October 2006

My response to David Sparrow’s letter

Mike Harmon
Candidate— Kentucky House of Representatives, 54th District

Dear Editor,

I would like to respond to the letter in Sunday’s paper by David Sparrow. First, I am thankful that David has worked to keep this a positive campaign, even though the Democratic House Caucus has not. However, I believe it important to address the misrepresentation, or at least the misunderstanding, that David has regarding what he is referring to as “…a bill that would create pay equity between men and women…” The bill indicated is HB399 of the 2006 General Assembly session. This is the same bill which several Republicans (one being a woman and retired teacher, Rep. Mary Harper) and one Democrat voted against on the floor of the House. First, everyone needs to understand that I have a wonderful wife and two lovely daughters, all of whom I would give my life to protect and defend. That being said, I would certainly be upset and take action if someone discriminated against them, and I could because that is already prohibited by law. However, HB 399 would go further and require that every job be evaluated and a worth assigned to it. As you can imagine, those assigning value would probably be bureaucrats and not the free market.

This bill was best addressed by Rep. Tom Kerr (an attorney) on the floor of the house and I have included a copy of the speech in this email, but understand that space may not allow for publishing, so I will also post on www.mike-harmon.com. Most notable quotes from his speech include, “The only person advocating this on a national level is Hillary Clinton…” and “The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has rejected this approach.” Since no state to my knowledge has adopted this approach for the private sector, why would we at a time when more and better jobs are needed, make KY less appealing to a potential employer? It would seem to me that would be a far greater disservice to our working families.

Thanks and God Bless.

Mike Harmon
State Representative — 54th District

Speech of Rep. Thomas R. Kerr
on Comparable Worth (H.B. 399)
Delivered by Rep. Thomas R. Kerr
on the House Floor on March 1, 2006

“Mr. Speaker, Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, this is the first time that I’ve risen this session to speak on a bill. After 21 years here, I’ve come to realize that what we say on this House floor has little effect on the outcome.

However, I feel compelled to speak today because this is perhaps the most dangerous bill to come before us this session, and I want to make sure the members are fully aware of the ramifications of this legislation.

First, permit me to say that I understand the good motives of the Lady from Jefferson and I appreciate what she wants to accomplish.

But ladies and gentlemen, this is the wrong way to go about it!

The lady does not want women to be discriminated in the payment of wages. That’s admirable, I agree with that.

Is there a gap? Yes, there still a small gap. Studies show that among people age 27 to 33 who have never had a child, women’s earnings are 98% of men’s. Women are no longer limited by society in their choices of vocation. A majority of college entrants, as well as medical and law school entrants, are women.

Most of you know that I have three daughters. Many of you have watched them grow up. If any employer were to discriminate against them, I would not only be rightfully indignant, I would be taking legal action against the offending employer, because guess what? It is already illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex in the payment of wages.

More than that, if you look at the existing language in the statute, you will see that it is already illegal to pay different amounts for comparable work on jobs which have comparable requirements related to skill, effort, and responsibility, so an employer can’t circumvent the law by assigning a different job title to an employee.

This bill would go further and require that every job be evaluated, and a worth assigned to it.

Who would decide a job’s worth, its “value”? Not the free market. Apparently, a bureaucrat in the Department of Labor would decide the value of your job and mine. And, should an employee be unhappy with the evaluation assigned by the bureaucrat, a judge would ultimately decide the worth of each job.

What employers does this apply to? Every one of them that has at least two employees, both public and private employers.

How much will this cost the private employers in your district? No one knows.

How much will this cost your cities and counties, and in turn the taxpayers? No one knows for sure. If you look at the local mandate fiscal impact statement filed with the bill, you will see that could range from minimal to significant.

No state has enacted such legislation to apply to all employers. Some states have applied it with their state employee merit system, and it did result in higher pay for some employees, but because there is only so much money available, it resulted in fewer jobs as some positions had to be eliminated.

The only person advocating this issue on a national level is Hillary Clinton. Walter Mondale endorsed it when he ran for President. Congress rejected it when it adopted the Equal Pay act in 1963. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has rejected this approach.

At a time of global competitiveness, why would we want to make our Commonwealth the least attractive to employers among all the states?

Someone has said that maybe the most important lesson learned from the Twentieth Century was that the free market is infinitely better at setting prices and allocating goods and services than any centralized bureaucracy.

The bottom line is this; At a time when the rest of the world, notably Russia and China, are moving away from government-controlled economies toward free market economies, why would we want to put into the hands of a government bureaucrat the decision as to what every job is worth and what each person should earn?

I urge you to vote against this well-intentioned, but very dangerous, bill.”



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