A Utah county Republican Party official has apologized after receiving blowback for criticizing a bill in the state legislature designed to create equal pay criteria.
James Green, vice chair of the Wasatch County GOP, wrote a letter to the editor published in the Wasatch Wave and The Park Record on Wednesday, where he argued against requiring equal pay because “if businesses are forced to pay women the same as male earnings, that means they will have to reduce the pay for the men they employ.”
The letter argues that it is not the role of the government to “dictate to businesses what they should pay” and said “traditionally, men have earned more than women in the workplace because they are considered the primary breadwinners for families. They need to make enough to support their families and allow the mother to remain in the home to raise and nurture the children.”
However, Green issued an apology via email to CNN affiliate KSTU that was published online Thursday, emphasizing that the comments he made were not reflective of the overall Republican Party or the Wasatch County Republican Party.
“I want to clarify the main focus of my letter was to express that I don’t feel the government should be dictating to private establishments what they must do in regard to employment, hiring, or wages,” Green wrote.
“There was no offense intended toward women whatsoever. And yet some took it that way. To those who were offended, I profusely apologize. I sincerely did not mean to do that,” he continued. “Of course, women’s contributions in the workplace are just as valuable as anyone else’s. I was merely pointing out the historical reasons for pay disparity and the challenges of overcoming that.”
The bill, S.B. 210, would require “certain employers in the state to adopt and disclose to each employee uniform criteria that the employer uses to determine whether to change an employee’s compensation or benefits based on the employee’s performance,” among other things.