{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=629", "BACON JOINS STEFANIK, COSPONSORS WAGE EQUITY ACT", "2021-04-15", "2021", "2021-04", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Don Bacon", "B001298", "bacon.house.gov", "bacon", "https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Washington \u2013 Today, Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) became an original cosponsor of Rep. Elise Stefanik\u2019s (NY-21) Wage Equity Act to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. Modeled after bipartisan legislation that has been signed into law in states across the country, the bill encourages employers to proactively evaluate their pay practices and eliminate pay disparities in their workplaces, while empowering employees to negotiate pay based on their qualifications and merit.\n\nThe Wage Equity Act comes ahead of the Democrats\u2019 proposal, which benefits trial lawyers over working women; limits the rights of prospective employees in the hiring process; and impedes American job creators with millions of dollars in compliance costs.\n\n\u201cEqual work deserves equal pay. Addressing pay discrimination in the workplace must be a priority,\u201d said Bacon. \u201cH.R. 7, the so-called \u201cPaycheck Fairness Act\u201d introduced by my Democrat colleagues, offers no new protections, threatens workers\u2019 privacy, and drags hardworking women through never-ending legal proceedings and lawsuits.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Wage Equity Act is a practical, 21st century solution to achieve equal pay for equal work once and for all by empowering businesses and employees to work together in pursuit of this common goal,\u201d said Stefanik. \u201cThe Democrats\u2019 alternative legislation would pave the way for frivolous lawsuits and unnecessary burdens on businesses, including those owned and operated by women themselves.\u201d\n\nRep. Virginia Foxx (NC-05), Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee, added, \u201cRep. Stefanik\u2019s bill helps working women unlike the Democrats\u2019 so-called Paycheck Fairness Act, which will unfairly punish business owners and reward trial lawyers rather than workers. H.R. 7 is a disingenuous effort on behalf of Democrats to signal \u2018progress\u2019 without affecting any change. If Democrats are truly interested in supporting working women, then Rep. Stefanik\u2019s bill\u2014which among other provisions encourages employers to evaluate their pay practices, ensures pay differences among workers of the opposite sex are due to legitimate, business-related reasons, and directs funds and research towards women\u2019s advancement\u2014is a no-brainer.\u201d\n\nThe Wage Equity Act would empower women in the 21st century workplace by:\n\nStrengthening the Equal Pay Act to ensure differences in pay must be based on legitimate business reasons\n\nEncouraging businesses to undergo a voluntary pay analysis to proactively rectify disparities\n\nAuthorizing a grant program to educate women in college, career, and technical programs on negotiating pay\n\nAllowing employees to voluntarily disclose prior salary history\n\nProtecting the ability of employees to discuss compensation with their colleagues, but gives employers the right to set reasonable limitations on time, location, and manner of those discussions\n\nProtecting employers\u2019 ability to have a salary expectation conversation with prospective employees\n\nInstructing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on the causes and impacts of the \u201cmanagers gap\u201d (the time when many women leave the workforce for parental/family reasons).\n\nIn contrast, the Democrats\u2019 Paycheck Fairness Act empowers trial lawyers over employees and employers, and intrudes on America\u2019s businesses by:\n\nEstablishing an unworkable standard for employers to defend against lawsuits when a pay disparity is based on legitimate factors other than sex\n\nRequiring the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to collect intrusive data on employees based on compensation rates, sex, race, and national origin\n\nCosting an estimated $600 million for employers each year\n\nExpanding class action lawsuits and requiring parties who do not wish to pursue a claim to affirmatively opt-out of one\n\nOpening claims to unlimited compensatory or punitive damages, even if there is no finding of intentional discrimination.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:42:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=629"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9870799258351326, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}