In general, I like this idea. Don't especially like the gov't mandating it, though.
I never, ever tell a prospective employer what I'm making. I expect a wage that's competitive in the current market. If they lowball me, or *demand* to know (had that happen before, too), then I likely don't want to work there.
Usually, it's the useless HR wonks that push that nonsense. Talking to people who actually run the company and do the hiring ... salary is usually a secondary concern. So long as we're close (they're not thinking 50K while I'm thinking 150K), negotiations with them are pretty easy.
1. Six of them were hired "anonymously" through a typical hiring process: post the job in various venues, review resumes, and hire the best candidate for the job.
2. Five of them were hired as "known quantities" through personal or professional connections (i.e., we knew who they were and wanted to hire them based on their skills, personality traits, etc.). For these five, we were legally required to go through the same song and dance as the first group, so we had to post these positions and go through the motions of pretending we were reviewing resumes, ranking candidates, etc.
Of the first group of 6 employees, 5 of them were gone within the first two years -- all of them due to some lack of skills, personality problems, or both.
Of the second group of 5 employees, 4 of them turned out to be stars and were key players in the department for a long time. The only one who didn't make it was someone whose hand had to be held all the time, and who didn't have a lot of initiative to improve on the job.
Based on my personal experience, I think HR rules and labor laws are a waste of a company's time and resources.