Women Work! The National Network for Women's Employment
January 28, 2008

In This Issue
Members of Congress Dive into Economic Stimulus After Returning from Holiday Break
Senate Holds Hearing on Fair Pay Restoration Act
Advocacy Toolkit: Using Data and Telling Stories
Congress Sets Poverty Goal
Quick Links
 
 

Members of Congress Dive into Economic Stimulus After Returning from Holiday Break

After many weeks of holiday recess, the full Congress resumed this past Tuesday, diving quickly into work on major legislation to prevent an economic recession.

On Thursday, House leaders announced that they had reached a deal with the White House, outlining a $150 billion economic stimulus package that would include tax cuts for businesses and rebate checks for workers (including those who do not pay income taxes) -- but not the extension of unemployment benefits or temporary boost in food stamps that economic justice groups had advocated. 

In addition to helping women, men and families most in need, the Congressional Budget Office has found that boosting food stamps and unemployment insurance would start injecting more dollars into the economy within one to two months.  The rebate checks, in contrast, will not take effect until June.

The deal is not yet final, however.  Any stimulus package will need to be approved by the Senate where prominent Members are pressing to expand the House package.  Several Senators would increase food stamp benefits and temporarily extend unemployment insurance beyond the standard 26 weeks, while others want more tax benefits for small businesses.

Both chambers and the White House are trying to complete work on a stimulus package before February 15th, when Congress is scheduled to break for its President's Day recess.


Senate Holds Hearing on Fair Pay Restoration Act

The Senate held a hearing on Thursday on the Fair Pay Restoration Act, a bill to overturn last year's 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in the pay discrimination case Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire.  The Court's ruling requires that discrimination charges under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act be filed within 180 days after the initial discriminatory pay decision takes place. The Fair Pay Restoration Act would clarify that an employee has 180 days to file a pay discrimination claim after each time the worker receives a discriminatorily low paycheck.

Lily Ledbetter, the plaintiff in the case, worked for nineteen years as a supervisor at an Alabama Goodyear plant. Initially, her salary was comparable to the salaries of men performing the same work, but it fell 15 to 40 percent behind her male counterparts after successive discriminatory evaluations and percentage-based pay adjustments. Near the end of her career, Goodyear was paying Ledbetter only $3,727 per month, while compensating the lowest-paid male in her same position at $4,286 per month. Last May, however, the Supreme Court threw out Ledbetter's pay discrimination claim because she filed her case more than 180 days after Goodyear unlawfully decided to pay her less -- even though she continued to receive discriminatorily low paychecks at the time.

During the Senate hearing, several witnesses -- including Lily Ledbetter herself -- stressed that the Court's decision was out of step with workers' experiences and pointed to the Fair Pay Restoration Act as a way to bring pay discrimination policy in line with realities of the workplace.  As law professor Samuel Bagenstos noted, "Many employers prohibit their employees from discussing how much they are paid with their coworkers.  And even in the absence of an employer policy, many employees are unwilling to discuss their wages with their co-workers.  As a result, a victim of pay discrimination is unlikely to know right away that other employees were paid more than she was."

In addition, Margot Dorfman, CEO of the US Women's Chamber of Commerce questioned business opposition to the Fair Pay Restoration Act, arguing that while the Supreme Court's ruling gives an unfair advantage to employers who "skirt the rules," Fair Pay Restoration rewards those who "play fair."

The Fair Pay Restoration Act currently has 32 co-sponsors in the Senate.  The House passed its version of the bill this summer.

Stay tuned:  Women Work! will be sending an Action Works! alert soon, letting you know how you can help move the Fair Pay Restoration Act forward in the Senate and protect women's rights to stand up for fair pay.

Advocacy Toolkit: Using Data and Telling Stories
 
An effective advocate must be able to make her point clearly and persuasively. Using data and telling stories are two tactics that can help you get your message across to policymakers and the public. In this month's advocacy tool, you will learn how to effectively use quantitative and qualitative information in your advocacy work.

Advocacy Toolkit Section 6: Using Data/Telling Stories

Updated Table of Contents

Appendix 1: Interview Questions for Compiling Client Success Stories

Appendix 2: Sample Success Story

The Advocacy Toolkit is designed to give Women Work! members all the skills they need to be successful advocates for women's economic justice and equality.

Women Work! will release a new installment of the Advocacy Toolkit in the first Economic Equity Insider of every month until July 2008. Each month, download and print the latest tool-including templates and sample documents you can customize for your own advocacy projects -- to produce a complete toolkit. We have also provided a cover and a table of contents that will be updated each month as we add new tools to the toolkit.

Visit www.womenwork.org to download earlier installments of the Women Work! Advocacy Toolkit.

 
Congress Sets Poverty Goal 
 
On Tuesday, January 22nd, the House passed a concurrent resolution expressing concern about the increasing poverty rate across the United States. Over the next 10 years, Congress will strive to cut poverty in half, taking on a moral responsibility to assist those affected by such economic conditions.
 
In 2005, a family of 4 was considered poor under the U.S. Census Bureau's official measure if their income was below $19,971. 
 
Note: Concurrent resolutions are not signed by the President and do not hold the force of law.