Pay Discrimination Bill Under Veto Threat As It Heads to the House Floor
The House of Representatives will vote today on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (HR 2831), an anti-discrimination bill which the President threatened to veto last Friday.
The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would overturn the recent Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire. In May, the Court ruled that pay discrimination charges under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act must be filed within 180 days after the initial discriminatory pay decision takes place. The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would clarify that an employee has 180 days to file a pay discrimination claim after each time the worker receives a discriminatorily low paycheck.
Pay discrepancies frequently emerge over a period of years and employees often do not have access to information about how they are paid compared to their co-workers. In addition, female employees may not come forward right away because of fear of retaliation—especially in male-dominated work environments. The Ledbetter bill reflects the realities of wage discrimination: giving workers a fair chance to confront unlawful conduct, while holding employers more accountable for their actions.
The House is expected to vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act later TODAY.
Because the President has threatened a veto, it is important that the bill pass with a large margin of victory—not just a simple majority.
Tell your Representative to Vote YES on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Call or Email TODAY!
Tell your Representative:
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Also last week, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) along with twenty-four additional original co-sponsors introduced a companion pay discrimination bill in the Senate. The Fair Pay Restoration Act (S 1843) has been referred to the Senate HELP Committee for consideration.
Senate Passes Second Higher Education Bill
On Tuesday July 25th, the Senate passed its second package of changes to the Higher Education Act by an overwhelmingly positive 95 to 0 vote. The Higher Education Act of 2007, is a long-term, five-year reauthorization, renewing numerous education programs under the current Higher Education Act.
This broad rewriting of higher education law is intended to accompany a more narrowly targeted student financial aid package (HR 2669) that passed the Senate two weeks ago. The House has also passed a student aid bill— the College Cost Reduction Act —but has not yet begun drafting a full reauthorization package.
The Senate's Higher Education Act of 2007 would, among other things:
- Impose new reporting requirements for tuition and cost of attendance.
- Create a “Higher Education Price Increase Watch List” that would rank institutions by a still-to-be-determined “price index.”
- Streamline the application process for requesting federal student aid.
- Redesign the Leveraging Educational Partnership program to strengthen partnerships between the states and institutions to bolster graduation and persistence.
- Require institutions to publish their policies regarding the transfer of academic credit.
(Source: American Council on Education)
The bill also renews the CAMPIS (Child Care Means Parents In School) program, which supports on-campus child care for postsecondary students.
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