On January 22, 2009, by a 61-36 margin, the Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181, H.R. 11), which would overturn the Supreme Court’s controversial 2007 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. President Obama supports the legislation, which passed the House of Representatives on January 9, and is expected to sign it into law shortly.

Senate passage comes one week after the new Senate voted for cloture on S. 181 on January 15. Republicans had blocked a vote on the legislation in the 110th Congress, but Democratic gains in the 2008 elections gave supporters of the bill a filibuster-proof majority. 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. However, only five of those 17 Republicans supported the bill’s final passage.  All voting Democratic and Independent senators voted in favor of the Ledbetter bill.

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 decision was issued.