New Jersey is now on the brink of enacting the most sweeping equal pay legislation in America.
A "historic" bill protecting women and minorities in the state from workplace discrimination passed both houses of the state Legislature on Monday, and Gov. Phil Murphy has already pledged to sign it into law.
Women working full-time in America in 2015 earned just 80 cents for every dollar that men earned, and at this rate, women won't reach pay equality until 2059, according to a report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
With this legislation, New Jersey would have the most rigorous protections against pay discrimination, said state Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden, one of the prime sponsors of the bill.
"Women in every state and in nearly every occupation experience the gender pay gap," Lampitt said. "Though the gap is gradually closing, it's doing so far too slowly and many women still do not receive commensurate compensation for their work. Stricter measures to ensure parity in the workplace are clearly needed."
The bill (S104) would make it illegal for an employer to offer lower pay and benefits to a worker protected by the state Law Against Discrimination, which includes "protected classes" such as women and minorities, compared to white men if they perform "substantially similar work."
Employers who pay one person more than another would have to demonstrate how their experience and education sets them apart.
Employers would be prohibited from cutting the wages of higher-paid staff in order to make salaries comparable, according to the bill. People who sue would be able to recoup three times as much as they were denied in compensation.
The Senate voted 35-0 to pass the bill. The Assembly's vote was 74-2 ,, with Assemblymen Michael Patrick Carroll, and Assemblyman Jay Webber, both R-Morris, voting no.
Before the Assembly vote, Carroll challenged Lampitt to explain how businesses would be able to keep track of salary information.
"An employer has no idea what this means," Carroll said, adding the law was an invitation to sue.
Carroll also angered Lampitt when he cracked a joke about who is part of the protected class covered by the bill.
"Don't we all have a race, a creed? Don't some of us have sex?" Carroll said, eliciting some laughter.
"This is an historic piece of legislation and I am offended," Lampitt replied. A handful of women lawmakers jumped to her defense.
"This is something that has been coming for a long time," Assemblywoman Joann Downey, D-Monmouth, also a sponsor. "I am an attorney I know for a fact I have been discriminated against, and have not gotten paid as much as my male counterparts."
Murphy has said he will sign the legislation as soon as it lands on his desk. His first official action as governor was to sign an executive order to support equal pay for women by barring managers in state government from asking job applicants about their previous salary.
Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed the bill repeatedly, demanding changes in order for it to be signed into law. Christie said the bill oversimplifies wage comparisons between employees by dismissing differences in employees' respective work and working conditions.
In his veto message two years ago, Christie wrote there is "no reason for our law to go beyond the Lilly Ledbetter Act," the federal equal pay legislation signed in 2009.
Ledbetter was the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
A veto override attempt failed before Christie departed.
Before the vote on a proclamation celebrating Women's History Month, Lampitt said she has invited Lilly Ledbetter to come to Trenton when the bill is signed into law.
The measure is called the "Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act," named after the longtime state senator who left her broadcasting job in 1994 after filing gender and age discrimination complaints with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Allen retired from the Senate in January.
"One of the most important aspects of equality for women is centered on the workplace, professional opportunities and equal pay," said state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, also a prime sponsor. "There continues to be a disparity with a wage gap and other inherent inequalities that need to be corrected. We won't have real equality until we have equal pay."
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.