Fair Pay Bill May Not Fare Well

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Women in Idaho earn about 74 percent as much as men, according to the most recent Census figures.

The U.S. Senate is slated to vote on an equal pay bill today.  As The Boston Globe explains, the Paycheck Fairness Act would address the persistent wage gap between men and women by “requiring employers of companies with pay discrepancies to provide a reason for the gap.”  Moreover, it would “bar employers from retaliating against employees who discuss pay.”

As we’ve noted a few times here on the StateImpact site, the disparity between men’s and women’s wages is especially great in Idaho.  Boise’s pay gap was named eighth worst in the country earlier this year, in a ranking based on U.S. Census data.

The Paycheck Fairness Act isn’t expected to pass.  In an article titled “Paycheck Fairness Act expected to fail” The Washington Post said of the bill: “[A]t its core it is not so much a legislative vehicle as a political one intended to embarrass Republicans and help President Obama and congressional Democrats with female voters in November.”

According to The Hill, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) introduced an alternative measure this morning.