In a victory for pay equity, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed in the House of Representatives on January 9th and in the Senate on January 22nd. President Obama has expressed his support for the bill and is expected to sign it in the coming weeks. Women Work! extends its congratulations to Ms. Ledbetter and the thousands of fair pay advocates who have worked so hard to make the bill's passage a reality.
 
The Ledbetter Act passed easily in the House, as it did in 2007, but the Senate was more of a challenge. Due to great momentum and leadership, however, the Senate was able to knock down several amendments that would weaken the bill and ultimately passed the legislation 61 to 36 (see how your Senators voted here).

The Ledbetter Act would provide legislative redress for a 2007 Supreme Court decision that made it extremely difficult for victims of pay discrimination to fight for their rights. The Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, that victims must file a suit against their employer within six months of the initial decision to discriminate - an unrealistic standard, given that many workers cannot know within that short timeframe that they are being treated unfairly. The Ledbetter Act would clarify the 1964 Civil Rights Act to state that employees have six months after their last discriminatory paycheck - that is, the last time they were paid unfairly based on a discriminatory decision - to file a suit.

When President Obama signs the Ledbetter Act, victims of pay discrimination will regain the rights they had prior to the Supreme Court's decision. Although this is an important correction of injustice and a legislative victory, real progress toward pay equity remains to be won. It is therefore essential for advocates to keep pushing for equal pay legislation - starting with the Paycheck Fairness Act, which was also passed by the House on January 9th. This bill, which has also been introduced in the Senate, would help close the gender wage gap by strengthening the government's enforcement efforts and encouraging employers to review their pay practices, among other provisions (read more here).

Stay tuned to the Insider as Women Work! continues to push for progress on pay equity in the 111th Congress.

The House Appropriations Committee recently released its proposal for the national economic recovery package. The House American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) would fund many programs that aid women, families, and workers. However, Women Work! is concerned that it contains no provisions to ensure women's access to many of the high-paying jobs that would be created as a result of investment in transportation, infrastructure, and green building.
 
Among the programs funded by the Appropriations Committee's bill, the following amounts would be allocated:
These are all programs that have great potential to help low-income women and families weather the economic crisis and Women Work! strongly supports their inclusion in the package.
 
ARRA would also allocate billions of dollars for job creation in the fields of transportation, infrastructure, and green building. Many of the jobs that would be created are nontraditional for women, leading to concerns that women would not have equal access to those jobs.

Women's lack of access to high-paying nontraditional jobs is rooted in many factors, including sex discrimination, lack of awareness, and lack of appropriate education and training. For this reason, advocates have called on President Obama and Congress to include specific provisions that would ensure women's access to these jobs. Click here to read the letter crafted by the National Coalition for Women and Job Training and signed by 128 organizations.
 
A leading voice in Congress for women's employment concerns in the economic recovery legislation has been Representative Jared Polis (D-CO). Read his statement on priorities for ARRA here.
 
Women Work! will continue to advocate for policies that aid women in obtaining nontraditional employment in the economic recovery and will keep you updated as the Senate releases its version of the legislation.