Senator Roland Burris supports National Equal Pay Day, co-sponsors Paycheck Fairness Act

Today is National Equal Pay Day, a fact that has nearly been lost amidst swine flu, ill-conceived flights by escorted planes over NYC, Senator Bunning grandstanding against Governor Kathleen Sebelius' nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the nation rocking announcement by Senator Arlen Specter that he is converting to Democrat.

However, considering that the original legislation intended to equalize pay between men and women was passed in 1963 and women still only earn on average 78 cents to a man's dollar, it's a day we can't afford to overlook.

Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) hasn't forgotten. Today, he made a floor speech in support of Equal Pay Day, and announced his co-sponsorship of the Paycheck Fairness Act. According to Burris' press release, this Act is ". . .the first significant update to the landmark legislation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The bill, S. 182, would encourage employers to follow the law by creating substantial incentives, strengthening penalties for equal pay violations, and aligning it more closely with other civil rights legislation: closing loopholes, prohibiting employer retaliation, improving federal outreach and strengthening enforcement."

Specifically, some of the loopholes closing include:

• tougher criteria and requirements that employers prove that the difference in compensation is exclusively to related to job performance, and is not based on a sex of the employee.
• to clarify and determine whether compensation is fair and not different based on sex, compensation comparisons can be made between employees even if they do not work at the same physical place of business.

Senator Burris, in his Senate floor speech explained why he is co-sponsoring the bill, "Over the course of a 40-year career, women could lose as much as one million dollars to the gender age gap. Nationwide that means roughly $200 billion of lost income every single year. With families across America tightening their belts and working harder than ever to make ends meet, it would be a serious failure on the part of this Congress to ignore this call to action. With this in mind, we must move swiftly to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act."

Consider that more carefully: women could lose as much as one million dollars to the gender age gap. Nationwide that means roughly $200 billion of lost income every single year.

Therefore, while it is true that the 2007 number is up slightly (1 cent) from the 2006 number, as Senator Burris said, "Even in my own lifetime, I have seen changes few could have imagined. But, for all the progress we have made, there is still a very long way to go."

The legislation does not include a projected timeline to close the pay gap, but Senator Burris is clear that he feels the time is overdue.

Comments

[Paycheck]

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