Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) spoke to the U.S. Senate earlier this week about a bill aimed at reducing the wage gap between men and women.
Sen. Murkowski (R): “I struggled with my decision as to whether to move to a measure that I feel was flawed in terms of its approach to a solution or to recognize that perhaps this was more of an exercise in political messaging than an effort to try to resolve what I believe is an issue.”
She added that Alaska’s State Department of Labor reported a wage gap of 33% in 2010 and realizes it is an issue however raised this concern.
Sen. Murkowski (R): “If you start off with a presumption of discrimination it’s pretty hard for an employer, particularly a hard employer, to deal with that, to defend that, to present the case, to really work through these issues.”
Murkowski and fellow Republicans questioned whether the bill might hinder employer’s abilities to grant raises or schedule flexibility to female employees for fear of lawsuits.