Did the GOP forget that women won the right to vote?
Diane
2012/04/11 05:23:08
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Scott Walker Quietly Repeals Wisconsin Equal Pay Law
WASHINGTON -- A Wisconsin law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court was repealed on Thursday, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed the bill.
The 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act was meant to deter employers from discriminating against certain groups by giving workers more avenues via which to press charges. Among other provisions, it allows individuals to plead their cases in the less costly, more accessible state circuit court system, rather than just in federal court.
In November, the state Senate approved SB 202, which rolled back this provision. On February, the Assembly did the same. Both were party-line votes in Republican-controlled chambers.
SB 202 was sent to Walker on March 29. He had, according to the state constitution, six days to act on the bill. The deadline was 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The governor quietly signed the bill into law on Thursday, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau, and it is now called Act 219.
Walker's office did not return repeated requests for comment.
State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee), the authors of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, criticized Walker on Thursday for not informing the public of his actions on SB 202.
“We are finally starting to see progress here in Wisconsin, yet like their counterparts across the country, Legislative Republicans want to turn back the clock on women’s rights in the workplace,” said Hansen.
Women earn 77 cents for every dollar that men make. In Wisconsin, it's 75 cents, according to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health (WAWH), which also estimates that families in the state "lose more than $4,000 per year due to unequal pay."
Business associations lobbied in support of SB 202, according to the state's Government Accountability Board. Groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association all backed a repeal.
Sara Finger, executive director of WAWH, said that the repeal was a "demoralizing attack on women’s rights, health, and wellbeing."
"Economic security is a women’s health issue," she said. "The salary women are paid directly affects the type and frequency of health care services they are able to access. At a time when women’s health services are becoming more expensive and harder to obtain, financial stability is essential to maintain steady access."
Walker is facing a recall election in June. The two frontrunners on the Democratic side who are competing to unseat him, former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, sharply criticized the governor for allowing the repeal bill to become law.
Falk said Walker has "turned back the clock for women across Wisconsin."
"As a woman and as a mother who worked full-time while raising my son, I know first-hand how important pay equity and health care are to women across Wisconsin," she said in a statement to The Huffington Post.
A spokesman for Barrett's campaign said that Walker's "ideological civil war includes a war on women, and repeal today of this protection against pay discrimination is a major step backwards for Wisconsin values and basic fairness."
"Tom Barrett knows equal pay for equal work is essential, and failing to stand up for Wisconsin women in the workplace is yet another reason he [Walker] must be defeated this summer," he said.
UPDATE: 2:17 p.m. -- The Plum Line reports that President Barack Obama's campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded to Walker's repeal, calling on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, to take a position on the issue.
"As he campaigned across Wisconsin, Mitt Romney repeatedly praised Governor Scott Walker's leadership, calling him a 'hero' and 'a man of courage,'" she said. "But with his signing yesterday of a bill make it harder for women to enforce in court their right to equal pay, Walker showed how far Republicans are willing to go to undermine not only women's health care, but also their economic security. Does Romney think women should have ability to take their bosses to court to get the same pay as their male coworkers? Or does he stand with Governor Walker against this?"
WASHINGTON -- A Wisconsin law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court was repealed on Thursday, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed the bill.
The 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act was meant to deter employers from discriminating against certain groups by giving workers more avenues via which to press charges. Among other provisions, it allows individuals to plead their cases in the less costly, more accessible state circuit court system, rather than just in federal court.
In November, the state Senate approved SB 202, which rolled back this provision. On February, the Assembly did the same. Both were party-line votes in Republican-controlled chambers.
SB 202 was sent to Walker on March 29. He had, according to the state constitution, six days to act on the bill. The deadline was 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The governor quietly signed the bill into law on Thursday, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau, and it is now called Act 219.
Walker's office did not return repeated requests for comment.
State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee), the authors of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, criticized Walker on Thursday for not informing the public of his actions on SB 202.
“We are finally starting to see progress here in Wisconsin, yet like their counterparts across the country, Legislative Republicans want to turn back the clock on women’s rights in the workplace,” said Hansen.
Women earn 77 cents for every dollar that men make. In Wisconsin, it's 75 cents, according to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health (WAWH), which also estimates that families in the state "lose more than $4,000 per year due to unequal pay."
Business associations lobbied in support of SB 202, according to the state's Government Accountability Board. Groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association all backed a repeal.
Sara Finger, executive director of WAWH, said that the repeal was a "demoralizing attack on women’s rights, health, and wellbeing."
"Economic security is a women’s health issue," she said. "The salary women are paid directly affects the type and frequency of health care services they are able to access. At a time when women’s health services are becoming more expensive and harder to obtain, financial stability is essential to maintain steady access."
Walker is facing a recall election in June. The two frontrunners on the Democratic side who are competing to unseat him, former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, sharply criticized the governor for allowing the repeal bill to become law.
Falk said Walker has "turned back the clock for women across Wisconsin."
"As a woman and as a mother who worked full-time while raising my son, I know first-hand how important pay equity and health care are to women across Wisconsin," she said in a statement to The Huffington Post.
A spokesman for Barrett's campaign said that Walker's "ideological civil war includes a war on women, and repeal today of this protection against pay discrimination is a major step backwards for Wisconsin values and basic fairness."
"Tom Barrett knows equal pay for equal work is essential, and failing to stand up for Wisconsin women in the workplace is yet another reason he [Walker] must be defeated this summer," he said.
UPDATE: 2:17 p.m. -- The Plum Line reports that President Barack Obama's campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded to Walker's repeal, calling on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, to take a position on the issue.
"As he campaigned across Wisconsin, Mitt Romney repeatedly praised Governor Scott Walker's leadership, calling him a 'hero' and 'a man of courage,'" she said. "But with his signing yesterday of a bill make it harder for women to enforce in court their right to equal pay, Walker showed how far Republicans are willing to go to undermine not only women's health care, but also their economic security. Does Romney think women should have ability to take their bosses to court to get the same pay as their male coworkers? Or does he stand with Governor Walker against this?"
Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/scott-wal...
So there's a broader issue: Why do some women not seem to care whether ALL women have equal protection under the law?
First it can not be done as it is a Federal law.
Second there is no bill in the state legislature to even try to do this.
They have enough bills chipping away at womens services and rights....to make it more than just a passing fancy given a win in the election.Altho I admit, that wont be until they get their collective heads out of their asses. I dont even think 16 is a date they can plan on..
But since you brought it up, What "bills chipping away at womens services and rights"?
"I dont even think 16 is a date they can plan on.." Excuse me? What is this about?
"The bill requires that the woman not only get an ultrasound, but that the ultrasound screen be in her line of sight." Actually that is not true. The law specifically states that photo & video is offered to the woman, as well as the recording, who can refuse to view them.
"OH.....16, is 2016, simpler now" The accepted practice is to write shorthand years as '16.
PS... WHy are you wanting to force a non medically needed ultrasound on a woman at all???? she still has to go thru with it......Its a punitive action for NO reason. Where is her freedom from a State mandated Medical procedure, only for women of her situation?? now what about the rest of the bills, .
Apostrophe nazi? grow up..
Congress is republican right now, so what IS your point?
Blunt Rubio failed.. Lots of others haven't
"Its a punitive action for NO reason" Really!? Giving a patient, or client, all the information possible in order for the patient, or client, to reach a fully informed decision is wrong? Why?
The states are sovereign bodies. Fully free to pass laws they deem necessary, so long as they are not impinging on the duties and powers assigned to Congress.
"Apostrophe nazi? grow up" "Nazi"? Got nothing to do with that, it's about writing in a clear and understandable manner.
Congress is NOT Republican! Only the House has a majority of Republican members. The Senate is a majority Democrat. So Congress is divided!
"LMAO it is the republicans in congress bringing these laws forward." Just which laws from Congress are you trying to claim are doing this?
The blunt rubio amendment, which was voted down. remember I mentioned it in my last post but one
The fetus has ZERO rights over the mothers ...
Its not assuaging guilt for anything, its claiming MY body is MINE and you have NO claim to what goes into it, or what comes out of it.
Its not like buying a pair of shoes at a sale.
Its not medically needed. IF it was, it would be done with EVERY pregnant woman, Not just those who dare to choose to terminate. Its punative, nothing more to be said.
The Kansas House of Representatives is considering an anti-abortion bill introduced by Republican Rep. Lance Kinzer, that would make it drastically more difficult for women to have the procedure. Buried in the 69 page bill were multiple anti-abortion provisions that have already been proposed in states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona, which could make this bill by far the most extreme anti-abortion bill in America. And Governor Brownback intends to sign it into law when it gets through the legislature.
The bill would impose a 6.3% tax on all abortions. Even women who are raped would have to pay it if they want the procedure. And women who have emergency abortions to save their lives wouldn’t be exempt from the tax either. Part of the bill would also allow doctors to lie to women about prenatal problems that may cause them to choose abortion, such as an ectopic pregnancy, which is fatal in most cases. This provision is similar to a bill passed by the Arizona Senate on Tuesday. The Kansas bill also forces doctors to tell women that abortion causes breast cancer, which is a total lie that has been debunked by medical science. It could also revoke the accreditation of the University of Kansas Medical Center’s OB-GYN program and would force women to hear the heart beat of the fetus before getting an abortion.
The bill would impose a 6.3% tax on all abortions. Even women who are raped would have to pay it if they want the procedure. And women who have emergency abortions to save their lives wouldn’t be exempt from the tax either. Part of the bill would also allow doctors to lie to women about prenatal problems that may cause them to choose abortion, such as an ectopic pregnancy, which is fatal in most cases. This provision is similar to a bill passed by the Arizona Senate on Tuesday. The Kansas bill also forces doctors to tell women that abortion causes breast cancer, which is a total lie that has been debunked by medical science. It could also revoke the accreditation of the University of Kansas Medical Center’s OB-GYN program and would force women to hear the heart beat of the fetus before getting an abortion.
These are state bills not federal bills. And these bills are all sponsored by Republicans and votes are split along party lines -- Republicans vote in favor of them, Democrats vote against them.