It has been a year since the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act and we must demand that the Senate quit stalling and support a bill to restore our rights. Although opponents of women's fair pay have implied that the House-passed bill has "gone too far," they couldn't be more wrong.
As we promote the Senate version of the bill, the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), we must remind our Senators that the proposed Act is really quite simple - it does nothing new and simply gives women back the decades-old enforcement rights that the Supreme Court took away from them last year!
In the Senate, the fair pay bill has had a tumultuous year. After a Senate committee hearing on S. 1843 in January, the Senate leadership hoped to expedite fair pay restoration by bringing the House-passed version of the bill directly to the Senate floor in April. But Senate conservatives campaigned against the bill, demanding that the Senate consider another version that had been introduced directly into the Senate, and that they have hearings with an opportunity for discussion and amendments.
The 57 yes votes for the Senate version of the bill weren't enough to stop the Republican filibuster and close debate, so now we must get more sponsors and supporters for the Senate bill before any further Senate action can be taken this fall.
ACT NOW to get more Senate sponsors
On Thursday, July 17th, supporters of fair pay for women gathered for a rally and press event on the Senate side of the Capitol in the "Senate Swamp" along with Lily Ledbetter herself, Kim Gandy, President of NOW, and dozens of supportive senators and Congresswomen, including Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi.
These leaders stood together to demand fair pay, and now we must join them to build support for the Senate bill -- send a message now, and also plan to contact your senators when they come back to your state for their August recess.
Call and email your Senators now and demand fair pay for women!
Call now - (202) 224-3121 - and ask for each of your senators' offices in turn, and tell them you want the senator to suppoer the Lilly Ledbetter fair Pay Act in the Senate.
