For two days the Senate has debated amendments to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. At last, it is through the Senate, heading back to the House. Hats off to Senator Barbara Mulkulski who led the way on the Senate floor.
Of course, nothing is simple in the Senate. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) was among those who introduced what she called a substitute for the Littly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, that would have limited the time to file suit to within 180 days from the time the employee knew or should have known that she (he) was being discriminated against. There was much discussion, but finally a majority voted that the “or should have known” wording would leave a loophole large enough to drive a truck through. The Hitchison amendment or substitute was voted down.
Senator Jim DeMent (R-SC) tried to insert a “right to work” clause into the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, although it was off topic and should be handled as a separate issue on another day, if Senator DeMent should choose to bring a bill to the floor. The amendment would have established “right to work” laws for all states. The Senate voted to kill the amendment 67 – 30.
Senator Isakson (R-GA) introduced an amendment to make the law take effect on the date of enactment and prevent the act from being retroactive. The amendment was killed by a vote of 59 to 38.
Senator David Vitter (R-LA) introduced an amendment that according to Vitter would allow non-union members and companies to bid on government contracts, would allow open competition and equal opportunity for all companies to obtain government contracts. The idea sounded good… although misstated, but had nothing to do with wage discrimination or the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Again, it must be noted that some of the amendments had nothing to do with the issue on the floor. The Vitter amendment was defeated 59-38.
After much discussion and two days of haggling over words and wording, and the occasional off-topic amendment today the Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The vote on S. 181 was successfully adopted by a vote of 61-36. Sixty votes were needed for passage.
Thank you Senator Barbara Mulkulski for steering the act through the Senate and for doing a wonderful job for women across the nation.
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