According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan currently ranks 43rd in the nation for wage parity, with working women earning just 72 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. In order to remedy this injustice, Rebekah has sponsored legislation that amends the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to ensure pay equity protections for all workers, regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, physique and marital status. Companion legislation further provides for “wage transparency,” which allows employees to find out what similarly situated co-workers earn, so they can hold their employers accountable for wage discrimination. It also increases penalties for gender-based pay discrimination and creates a Commission on Pay Equity in the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, comprised of state leaders and community and business representatives.

In response to several incidents in which women were denied service or asked to leave public places while breastfeeding, Rebekah has also sponsored legislation to amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to guarantee a woman’s right to breastfeed in any public place she is otherwise legally allowed to be. This affirmative protection would prevent businesses from making it clear that a woman’s patronage or presence is objectionable, unwelcome, unacceptable or undesirable simply because she is breastfeeding a child.

Finally, as states work to implement the national health care plan, Rebekah has co-sponsored a resolution urging Congress to adopt legislation that met the needs of women and all individuals in the United States.