Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority bills signal push for conservative agenda

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick introduced a listing Monday of 30 wide-ranging bills that he has designated his legislative priorities, together with offering property tax aid and growing pure fuel crops to enhance the reliability of the state’s energy grid. He additionally detailed extra particularly his plans to push a socially conservative agenda that might ban sure books in colleges, limit transgender scholar athlete participation in collegiate sports activities and finish gender-transition remedy for younger individuals.

In an announcement saying his priority bills, Patrick stated he believed Texans largely supported his proposals as a result of they “largely reflect the policies supported by the conservative majority of Texans.”

Traditionally, the lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate, and the House speaker, who presides over the decrease chamber of the Legislature, unveil 20 bills with low invoice numbers close to the beginning of every legislative session to point their priorities. Since 2017, Patrick, who’s seen as one of many strongest lieutenant governors in fashionable Texas historical past, has expanded his priority record to 30.

Patrick gave reporters a glimpse at his legislative priorities in December. But Monday’s announcement had temporary descriptions of the priority bills (lots of which haven’t been filed but) and extra straight addressed controversial laws that essentially the most socially conservative members within the Republican Party have referred to as for, together with bills that search to impose restrictions on transgender Texans.

Patrick additionally included laws to ban what he deems “obscene” books in colleges and to ban kids from being “exposed” to pull reveals. Such laws has come after clamor from some Republicans to ban books that they deem sexually express in public colleges and after comparable teams and activists have referred to as for an finish to occasions the place drag performers learn to kids. In current months, Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials have taken motion to have some books faraway from college cabinets, together with ones which have content material associated to gender identification or painting LGBTQ relationships.

On schooling, Patrick stated he would struggle to “empower parents” together with by means of “school choice,” indicating a assist for voucher laws that might use state {dollars} for dad and mom to take their youngsters out of public colleges and place them in non-public colleges. At the collegiate degree, he additionally doubled down on ending tenure, a coverage thought he initially floated final 12 months as a option to cease professors from instructing vital race concept, and banning range, fairness and inclusion insurance policies in hiring practices.

These points are according to Patrick’s typical function pushing the Legislature to the correct. He is probably essentially the most socially conservative among the many state’s “Big Three” leaders, which additionally embrace Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan. But Patrick shied away from them throughout his earlier announcement in December, focusing extra on property taxes, immigration and the electrical grid.

Patrick, who has a Republican majority within the Senate, ought to have a straightforward time passing his priorities by means of the higher chamber regardless of what is anticipated to be sturdy opposition from advocacy teams on points round LGBTQ rights, schooling and civil liberties. But the bills should cross by means of each chambers of the Legislature after which be signed by the governor to turn out to be regulation.

In the previous, the House has stifled makes an attempt to drag cash away from public colleges and divert it to non-public schooling, largely as a result of rural Republicans don’t have non-public college choices in lots of their districts and public colleges are a few of their districts’ largest employers. The decrease chamber has additionally had much less of an urge for food for socially controversial laws, like passing bills focusing on LGBTQ individuals.

But the chamber has grown extra socially conservative in current elections, passing a invoice that banned transgender scholar athletes from taking part in Ok-12 sports activities. And this 12 months, key gamers, like Abbott have indicated assist for vouchers and Patrick has stated he’s hopeful that lawmakers can create a framework that might not harm rural districts.

Patrick additionally stated he desires to take away district attorneys and state judges who “refuse to follow Texas law.” Republican lawmakers have been notably offended at prosecutors and judges in Democrat-dominated elements of the state who don’t prosecute sure sorts of crimes, like small possession of marijuana or minor theft expenses, and judges who let defendants depart jail beneath no money bail agreements. Proponents of these insurance policies say such discretion permits prosecutors extra time to deal with main crimes which might be extra vital to sort out.

Patrick additionally signaled the significance of rural Texas by designating amongst his priorities the state’s future water wants, the necessity for extra psychological well being hospitals in rural areas and a necessity to help rural regulation enforcement brokers, who don’t have tax bases as broad as city facilities.

He additionally made “banning local COVID-19 mandates” a priority, maybe in a nod to Abbott’s risk to maintain in place his emergency powers till lawmakers codified his order to ban cities and counties from implementing vaccine and masks mandates.

Patrick, who has to maneuver the 31 senators who make up his chamber, tried to reassure a number of the members whose priorities maybe didn’t make his record.

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