Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has expressed regret over the failure of proposed legislation that would have mandated the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms in Texas.

Patrick’s criticism follows Louisiana’s recent legislative success in passing a similar law.

In a series of pointed remarks on the social media platform X, Patrick directly criticized Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan for the failure of Senate Bill 1515, which aimed to require the display of the Ten Commandments in public elementary and secondary schools.

“Conservative faith-based bills DON’T HAVE A PRAYER UNDER SPEAKER DADE PHELAN,” Patrick wrote on Thursday.

In a separate post that same day, he accused Phelan of allowing the bill — proposed in April by Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) — to get hung up in committee, effectively preventing it from advancing and reaching a full vote on the House floor.

“Texas would have been and should have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools,” Patrick wrote on X, calling the failure “inexcusable and unacceptable.”

Despite the setbacks seen during the last legislative session, Patrick has vowed to reintroduce the bill in the Senate and rectify what he sees as a missed opportunity for Texas.

Patrick also cited the previous failure of Senate Bill 1396, which sought to permit periods of prayer and Bible reading in Texas public schools.

Similar legislative efforts in Oklahoma and Utah have faced obstacles, primarily due to anticipated legal challenges regarding the separation of church and state. This leaves Louisiana as the only state that currently mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom and within colleges, according to WFAA.

Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation earlier this week mandating a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms across the state by early 2025.

Different civil liberties groups have planned to file lawsuits challenging the law, according to AP News. They argue it violates constitutional protections against the government endorsement of religion. In 1980, a similar law in Kentucky was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that it violated the First Amendment by having a clearly religious purpose.