Combating Age Discrimination

This week, I introduced the Age Discrimination in Employment Parity Act to Congress to address age discrimination in the workforce. 50 years ago, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was signed into law to initially combat discrimination against individuals over the age of 40 in the workforce.

At the time, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act applied to businesses of 20 or more employees. Although this was a great achievement, every other workforce discrimination law applied to businesses of 15 or more employees.

Age discrimination expands over a wide variety of industries and is often overlooked despite its prevalence in the workforce. In 2017 alone, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received over 18,000 cases of age discrimination, which totaled over 21% of all cases taken in by the agency. That is why I found it important to address this issue and put the ADEA on equal footing with other employment discrimination laws. This act will simply change the business size from 20 to 15 or more employees and align the ADEA with other employment discrimination laws that have been in place for years.

Rising Income Levels

This past week, the U.S. Census Bureau released more positive news for Americans as reports showed that median household income levels rose 1.8% to a record high of $61,372, and poverty rates had fallen to 12.3%, the lowest level in over a decade. Hard-working middle class residents are beginning to benefit from the economic success the country has experienced over the past several months and fewer American households are struggling.

Middle class incomes have been rebounding from the recession for several years now, and these reports show that many households are finally trending in a positive direction. Additionally, the Census found that a large reason for the increase in income levels and decrease in poverty rates was due to the fact that less Americans are having difficulty finding jobs thanks to the success of the economy. Providing American's with employment opportunities through a strong economy is always an important step in improving the lives of our citizens.

The West Coast and Midwestern portions of the United States were said to have recorded the strongest income gains, which can be partially attributed to the rebound the manufacturing industry has experienced over the past couple years. In the 6th district, income levels increased at an average of approximately $2,500, or 4.5%!

Weekly Roundup

I had a great meeting with the representatives from the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership this week to discuss the various ways we can support the manufacturing industry in Wisconsin.

This week, we remembered all of the Americans who lost their lives in the tragic September 11th attacks. We will never forget the lives lost or the sacrifice made by the first responders.

Contact Me

As your congressman, I’m here to serve you. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to my offices in Fond du Lac and Washington. If you enjoyed this newsletter be sure to forward it to your family and friends so they can stay informed on what I’m doing in Washington and the 6th District.

Sincerely,

Member of Congress