Transparency coming in would solve this. If departments know what they get paid — and what other departments get paid — before accepting a job, then they eithe

Transparency coming in would solve this. If departments know what they get paid — and what other departments get paid — before accepting a job, then they either accept that there are differences for a reason, or reject the offer due to the reasons. If the reasons are fair/reasonable, then there’s nothing to worry about. If they’re not and can’t hire anyone, they’ll figure that out and adjust the salaries for those departments.