The House Labor Committee votes down a bill to demand all employers in the state give equal pay regardless of gender. Speaking for his bill, Marrero Democrat Representative Kyle Green says his bill seeks to extend equal pay mandates for government workers to include everyone.
Green says, “Louisiana ranks 49th out of 50 in terms of the gender pay gap. Currently women in the state make roughly 67-cents on a dollar that a male makes, and it’s even lower for women of color.”
But Bossier Parish Republican Representative Dodie Horton wondered if Green was aware the state already has a 2013 non-discrimination law that achieves the same thing…
“It prohibits employers with 20 or more employees from intentionally discriminating in the compensation of any person on the basis of race, color, religion, SEX, national origin, age, disability…” Horton says. She says passing a redundant bill will probably not help close the gender pay gap.
Bossier City Republican Representative Raymond Crews agrees that women already have a state law under which to address a gender pay inequity. He says employers who arbitrarily pay men more than women are only hurting themselves.
“I think if we mandate certain things we actually take tools away from people. So, right now…if an employer decides to pay women less than men, they’re penalized. They’re financially penalized, because they’re hiring the men at a higher rate,” says Crews.
By a vote of 3 “yeas” to 7 “nays”, the bill fails to pass and is dead for the session.
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