BATON ROUGE — This week equal pay advocates won a victory when the Senate voted 73-25 to move forward with the Paycheck Fairness Act, but Sen. David Vitter sided with extremists in trying to block the bill, despite the fact that Louisiana ranks second-worst in the nation for pay equity.

“Even as more and more Republicans are seeing the light, David Vitter continues to stand in the way of equal pay for equal work,” said Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Carter Peterson. “Louisiana women earn only 67 cents for every dollar a Louisiana man earns, but Vitter refuses to take action to address this injustice. Louisiana’s working families deserve better.”

On Wednesday Vitter joined with 24 of his Senate Republican colleagues in voting to block the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Vitter has a long history of opposing equal pay legislation. In April, Vitter voted with the entire Senate Republican Caucus and blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act. In 2009, Vitter voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored protections against pay discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, age, religion and disability.

According to the AAUW, Louisiana ranks 50th in pay equity, with Louisiana women earning an average of $31,586 annually compared to $47,249 by Louisiana men.

For more on Vitter’s anti-women record, visit www.vitterforgovernor.com.

###