HJR23-1018 designates March 14, 2023, as “Equal Pay Day,” due to “the persistent problem of wage disparity” among “women, trans women, gender-expansive people, and women of color.”
The Senate passed HJR23-1018 on March 15, 2023, by a vote of 23 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the noes because the “wage disparity,” as it is presented by feminists, LGBTQIA+ activists, critical race theorists, etc., is a myth. The demands of “equal pay for equal work” suffer from the same poor arguments made by proponents of the minimum wage. The reality is that people make different career and hiring decisions for a variety of reasons, and some jobs are simply easier or harder for others to do. Legislation that calls for leveling the “wage gap” in society through implementation of “equal-pay policies” based on “race, ethnicity, and other intersections of identity” is immoral, unconstitutional, and damaging to the economy. It forcibly denies the property rights of both employers and employees by violating their freedom of association, preventing individuals from entering into contracts voluntarily according to their own terms. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment were intended to safeguard against undue deprivations of a person’s “property,” guaranteeing “equal protection of the laws” for all Americans.