WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has vetoed a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women.
An aide to state Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D), who authored the equal pay bill, HB 950, said Perry’s office called on Friday to say he had vetoed it. State Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who introduced the Senate version of the legislation, told the Texas Tribune that she had received the same call.
In a statement, Thompson said she was “deeply disappointed” and “heartbroken.”
“Women will still have to struggle to receive their equal pay for their equal work,” she said.
The bill would bring Texas state law in line with the federal Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for women to sue employers over wage discrimination. It cleared the state House in late April, and the Senate passed its version in late May.
In his veto statement posted online Friday evening, Perry said he objected to the bill because it “duplicates federal law, which already allows employees who feel they have been discriminated against through compensation to file a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” He also said he was concerned that it could lead to more regulations and hurt job creation.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Thompson said Perry’s office objected to her legislation because it duplicated federal law. The governor’s office did not return a request for comment from The Huffington Post, and a veto statement was not yet available online.
More war on women. (and more denial) Does the absent minded Perry remember that it wasn’t so many years ago that the women folk in his great state and this great nation weren’t even allowed to work some of the jobs that men work? Does he think for one minute that employers will automatically pay people equally?
People will do what they can do to save a dime. Here is a good place to start. Shame on Rick Perry and the State of Texas for pouring concrete over the already existing glass ceiling. It looks like it is there to stay.
I sure hope the GOP runs Rick again next time…He’s fun!