays vote.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) the bills chief sponsor noted that when compared to the compensation of male workers womens pay has climbed an average of 18 cents in 49 years.
In 1963 we made 59 cents for every dollar that men made. Now its 77 cents" she said. What does that mean? It means every five years we make an advancement of one penny. Oh no. No more. Were not just going to take it anymore."
But any effort to close the gap through legislation will have to wait a bit longer.
Before the vote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed the legislations purpose saying Weve got a lot of problems. Not enough lawsuits is not a problem."
The paycheck bill would have barred companies from retaliating against workers who inquire about pay disparities and permit employees to sue for punitive damages if they find evidence of broad differences in compensation between male and female workers. Democrats said the measure would have bolstered reforms enacted with the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter pay law that expanded the statute of limitations for filing equal-pay lawsuits.
President Obamas reelection campaign and Senate Democrats intend to use the bills failure as part of an ongoing push to paint congressional Republicans as hostile to womens interests Democratic aides have said. The strategy is part of an increasingly common practice in Congress of moving legislation aimed solely at producing political results. For House Republicans the strategy means votes to roll back parts of the Obama 2010 health-care reform bill or votes to highlight concerns with gasoline prices.
The Democratic strategy of focusing on legislation tied to womens rights may be working: A CNN-ORC poll released last week found that voters are generally split on whether to support Democratic or Republican congressional candidates. Among women the gap is wider: Fifty percent of female respondents said they plan to back Democratic congressional candidates an eight-point lead over the GOP.
