Paycheck Fairness Act Blocked Again: Senate Republicans Prevent Enactment For The 4th Time By A Vote of 52 to 40; Oppose Equal Pay Measures For Women [PHOTO]
The Huffington Post reports that Senate Republicans blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act for the 4th time this past Monday. The bill would have strengthened federal equal pay laws for women, and fell short by a vote of 52 to 40.
According to MSNBC, President Obama backed the act, and Republicans have voted against it since 2012. If enacted, it would have gone far in order to ban employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with one another, impose harsher penalties for pay discrimination, and require employers to show that wage gaps between men and women are based on factors besides gender.
MSNBC reports that Republicans say they oppose the bill because it makes it easier to sue corporations over allegations of pay inequity and encourages frivolous lawsuits. For them, blocking the act was like choosing a lesser evil - it would have eaten up Senate floor time as well as disrupted planned votes on raising the minimum wage and responding to the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby contraception decision.
Furthermore, Republicans blame the bill's blocking on Democrats, saying that a "show vote" was being staged assuming the bill wouldn't pass. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) stated, "...It's just another Democratic idea that threatens to hurt the very people that it claims to help," conveying the possibility that the act would have also discouraged employers from hiring women.
However, many feel that blocking the act wasn't the right choice. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) said, "The wage gap not only hurts our families, it hurts the economy...if it were reversed, I'd be standing here fighting for the men. It's not right."
Democratic National Committee Chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz added, "Once again, Republicans refused to join with Democrats to ensure that women are paid fairly and that they have the legal tools they need to fight pay discrimination when it occurs. Some GOP Senators have even gone beyond opposing the legislation to belittling the very idea of voting on Paycheck Fairness, calling it a waste of time, and a show vote," conveying the idea that Republicans put partisanship before their country's people.
According to the Huffington Post, Republicans have recently been trying to engage with women voters. However, their opposition to equal pay measures is currently hurting them in campaigns.