U.S. Sen. Mark Begich has been touting his support for the “Paycheck Fairness Act,” a bill blocked by Senate Republicans on Wednesday that would mandate that women get paid as much as men for the same work. However, a chart put together by the National Republican Senatorial Committee shows that Begich, who gets a set amount and decides how much each employee is paid out of it, might want to look at the disparity between the salaries of men and women in his own office.
The NRSC calculated the average pay for men and women in Begich’s office for the most recent six month period. Because some employees only worked a portion of the six month period, it calculated how much each person was paid per day. If found that the average daily pay for men on Begich’s staff is $201.64. The average daily pay for women is $165.00.
According to NRSC calculations, women in Begich’s office make 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
Begich has twice as many female workers as he does male workers, which likely skews the numbers. Also, his two highest paid staff are men. His chief of staff makes $411 a day and his legislative director makes $304 a day. But it appears that there’s disparity in pay for some of the jobs with the same titles. For instance, Begich has three female field reps, the highest paid making $153 a day. His sole male field rep makes $156.00 a day.
Max Croes, a spokesperson for Begich’s campaign, declined comment.
The NRSC also detailed the pay disparity in offices of other red-state Democratic senators, and found the following:
- Mark Udall pays women 85 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
- Mary Landrieu pays women 88 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
- Mark Warner pays women 75 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
- Gary Peters pays women 67 cents for every dollar that a man makes.
There are all sorts of reasons why a woman might make less than a man, including experience. Indeed, according to McClatchy newspapers, a pay disparity exists even in the White House, where overall, women make 91 cents for every dollar men make.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
I’m more surprised Ms. Coyne published an article being critical of her golden boy, Marky Mark.
This is entirely typical. It’s similar to Al Gore being flown in his personal jet across the continent to meet with Brad Pit about global warming. Government often says do as I say, not as I do. And it’s the left wing that is far more often the culprit. Great reporting.
Begich had a town hall teleconference just last night in which he went on and on about fairness in pay for women. I would bet the women on his staff rolled their eyes as he spoke.