The Evening Brief: June 14, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Senator: Perry Vetoed Equal Pay Bill: "Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed a bill aimed at preventing pay discrimination against women, one of the bill’s sponsors said. State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, said Perry’s office informed her that Perry has vetoed House Bill 950, which would have had Texas law mirror gender wage protections in the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Nearly every other state has passed similar measures."

•    Senate Backs Interim Maps Over Democrats' Objections: "The Texas Senate voted to ratify court-drawn political maps that were used for legislative and congressional races in 2012. The bills now head to the House. In party-line votes, Senators voted 16-11 to approve the interim maps for congressional and state House districts. The map of the state’s 31 Senate districts passed with unanimous consent."

•    Senate Panel Approves Omnibus Abortion Bill: "An omnibus abortion regulation bill is headed to the full Senate for debate after receiving tentative approval Friday from a panel of senators."

•    Senate Approves Life With Parole for 17-Year-Old Murderers: "The Senate on Friday approved a measure that would require judges and juries to sentence 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder to life in prison with the chance of parole after 40 years."

•    Perry Signs Unemployment Drug-Testing Bill: "Gov. Rick Perry has signed into law Senate Bill 21, a measure that will subject Texans applying for unemployment benefits to a drug test if their responses to a screening questionnaire indicate possible drug use."

Culled

•    Watchdog group files criminal coercion complaint against Rick Perry for threatening Travis County DA (The Dallas Morning News): "Texans for Public Justice has filed a criminal complaint against Gov. Rick Perry for threatening to veto $7 million in funding for the public integrity unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg steps down."

•    Is Perry raising his profile for another national run? (San Antonio Express-News): "Gov. Rick Perry faces a looming deadline to veto bills, has just piled lawmakers' plate high with issues, including the incendiary topic of abortion, and is watching them pick their way through the redistricting minefield he put before them. He, however, has other fish to fry."