Congress Unlikely to Finish Labor-HHS-Education Bill Before Deadline
As the federal fiscal
year draws close to an end, it seems increasingly unlikely that Congress will
finish work on the FY2008 Labor-HHS-Education bill by its September 30th
deadline.
The annual Labor-HHS-Education
bill provides funding for a host of federal programs including several that
assist unemployed and underemployed women -- career and technical education, job
training, child care assistance and the Department of Labor Women's Bureau, to
name a few.
The House passed its version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill in July,
boosting funds for education, child care and the Women's Bureau, while taking
back $335 million in already allocated funds from the Workforce Investment Act
program. The Senate has yet to bring its
bill to a vote on the floor.
Beyond Senate passage,
the bill faces a tough road ahead: negotiators will need to reconcile the $2.5
billion difference in discretionary spending between House and Senate
proposals, while garnering enough support (two-thirds of each chamber) for the
final package to override the President's threatened veto.
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Senate Action Needed to Reverse the Ledbetter Decision
Legislation that would
overturn the Supreme Court's damaging anti-equity decision in Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire awaits
Senate action.
In May, the Supreme Court
struck a staggering blow to pay equity, ruling that pay discrimination charges
under the Civil Rights Act must be filed no more than 180 days after the initial
discriminatory pay decision takes place. The Court's ruling was widely
criticized for ignoring the realities of pay discrimination; discrimination usually
emerges over a period of years and is difficult for employees (who often do not
have information about how they are paid compared to their co-workers) to detect
and prove. Before leaving town in August, the House of Representatives passed legislation to reverse the Court's ruling. Senate action is the next step toward undoing the Court's harmful decision.
Several Senators, led by
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), introduced legislation in July to overturn the
Court's ruling. Like the House's legislation, the Senate Ledbetter bill-titled the
Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843)-clarifies that each discriminatory paycheck
is an act of discrimination, not just the first one.
Click here to see if your Senator is currently a
co-sponsor of the Act. If not, call
today and ask her or him to endorse this important legislation! |
