The sell-out hypocrisy of Oklahoma politicians is truly a sight to behold.
Last year, State Reps Jason Dunnington and Emily Virgin introduced HB 2929. It was designed to help address the gender pay gap by increasing fines for wage discrimination and allowing employees to openly discuss salaries without fear of losing their job. The bill received broad support in both the legislature, but was railroaded at the last second by a lobbying campaign from the State Chamber.
Undeterred, Dunnington worked with the Chamber to address a couple of minor issues and introduced virtually identical legislation (HB 1530) for 2017. Just like last year, the bill has received bipartisan support, but it's now being held up by an unlikely source – State Rep. Elise Hall.
In case you're not familiar, Hall is a young, nubile State Rep from Bethany. She made news early this year when it was revealed she may have committed ethics violations when she promoted her family's food truck - Hall's Pizza Kitchen – to capitol employees. She's also the person who replaced alleged sexual harasser Dan Kirby as the chair of the Business, Commerce and Tourism committee
Although Elise voted "yes" for the last year's equal pay law, she's apparently had a convenient-for-the-ruling-class-who-donates-to-her-campaign change of heart and is refusing to hear the bill. Via an Abby Broyles report on KFOR: