House Committee Advances Pay Bias Legislation

The House labor committee Feb. 26 approved legislation designed to close the gender pay gap, clearing a path for a full chamber vote on what is a key part to the Democrat’s economic policy agenda.

The Committee on Education and Labor voted in favor of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7, S. 270) along party lines.

The legislation would tackle wage discrimination “by requiring employers to prove that gender-based pay disparities are based on bona fide job-related factors such as education, training, or experience that is consistent with business necessity, rather than on unrelated factors that mask discrimination,” Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said. “It eliminates barriers that prohibit workers from discussing their wage or salary levels.”

The committee vote followed a sometimes testy debate between panel Democrats and Republicans. GOP lawmakers said the bill would “restrict” employers and make it easier for plaintiffs’ attorneys to pursue lawsuits of “questionable validity.”

“This is a bill for trial lawyers. It charts no path toward a greater sense of fairness,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.), the committee’s top Republican, said. “It simply provides a roadmap for driving lawsuits deeper into the court system. It provides no new protections, just new ways to increase billable hours and attorney paydays that don’t guarantee any reward for working women.”

The bill, which has been introduced consistently since the 1990s, is anticipated to pass the Democratic-controlled House but stall in the GOP-led Senate.

The partisan divide over the measure was on full display in a recent subcommittee hearing. Some Republicans called it “unworkable.” Democrats say the proposal combats pay disparities among those doing the same job.

The Feb. 26 meeting was the committee’s first markup of legislation since Democrats took control of the panel in January.

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