A plea from the NH Senate Democrats went out today seeking women who have been discriminated against in the workforce. They need women to back their ill-conceived ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ (SB207) which will be discussed this coming Thursday. The bill is based on the false premise that women make only $.77 to a man’s $1.00. This has been debunked over and over again of course but that doesn’t stop Democrats from repeating the lie. The ‘Gender Pay Gap’ is a myth and has been for quite some time. Every study that Democrats push about the gap compares apples to oranges – they do not compare equal jobs or experience across the same industries. Rather they lump all jobs, experience and pay together (which means engineers and bankers are lumped in with teachers and housekeepers).

Granite State women already have protections under the federal law with the Equal Pay Act which was passed in 1963 (NOTE: It was only Democrats who voted against the Act). As this author has written previously:

Under the Equal Pay Act, women can bring charges against their employers if they feel they have been discriminated against in their pay due to gender. In 2008 there were only 954 cases of gender pay discrimination brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Center – of those cases 56% were found to have “No Reasonable Cause” – in other words – the EEOC could not find evidence to back up the woman’s claims. Only 7.9% of the cases were found to have “Reasonable Cause”, in which case the EEOC will fight to remedy the situation for the complainant. Of the millions of women who are in the workforce a very miniscule number have actually filed complaints against their employers. Not because they can’t file the complaints but because they do not feel they are getting discriminated against in their pay.

The Paycheck Fairness Act will do nothing but wreak havoc in the workplace. The reason employers don’t want employees discussing pay is because employees are often paid varying rates within a range for different reasons: some employees may have come from a higher paying job; some may have negotiated a higher rate; some may have more experience or certifications and many other reasons. Democrats are once again looking to ‘solve’ a problem that does not exist in New Hampshire. Women are already protected under the Equal Pay Act. What the Paycheck Fairness Act will do is force employers to think twice before hiring women because they don’t want to deal with frivolous lawsuits (SEE above).

It appears that New Hampshire Senate Democrats are pandering to women who don’t know the facts about Equal Pay. What these women don’t understand is if the Paycheck Fairness Act is passed, it will only hurt them in the short and long run. Not only is there no need for the Act but Democrats once again have not thought out the ramifications of yet another one of their ‘emotionally charged’ bills. The very people they feign to care about – women – are the very people that will be hurt by their bill. If this is an issue in the Granite State, it can be resolved at the federal level. Quite obviously it is not, which is why Democrats are desperately seeking women who have been discriminated against in the workforce.

Originally posted here: http://www.examiner.com/article/senate-democrats-desperately-seeking-women-who-have-been-discriminated-against