Chris Christie Vetoes Gender Discrimination Law, 4 Other Bills

Gov. Chris Christie has conditionally vetoed a gender discrimination law as well as four other pieces of legislation.

Christie's office announced Monday that the governor has conditionally vetoed a bill that would combat gender pay inequities in the workplace. The conditional veto allows lawmakers to rework the bill and submit it again for the governor's consideration.

The bill, which received final legislative approval from the full Assembly in March by a vote of 53-14-6,
would modify current law to strengthen protections against employment discrimination and promote equal pay for women, according to Assembly Democrats.

The bill would make it an unlawful practice for an employer to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, among other requirements

"The gender pay gap holds women back in so many ways. For example, it takes many women much longer to pay off their student loan debt than it does men," said Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, in a recent release. "Every little step we can take to chip away at the gap makes a difference."

In its current form, Christie said, the bill would eliminate any consideration of whether employees’ work was equal and whether they undergo similar working conditions. He said it would require an "oversimplified comparison of wages while ignoring any consideration of the employer’s practices or facilities."

"This is nonsensical and makes New Jersey very business unfriendly," he said. "I will not tolerate that issue being exacerbated by this bill."

The following pieces of legislation will not become law :

S-977/A-2447 (Lesniak, Sarlo/Eustace, Holley, Gusciora) – CONDITIONAL - Prohibits possession, transport, import, export, processing, sale or shipment of parts and products of certain animal species threatened with extinction

S-978/A-2510 (Lesniak, Sarlo/Eustace, Holley, Gusciora) – CONDITIONAL - Prohibits possession and transport of parts and products of certain animals at PANYNJ airports and port facilities

S-983/A-2568 (Sweeney, Vitale/Vainieri Huttle, Tucker, Sumter, Oliver, Spencer, Lampitt) – CONDITIONAL -Extends eligibility for certain individuals for emergency assistance

S-988/A-3093 (Smith, Whelan/Mazzeo, DeAngelo, Eustace) – ABSOLUTE - Permits BPU to approve qualified wind energy projects; requires BPU to provide application periods for those projects

Here is the gender-discrimination bill:

S-992/A-2750 (Weinberg, Sweeney, Cunningham/Lampitt, Muoio, Vainieri Huttle, Downey, Mukherji) – CONDITIONAL - Concerns equal pay for women and employment discrimination..Click here for more information.