On January 15, 2008, the new Senate voted for cloture on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181, H.R. 11) by a 72-23 margin. This legislation, which would reverse the Supreme Court’s controversial Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007) decision, passed the House on January 9 by a 247-171 margin and is expected easily to win final passage in the Senate on Friday, January 16. Although Republicans were able to turn back identical legislation on cloture by three votes in July 2007, Democratic gains in the recent election gave S. 181 the supermajority support necessary to defeat a filibuster attempt. Once it became clear that Republican opponents of the bill lacked the votes to filibuster the popular bill, 17 Republicans crossed party lines to vote for cloture. 

Introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) on January 8, the bill would amend Title VII to allow claims brought within 180 days of receiving any paycheck affected by a discriminatory pay decision, no matter how far in the past an act of discrimination allegedly occurred. Specifically, the legislation provides that compensation discrimination occurs “when an individual is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid, resulting in whole or in part from [a discriminatory decision or practice.]” Additionally, the legislation applies this language to discrimination claims brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilitation Act. Once the bill becomes law, it would take effect as if enacted on May 28, 2007, the day before the Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. decision.

Even though the House recently also passed the provisions of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as an amendment to the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12) - another initiative intended to address discriminatory gender-based pay disparities - the Senate will bring S. 181 to a vote as stand-alone legislation. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced the Senate version of the stand-alone Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182) on January 8.

President-Elect Obama campaigned in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and is expected to sign the bill into law shortly after his inauguration.