TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Gov. Chris Christie on Monday rejected legislation tightening requirements that New Jersey employers pay workers doing the same job equally, regardless of gender.
The Republican governor conditionally vetoed the measure, saying the state’s Law Against Discrimination already bans gender-based pay discrimination. Christie earlier vetoed two bills that contained similar provisions.
Christie is recommending that instead of providing for unlimited back pay in discrimination cases, a two-year limit be set on when damages could be applied. The governor argues that change would mirror the federal Lilly Ledbetter Act, which President Barack Obama approved in 2009.
“Instead of providing for unlimited back pay for employees, I am recommending that this bill mirror the provisions for the Lilly Ledbetter Act,” Christie said in a statement accompanying his veto. “There is no reason for our law to go beyond the Lilly Ledbetter Act; the sponsors certainly should not object to matching the federal law they so often cite as a model.”
He is also asking the Democrat-led Legislature to remove the award of treble damages for pay discrimination, saying that back pay is already available for those who prove pay discrimination. And he called a requirement that state contractors report to New Jersey about wages and other data “outrageous.”
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg called the governor’s conditional veto “wrong,” but added that she will reach out to the governor’s office to discuss the legislation.
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