Late last month, Grand Rapids area Congressional Representative Vern Ehlers voted against legislation in the US House of Representatives that is designed to address disparities in pay based on gender. The bill–which passed by a vote of 247 to 178–was supported by all Michigan Democrats and opposed by all of the state’s Republicans.
While Republicans have criticized the bill for allegedly being a “gift” to trial lawyers who support the Democrats, the bill is designed to address longstanding disparities in pay. Republicans criticized the measure saying that trial lawyers will benefit from provisions that allow people to sue for discrimination and also criticized it because they say that current laws are adequate to gender pay disparities.
However, since the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, disparities have persisted. Think Progress reports that numerous disparities continue to exist. Women currently earn 77 cents to every dollar that men make. It has also grown for unmarried women, who earn only 56 cents for every dollar that men make.
The legislation–which is by no means perfect–increases penalties for gender-based discrimination. It also makes gender-based discrimination as serious of an offense as discrimination based on race, age, or ability and allows women to file lawsuits for compensatory and punitive damages.
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