James C. Green, vice-chair of the Wasatch County Republican Party in Utah, asserted this week that laws mandating equal pay for women could cause hardship for men.

In a letter to the editor published by The Wasatch Wave, Green outlines what he says is “the problem with the Equal Pay bill being considered by the Utah Legislature.”

“Traditionally men have earned more than women in the workplace because they are considered the primary breadwinners for families,” Green writes. “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— simple economics.”

Green predicts that a reduction in pay for men “will mean more Mothers will be forced to leave the home (where they may prefer to be) to join the workforce to make up the difference.”

Additionally, the GOP official worries that men may miss out on the best paying jobs as they compete with women in the workforce.

“It’s a vicious cycle that only gets worse the more equality of pay is forced upon us. It’s a situation of well-meaning intentions, but negative unintended consequences,” he opines. “We should encourage our Legislators to drop the whole notion. Let the marketplace determine what free-market forces should prevail.”