Paycheck Fairness Act Fails to Advance in the Senate
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Architect of the Capitol(WASHINGTON) — As expected the Paycheck Fairness Act failed over a party line vote of 52-47, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward in the Senate on Tuesday.
Described as being “the next step” in bringing the Lily Ledbetter law “up to date,” the Paycheck Fairness Act would have attempted to close loopholes that still exist that keep women earning less than men for the same work.
Not a single Republican voted for the bill. Republicans were against the bill because they believe that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 already have broad coverage over paycheck fairness.
They believe the Paycheck Fairness Act would have allowed the government to “second-guess” employee wages and encourage lawsuits. They also point out that the bill would violate employee privacy by allowing employees to reveal their colleagues wages or salaries and that that the bill could also eliminate employee pay incentive programs, because such programs, by design, pay some workers more than others.
Senate Democrats vowed to keep fighting to get this bill passed.
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