Senate Republicans blocked a bill Tuesday addressing the alleged gender pay gap pay, the second time the party successfully used the filibuster under the Biden administration.
The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would mandate that employers prove that any pay gap between a man and a woman was a result of job performance as opposed to gender, was voted 49-50 by Senators, shy of the 60 votes need to pass.
Employers would also have been barred from retaliating against their employees for comparing salaries and from asking job applicants about their salary histories during the hiring process.
The bill would have required the Labor Department to create a grant program to assist women and girls in developing negotiation skills.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said of current law surrounding instances when a man makes more than a woman at the same company:
Right now an employer can brush aside reports of pay discrimination by saying things like 'Well, he was a better negotiator' or 'They work in different buildings.' I mean, what does that have to do with it?
The bill passed the House in a 217-210 vote in April but needed bipartisan support in an evenly divided Senate. The legislation needed at least 10 Republicans to pass through the Chamber.
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Republicans oppose the legislation because, as they say, it is unnecessary due to anti-discrimination already in place.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told POLITICO:
I don’t think it’s a good bill. We have three statutes on the books that don’t allow pay discrepancy today. We need a fourth one?
This marks the second successful filibuster by Republicans under President Joe Biden, with the first coming in late May as Republicans blocked a Jan. 6 commission bill from advancing.
House Education and Labor Chair Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said the Republicans' usage of the filibuster to prevent the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act was evidence that it needs to be ended.
When something as simple as ‘equal pay for equal work’ cannot break through Republican obstruction, it is obvious something needs to change.
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