Fair Pay Act          

            To Marta Jorgensen, protecting against discrimination of all kinds is paramount, and where vestiges of discrimination still remain in our society, she supports Congressional efforts to weed them out.  One such effort was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, designed to overcome pay discrimination once and for all; unlike longtime Republican incumbent Elton Gallegly, who voted against the bill, Marta Jorgensen strongly supports it.

            The Fair Pay Act was a response to a misguided Supreme Court decision that struck a major blow to gender and racial equality in this country.  In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tires, the Court held that Goodyear was protected from Ledbetter's gender pay discrimination claim solely because its initial decision to discriminate occurred more than 180 days before the claim and even though Ledbetter was not aware of it until many years later.  The Fair Pay Act would have removed this 180-day loophole.

            Unfortunately, the bill was not received as well as Marta Jorgensen feels it should have been.  It passed the House by a surprisingly slim 225-199 vote count thanks to the embarrassing efforts of Republicans like Elton Gallegly, who spoke and voted against the bill.  When the legislation made its way to the Senate this year, the Republicans would not even let it be considered on the floor.  Like Elton Gallegly, John McCain opposed it.

            Had Marta Jorgensen represented California's 24th Congressional District instead of Elton Gallegly, she would have campaigned for and voted for the Fair Pay Act.  To her, protecting women and minorities from discrimination is an extremely important issue, one of morality as well as of legality.  She believes in her heart that everyone should receive equal pay for equal work, and she believes that the Constitution demands that the law follow suit.

            Fair pay for women and minorities is not only a moral and legal issue to her, however.  In line with her bold E-Revolution campaign platform is the idea that we must strengthen our sagging economy by making ourselves as competitive as possible, and equal pay for equal work is an important way to help achieve this.  By fairly rewarding the most capable people regardless of sex, race, national origin, or any other factor unrelated to work product, we can ensure that qualified women and minorities will remain in our workforce and be motivated to be as productive as they can be.  At the same time, we can also ensure that the inefficiencies created by paying more money to less qualified men will finally be removed.

            Our district needs someone willing to stand up for equality, willing to work against discrimination, and willing to vote for what is right.  We need Marta Jorgensen.

www.jorgensenforcongress.com