Enlarge Bob Daemmrich

Senate Democrats, Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, Leticia van de Putte, D-San Antonio, Kirk Watson, D-Austin and Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Ft. Worth, talk just before the start of the second special session on July 1, 2013.

The equal pay issue has made the leap from gubernatorial politics to the Texas Senate. The 12 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Wednesday sent a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst requesting an interim charge on "the issue of pay equity at all state agencies."

Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for governor, is trying to make this the signature issue of her campaign against GOP nominee and Attorney General Greg Abbott. The attacks have escalated after the San Antonio Express-News reported on pay disparities between men and women in the Office of the Attorney General. A subsequent look at pay disparities at state agencies conducted by the Tribune found the issue complex and nuanced enough to defy simple analysis.

In calling for study, the Senate Democrats wrote, "Texas can do better. And Texas will be even greater when we assure all people are treated equally. We believe that unequal pay for equal work is unacceptable in Texas."

The Houston Chronicle's David Saleh Rauf reported Dewhurst's response. On the one hand, Dewhurst said that he would consider asking for an interim study. But on the other hand, Dewhurst said the letter had an air of "gotcha politics" and that he agreed with Gov. Rick Perry's veto of a bill last year that would have extended the federal protections in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to the state.

On Thursday, Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business continued the pushback from conservatives on the equal pay issue, saying that his group can't support "employers being held responsible for salary decisions for years after they are made, which the federal and state versions of the Lilly Ledbetter bill include. ... The lack of a statute of limitations for filing these cases is bad for business, and this bill is bad for business, pure and simple.”

State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, countered via Twitter, saying the Ledbetter act does have a statute of limitations. A suit filed under this law can only go back two years from the date the complaint was filed for backpay, she wrote.

Meanwhile, the Senate Democratic Caucus continued on Thursday to try to drum up support for its call for an interim charge, launching an online petition.

*****

The Legislature rang in the post-Real Player era this week, kicking off a new video streaming technology with Monday's interim hearing of House Human Services.

In addition to improving the quality of the video feeds, the new technology eliminates the limit on the number of viewers who can be accommodated at a time. Before, only 2,500 viewers at a time could stream a broadcast. The new technology will be used for committee hearings from both chambers as well as the floor feeds next session, according to a press release from House Speaker Joe Straus.

In addition, the new format will allow access from mobile devices.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, the Texas Association of Business was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. (See the full list of Tribune donors below $1,000 here.)

Enlarge Tammye Nash, Cleburne Times-Review

When Democratic lite guv candidate Leticia Van de Putte robo-called voters to not back comedian/author turned Democratic ag commissioner hopeful Kinky Friedman, she made the argument that Democrats should instead back the “real Democrat” in the race.

The only problem is that voters chose not to back the “real Democrat” in the race, the establishment-backed Hugh Fitzsimons III, but opted instead to put Friedman and Cleburne insurance agent Jim Hogan in the May runoff election.

And as the Tribune’s Neena Satija reported this week, it’ll be tough to claim Hogan is any more of a “real Democrat” than Friedman. Voting records show Hogan voting in GOP primaries in 1998, 2006 and 2012. He voted in the Democratic primary in 2008, although Hogan told Satija that he didn’t remember voting in that contest.

All in all, this is par for the course for a candidate who admitted in a December interview with the Tribune that the reason he chose to run in the Democratic contest was that he thought it would be easier to win.

This week, he said, “I’m really not Republican or Democrat. I really don’t consider myself either.”

That cannot be music to the ears of state Democratic Party leaders, who are looking at having as their ballot representative for a statewide office either a candidate who voted mostly in the other party’s primaries or a candidate who has had kind words for Rick Perry in recent years.

*****

Forth Worth Democrat Lon Burnam has decided not to go gently into that good night, filing a legal challenge to the way his party primary challenger, Ramon Romero Jr., collected some of his mail-in ballots.

Burnam lost by 111 votes to Romero, a result that would end, if it is upheld, Burnam’s 18-year career in the Texas House.

The suit, filed in state court, centers on the roughly 180 mail-in ballots where the voter used an iPad to apply for a ballot. Burnam contends the method was illegal because canvassers were mailing printed applications without their own signatures, according to the Tribune’s Alana Rocha.

It doesn't take a math major to see if Burnam is successful in his challenge to the votes' validity, it'd be enough to change the overall results. And whoever wins the Democratic contest will go to Austin in January because the nominee does not have a general election opponent.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy reported in a column this week that Burnam sent out a March 14 fundraising email in which the incumbent said he planned to continue talking about contributions to the Romero campaign from a charter school advocacy group called Education Reform Now.

Kennedy reported that Burnam wrote in boldface in the email that “I have 10 months left as a state representative and I intend to use every bit of it.”

*****

State Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, chose this week to signal his support for Joe Straus continuing as House speaker next session. In a letter apparently sent to his House colleagues, Villalba wrote, “I support Speaker Straus because I am a Reagan Republican whose sole motivation is to work each day to enhance the lives of the people of Texas.”

Villalba, who has made headlines in recent days for highlighting the GOP’s challenge in reaching out to Hispanic voters, also addressed the divide in his caucus:

“With strong Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, it is often asked ‘why didn’t we do more?’ The answer lies both in the strong presence of our friends on the other side of the political aisle and in the ruddy complexion of the modern Texas Republican. So long as members loyally represent the political character of their districts, there will be a disparity of opinions — even among members of the same party.”

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This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: Infighting continues between University of Texas regents, administrators and politicians. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst tells voters they don't really know Sen. Dan Patrick. The deadline for signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is closing in.

You can view the video at: https://trib.it/1gGBMW2

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All but a handful of our government and politics insiders think women should be paid the same as men doing equivalent work.

That set the stage for a question about a state version of the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which passed the Legislature and was vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry during last year’s legislative session. Slightly over half of our insiders said the state should have such a law, while 38 percent said it doesn’t need one.

The equal pay fight bubbling in the governor’s race plays to the advantage of the Democrats, according to 61 percent of the insiders; another 37 percent said it won’t affect the elections. Finally, we asked whether women’s votes are up for grabs this year. According to 72 percent of the insiders, the answer is yes.

We collected verbatim remarks along the way and have attached a full set. Here is a sampling:

Enlarge Ben Hasson

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Should women be paid the same as men for equivalent work?

• "A closer look needs to be taken behind the numbers before we assume this is not already happening."

• "Is this even a question??"

• "Please find me the person in Texas that thinks men should be paid more than women for the same work. Someone is living in the 60s."

• "The real issue is that women are demanding the same pay for UNEQUAL work."

• "What percentage of the TT 'insiders' is men on an average week? Might want to lead your write up on these questions with that info." [editor’s note: It was 82 percent male, 18 percent female this week.]

Enlarge Ben Hasson

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Should Texas pass a state version of the federal Lilly Ledbetter Act, a version of which was passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry last year?

• "This is a non-issue in the real world. Let the FREE MARKET determine wages."

• "Equal pay (non discrimination on the basis of sex) is already the law in Texas. Under the guise of equal pay the Legislature passed a bill that left employers liable for actions that could date from decades past. This open-ended liability for employers is a bad policy and Perry was right to veto it. The whole 'equal pay' issue is a smokescreen."

• "I generally think we don't need more laws--that the State has no role in deciding pay structures of private companies...but I want my girls to earn every dollar they can and not be shortchanged because they're females."

• "Only because it's hard to make sure you are being paid a fair salary when you don't know what others are being paid. If you knew, then you could represent yourself better in such negotiations."

• "We already have laws that make discrimination on the basis of gender illegal. Why add another one?"

Enlarge Ben Hasson

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How will equal pay play in this year’s state elections?

• "Repubs will focus on abortion and it will be their downfall"

• "Feminist Wendy Davis is desperate to find something--anything--to earn relevance."

• "In the context of other women's issues being raised by the Democrats, it 'could' show how different each party is in regards to women."

• "It will play for the Democrats, but not enough to win."

• "Much ado about nothing if you know the true story. The Ds tell so many lies about this issue. If you compare job to job the data tells the truth pay is equal. The 77 cents on the dollar is a lie."

Enlarge Ben Hasson

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Do you think women’s votes are up for grabs in this election year?

• "Women will determine who wins this year. Don't think the wacky Repub women are voting that way - they just tell you they are! Surprises in store."

• "*Which* women? Younger, older, single, married, mothers? Seems like each subset has picked a side and is likely not to be persuaded to move anytime soon."

• "I think the female vote is up for grabs every election, but even that statement pigeon-holes women into a singularity. You're ignoring the fact that women care about other issues, and that in this election they will vote only for candidates that support equal pay or abortion rights."

• "Don't see conservative Texas women jumping the fence for this."

• "They are every year. But it's not a monolithic block and efforts to treat it as such are foolish."

• "Not any more than any other election."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Jenny Aghamalian, Brandon Alderete, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Jay Arnold, Charles Bailey, Tom Banning, Dave Beckwith, Amy Beneski, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, David Cabrales, Raif Calvert, Kerry Cammack, Thure Cannon, Snapper Carr, Janis Carter, Corbin Casteel, William Chapman, Elna Christopher, Harold Cook, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, June Deadrick, Nora Del Bosque, Glenn Deshields, Holly DeShields, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, Jon Fisher, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Eric Glenn, Kinnan Golemon, Jim Grace, John Greytok, Anthony Haley, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, Ken Hodges, Steve Holzheauser, Billy Howe, Kathy Hutto, Deborah Ingersoll, Cal Jillson, Mark Jones, Robert Jones, Lisa Kaufman, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Ramey Ko, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, Dick Lavine, James LeBas, Luke Legate, Richard Levy, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Robert Miller, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Keir Murray, Richard Murray, Nelson Nease, Pat Nugent, Todd Olsen, Gardner Pate, Robert Peeler, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Richard Pineda, Allen Place, Royce Poinsett, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Ted Melina Raab, Karen Reagan, Patrick Reinhart, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, Grant Ruckel, Jason Sabo, Luis Saenz, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Todd Smith, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Jason Stanford, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Sherry Sylvester, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, Ware Wendell, Ken Whalen, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Seth Winick, Alex Winslow, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

Enlarge Todd Wiseman

Sunday, March 30

• Fundraiser for state House candidate Al Hoang; Ocean Palace, Houston (5 p.m.)

Tuesday, April 1

• Roast & Toast of Sen. Rodney Ellis; Four Seasons Hotel, Houston (6 p.m.)

Up to 168,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into Galveston Bay on Saturday, closing the Houston Ship Channel and raising fears of a major ecological disaster along the Texas Coast.

The University of Texas System dropped 2,000 heavily redacted email documents that nevertheless shed more light on the ongoing conflicts between system regents and school administrators.

Gov. Rick Perry in an interview Monday with Fox Business described restrictions on Tesla Motors from selling cars directly to consumers as "antiquated protections." But his office later said there are no plans to call a special session on the issue. Meanwhile, Tesla executives on Wednesday met secretly with San Antonio-area government officials. The city is said to be in the running for a $5 billion battery plant to be built by Tesla.

The lesser prairie chicken will be listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The decision is expected to have a significant economic impact in the five states, Texas included, where the bird roams. Officials from all five states had worked together on a plan intended to stave off a listing for the bird.

A judge ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to disclose its supplier of execution drugs. The state will appeal the ruling.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, the University of Texas was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. (See the full list of Tribune donors below $1,000 here.)

Jon Burrows of Temple, Olen Underwood of Willis and Glen Whitley of Hurst were reappointed to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission by Gov. Rick Perry for terms to expire Feb. 1, 2016.

The Association of Texas Professional Educators has named Loree LeBoeuf the new director of its foundation. She worked previously as senior legal counsel at Econohomes LLC in Austin.

Ralph Hall's challenger in the CD-4 GOP runoff election, John Ratcliffe, has earned the endorsement of the Club for Growth PAC and The Madison Project.

GOP lite guv candidate Dan Patrick picked up the endorsement of the Gun Owners of America-Political Victory Fund. Patrick is attempting unseat Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the May 27 runoff election.

GOP attorney general candidate Ken Paxton earned endorsements from RNC committeeman Robin Armstrong and former RNC committeeman Bill Crocker. Paxton faces Dan Branch in the May 27 runoff election.

HD-10 GOP candidate John Wray picked up a couple more endorsements in his runoff contest with T.J. Fabby. The Ellis-Hill Association of Realtors and the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas both threw their support behind Wray.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, the Association of Texas Professional Educators was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. (See the full list of Tribune donors below $1,000 here.)