Wendy Davis’ Opponent Gets Caught In Equal Pay Lie: His Office Pays Women Less Than Men

[JI7]

Gubernatorial nominee and Texas AG Greg Abbott (R-TX) is in trouble. Abbott told Texans, “I fully expect women to be paid what men are paid.” His spokesman even assured the people of Texas that Abbott supported equal pay for women and that he would “continue to ensure it’s enforced.”

The only problem is it turns out equal pay is not even enforced in Abbott’s own Attorney General office.

Under fire from Democratic opponent State Senator Wendy Davis about his failure to publicly support the Texas version of the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Republican Abbott went on TV to personalize himself as a concerned father and husband, emphasizing his role as family man over his actual policy position.

Abbott ducked and dodged the real issue of why Republican Governor Rick Perry did Texas businesses a huge favor by vetoing the state legislation based on the federal Lilly Ledbetter Act, which would allow a woman who discovers a pay inequity to seek remedy. Currently, if a woman discovers a discriminatory paycheck more than 180 days after her first paycheck was issued, she cannot file suit.

Republicans move this goal post from the rights granted in Lilly Ledbetter to general support for equal pay as an idea, so that they can say things that sound great until you look under the hood and realize this person just blew off the entire issue.

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/03/19/greg-abbott-equal-pay-laws-office-rife-discrimination.html

[Gothmog]

1. As a contrast, women in Wendy Davis' office get paid more than men

There are some real differences between Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wendy-davis-office-average-pay

Women staffers in state Sen. Wendy Davis' (D) Senate office made, on average, roughly $3,000 more than male employees, according to data obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Specifically, women averaged $43,050 while men in the office averaged $40,378. Of the total 12 employees in Davis' state Senate office, six are men and six are women.

The new information comes as equal pay for women sits in the spotlight of the Texas gubernatorial race between Davis and Attorney General Greg Abbott (R). A spokesman for Abbott's campaign said if he were governor he wouldn't sign legislation that would help women who bring forward pay discrimination lawsuits.

The San Antonio Express-News also reported that female assistant attorneys general under Abbott, on average, make less than their male counterparts. The Express-News found that the 343 male assistant attorneys general made on average $79,464 while the 379 women make on average $73,649.

There are real differences between Wendy Davis and Greg.

[okaawhatever]

2. The story does address the issue of experience, yrs with agency, yrs licensed, etc. More info behind

paywall at San Antonio newspaper but here is what the story did show:

The relevant bit:

Abbott’s office said the difference is explained by the amount of time that the men have been licensed as lawyers and have served at the agency.
But drilling down into different classifications of assistant attorney general, the figures provided by Abbott’s office show there isn’t always a direct correlation between such experience and pay.