Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released his legislative priorities for the 88th Session on Monday, identifying the first 30 Senate bills.
The lieutenant governor noted that “each session, the 31 members of the Texas Senate file thousands of bills. Some are duplicates because members often have similar priorities voiced to them by their constituents.”
“The tradition has been for bill numbers 1 through 20 to indicate the Lt. Governor’s and the Senate’s priorities,” he explained.
“In 2017, I increased the low bill numbers to 30.”
“Senators like to get a low bill number because it shows their bill is also a priority of the Lt. Governor and has a great chance of passing,” added Patrick.
“I believe Texans support our priorities because they largely reflect the policies supported by the conservative majority of Texans,” he continued.
Patrick also claimed that “most [bills] will pass with bipartisan support.”
The priority bills are as follows:
- Senate Bill 1 – State Budget
- Senate Bill 2 – Restoring Voter Fraud to a Felony
- Senate Bill 3 – Increasing the Homestead Exemption to $70,000
- Senate Bill 4 – Adding Additional Property Tax Relief
- Senate Bill 5 – Increasing the Business Personal Property Tax Exemption
- Senate Bill 6 – Adding New Natural Gas Plants
- Senate Bill 7 – Continuing to Improve the Texas Grid
- Senate Bill 8 – Empowering Parental Rights – Including School Choice
- Senate Bill 9 – Empowering Teacher Rights – Teacher Pay Raise
- Senate Bill 10 – Adding 13th Checks for Retired Teachers
- Senate Bill 11 – Keeping Our Schools Safe and Secure
- Senate Bill 12 – Banning Children’s Exposure to Drag Shows
- Senate Bill 13 – Protecting Children from Obscene Books in Libraries
- Senate Bill 14 – Ending Child Gender Modification
- Senate Bill 15 – Protecting Women’s College Sports
- Senate Bill 16 – Banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Higher Education
- Senate Bill 17 – Banning Discriminatory “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) Policies in Higher Education
- Senate Bill 18 – Eliminating Tenure at General Academic Institutions
- Senate Bill 19 – Creating A New Higher Education Endowment Fund
- Senate Bill 20 – Removing District Attorneys Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
- Senate Bill 21 – Removing Judges Who Refuse to Follow Texas Law
- Senate Bill 22 – Assisting Rural Law Enforcement Funding – Increasing Pay and Needed Equipment
- Senate Bill 23 – Creating A Mandatory 10-Year Prison Sentence for Criminals Committing Gun Crimes
- Senate Bill 24 – Expanding Alternatives to Abortion
- Senate Bill 25 – Creating New Scholarships for Registered Nurses
- Senate Bill 26 – Expanding Mental Health Care Beds Across Texas – Focus on Rural Counties
- Senate Bill 27 – Creating A New Business Specialty Court
- Senate Bill 28 – Addressing Texas’ Future Water Needs
- Senate Bill 29 – Banning Local COVID-19 Mandates
- Senate Bill 30 – Supplemental Budget
“This session I could have used 50 low bill numbers because there are so many issues that need to be addressed,” the lieutenant governor continued. “Just because a bill does not make the priority list does not mean it is not a priority for me or the Senate.”
“We will pass over 600 bills this session. As I like to say, every bill is a priority to someone, otherwise we would not pass it,” he concluded.
Matt Rinaldi, the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, explained to The Dallas Express, “We are excited to see Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick once again lead with a conservative agenda and look forward to working with him, the Texas Senate, and House to pass conservative legislation that will improve the lives of Texans.”
Some legislative priorities have already enjoyed some bipartisan support, and the Big City Mayors organization recently echoed some of Lt. Gov. Patrick’s emphasis on mental health programs, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The Texas Democratic Party, meanwhile, described Patrick’s priorities in a tweet as “[b]anning books, defunding public schools, stripping local power away, whitewashing history, and a bizarre obsession with LGBTQ kids.”
Referring to Senate Bills 20 and 21, the activist group Vote Pro Choice alleged, “Two of Dan Patrick’s priorities are removing judges and DAs protecting abortion patients and providers from criminalization.”
The Dallas Express reached out to the Dallas County Democrats for comment on the lieutenant governor’s announcement. No response was received by press time.