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Tom Scheck
St. Paul, Minn.

Women's pay, work equity bill clears Legislature

The Minnesota State Capitol
The Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.
Hart Van Denburg/MPR News

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A bill that aims to improve the working conditions of women is headed to Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature.

Dayton's spokesman says the governor will sign the bill.

The Minnesota Senate passed the Women's Economic Security Act on a 43-24 vote. The measure would require businesses to provide greater accommodations to pregnant and nursing mothers. It also requires large companies that contract with the state to certify that they provide similar pay to men and women in similar jobs.

"For 50 years we have assumed that we have equal pay for equal work," said Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul. "And the whole purpose of this bill is to see if that's the case, if we can get a handle on this stubborn pay gap."

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, failed in her attempt to send the bill back for additional negotiations.

"I want to make it very clear, this motion is not to kill this bill. This motion is to get the fair deal that we were sent into that conference committee to get and we came out with a bill that looked more like the House and that is very tough to support," she said.

Business groups say the bill could result in a greater number of lawsuits. Supporters say it will improve the working conditions of working families.