Updated: Gov. Martinez signs fair pay for women act into law

Gov. Susana Martinez has signed into law legislation that would prohibit large-scale employers from wage discrimination on the basis of gender, her office has announced.

The Fair Pay for Women Act (or House Bill 216) is modeled after similar federal legislation. It would allow women who complain they are being paid less than their male counterparts to file suit in state district courts.

The first-term Republican governor also signed two other bills that lawmakers had sent to her desk — legislation dealing with car dealers and bonds for hospitals. The bill numbers for those measures were HB 202 and HB 580, respectively.

Meanwhile, Martinez vetoed legislation that would have changed the state’s public school capital outlay law. In her executive message to lawmakers, Martinez said House Bill 273 could have limited the ability of state charter schools from funding future infrastructure needs.

The veto brings the total number of bills struck down by the governor this year to five. Martinez has so far signed 12 bills into law.