Equal pay bill dead in Senate but alive in Nevada campaign

WASHINGTON - A bill calling for equal pay in the workplace was blocked in Congress on Tuesday but probably will remain very much a live issue in the Nevada campaign for U.S. Senate.

Rep. Shelley Berkley stepped up her actions in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a Democratic bill that would require employers to prove pay disparities between men and women doing the same jobs are not related to gender. It toughens penalties against companies found guilty of discrimination.

Sen. Dean Heller, meanwhile, was among 47 Republicans who voted against the bill, charging it benefits only lawyers looking to press lucrative yet business-crippling lawsuits. The 52-47 Senate vote fell short of the required 60-vote threshold.

The bill never was expected to pass the Senate. But its death enabled Democrats to continue campaigning as the party most in touch with women and to accuse Republicans of waging war against them.

"Republicans want to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the reality that American women experience in the workplace every day," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "All across America, women are being paid 77 cents for every dollar that men make for performing the same work. The disparity is even starker for African-American and Hispanic women."

Strategists said Democrats might unfurl television commercials in Nevada in the fall contrasting Berkley and Heller on the issue.

Heller, whose Senate seat is being challenged by Berkley, moved to shield himself from criticism. He introduced his own bill Tuesday that would protect women from retaliation if they pursue complaints on pay discrimination, appropriating one part of the Democrats' bill that might achieve consensus.

In a speech, the Republican contended his bill was more workable than the broader Democratic bill.

"The only winners under that legislation would be trial lawyers, giving them a windfall exposing employers to punitive damages. For two decades my mother worked hard in a school cafeteria," Heller said. "My wife is a substitute teacher. ... My oldest daughter in this economy was fortunate enough to get a job after graduating from college. ... My youngest daughter, 16, recently got a summer job at a local feedlot.

"If my mother, my wife or my daughters experienced workplace discrimination based on their gender, I would be the first to come to their defense," Heller said.

Reid noted that Heller was the only Republican senator to speak publicly Tuesday against the Democrats' bill.

"He would have been better off had he said nothing," Reid said, declining to elaborate.

Berkley and a half dozen House lawmakers marched to the Senate to watch the vote with Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman whose 1998 lawsuit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber prompted Congress in 2009 to pass a bill with her name.

Equity is "a middle-income family issue," Berkley said, because many women are sole earners.

"Their paycheck is not ancillary to the main breadwinner. They are the main breadwinner. They are entitled to get the same compensation that men do for doing the exact same job."

Ledbetter scolded Republicans and reserved criticism for Heller's bill. She said it fell short of giving women recourse if they find they are being paid less than male counterparts.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.