Lt. Gov. Patrick releases 30 Texas legislative priorities. Here's what he hopes to pass in 2023.

Hogan Gore, Austin American-Statesman
·7 min read
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Garrett Foster pointed his gun through the car window at Daniel Perry, a claim that was not made at trial.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick presented a list of 30 priority bills on Monday that range from handling the state's money for the next two years to legislation addressing teacher pay, parental rights and Texas' water supply.

Contained in Senate Bills 1 through 30 — lower numbers tend to indicate legislative importance — the proposal from Patrick, the Texas Senate's presiding officer, will guide lawmakers and their committees as they work to meet their lone obligation: passing a state budget in 140 days.

Outside of the Legislature's constitutional mandate of crafting a biennial budget, bills addressing infrastructure issues, equity and accessibility concerns, and bills born out of culture wars will span the spectrum of consideration.

“This session, I could have used 50 low bill numbers because there are so many issues that need to be addressed," Patrick said in a statement Monday. "Just because a bill does not make the priority list does not mean it is not a priority for me or the Senate."

More:Will Texas legalize online sports betting? Here's what some lawmakers are proposing.

While some items passed from Patrick's chamber will garner bipartisan support but draw little attention, other issues will be bitterly contested.

"We will pass over 600 bills this session," Patrick said. "As I like to say, every bill is a priority to someone; otherwise, we would not pass it."

No surprise on property taxes

The actual language in Patrick's priority bills has yet to be crafted, but one thing that remains certain is his intention to raise the state's property tax exemption. A proposed homestead exemption increase from $40,000 to $65,000 has jumped to $70,000.

Senate Bill 3 will be the avenue for the homestead exemption to advance this session, with Senate Bill 4 standing to add "additional property tax relief," according to Patrick's list. Senate Bill 5 would add to the business personal property tax exemption.

So far, lawmakers in both chambers have filed legislation that would limit the amount that property taxes can increase, set maximum appraisal values, and adjust ad valorem taxes and school district collections — all in hopes of driving down the cost Texans are paying on what they own.

In November, Patrick released a tentative list of his priorities, saying at the time that the Legislature needs to "start there and work down" from property taxes.

Transgender issues

Gender, schools and drag shows are all mentioned in Patrick's initial bill filings of the 88th Legislature.

From Patrick's school choice bill in SB 8 to the creation of a new endowment fund with SB 19, his bills related to children and schools also aim to ban "children's exposure to drag shows," target "obscene" books in school libraries and would not allow for children to have gender-modifying surgeries.

More:Texas lawmakers seek review of school board association's guidance on trans student issues

Each bill, currently without proposed language, is no surprise as the legislative items match GOP campaign rhetoric and the party's views on LGBTQ autonomy.

At the university level, SB 15 would end the ability of transgender athletes to compete at the college level, while SB 16 and 17 would ban critical race theory in higher education along with diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Gardner Pate, chief of staff for Gov. Greg Abbott, wrote in a Feb. 4 memo that it’s “inconsistent with the law” for state agencies to fund diversity, equity and inclusion positions with taxpayer money. He said using such initiatives as an employment screening tool violates employment laws and leads to the “alienation of individuals from the workplace.”

More:Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for end to diversity hiring practices at state agencies

Additionally, Patrick has been very vocal about the possibility of ending professor tenure in Texas, which is proposed in SB 18.

"I believe in academic freedom, but when you are teaching our students that America is evil and capitalism is bad, I'm sorry, that will destroy our country long-term," Patrick said at panel event in January hosted by The Texan, an Austin-based conservative media outlet.

More:Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will seek fourth term as conservative priorities take shape in Senate

Texas utilities: water, electricity

The Texas Senate's Committee on Business and Commerce met last week, and the Public Utility Commission and the electric grid it regulates are still on the minds of the Senate's top brass. SB 7 seeks to improve the state's electricity reliability.

After a unanimous decision to adopt an electric grid market redesign in January, lawmakers have since pushed back on the proposal.

Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, who authored Senate Bill 3 last session to make changes to the grid in response to the deadly February 2021 freeze, said the unanimous approval by the Public Utility Commission — which oversees the electrical grid's manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — ignores “clear direction” from the Legislature.

“In the weeks ahead, the Texas Senate will hold hearings and consider whatever legislation is necessary to correct this error and fulfill our obligation to the people of Texas,” Schwertner tweeted after the PUC meeting.

More:Austin roads covered in ice as winter storm hits Central Texas

Schwertner, who was charged with driving while intoxicated last week, is a Patrick ally who leads the Business and Commerce Committee and likely will help shepherd grid-related legislation.

Patrick also has made SB 28, addressing Texas' future water needs, one of his priorities.

Increasingly, Texans are facing a real problem in securing access to fresh water, which comes amid a struggle with overpumping, regulatory underfunding, a population boom and a drought last summer that rivaled the state’s worst.

Along with Patrick's attention, Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock filed a bill late last week that would create a fund for the Texas Water Development Board to issue grants and send money across the state's water infrastructure entities and groundwater conservation districts that are tasked with regulating and permitting groundwater use at the hyperlocal level.

“It is estimated that over the next 50 years, our state could be short 7 million acre-feet (over 2.2 trillion gallons) of water, and, according to the TWDB, over 136 billion gallons of water are lost each year to leaks in our infrastructure,” Perry said in a statement Friday. “It is time for the state to put real investment in our water infrastructure and ensure Texas has sufficient water supply as we continue to grow.”

Patrick’s priority bills

  • 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 Crime

  • 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 article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick releases 30 legislative priorities for Texas