Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick last week laid out his legislative priorities for the upcoming Legislative session in 2023. Dan Patrick is coming in for his third term as Texas’ Lt. Governor. The Lt. Governor has huge power in Texas to set legislative priorities, determine which bills go in which committees, and which bills are preferred. Thus, what the Lt. Governor prioritizes will have an impact on what laws get passed in Texas next year. “We have an extraordinary opportunity unlike we have never had before to chart the future of the State of Texas and create a vision,” said Patrick.
The first thing that the Lt. Governor was excited about was the budget increases and how the state is planning to handle its money. It’s going to be a big budget in January according to Patrick. They are not constitutionally allowed to spend all the money in the budget, including the proposed 27-30 billion surplus. The Legislative Budget Board decided to set the spending limit at 12.33% for the Biennal budget of 2024-2025. That spending limit will increase the state’s budget, and increase how much the state can spend, overtime. Patrick overall wants to increase reserves in the state’s budget.
The Lt. Governor also focused on property tax relief, and one of the ways he wanted to help ease property tax relief is by raising the Homestead Exemption Act. Patrick stated the details will come during the 2023 legislative session. “One of the things that we’ve done since I’ve been a lieutenant governor is…we moved the homestead appraisal under the homestead exemption from $15,000 to $25,000. Last session we raised it to 40,000. I’d like to take it to $60,000 or $65,000,” said Patrick. “That’s something that we can afford and maintain. Before I leave this building I’d like it to be a $100,000.” Patrick also added he wants to figure out a “robust” property tax cut.
He also prioritizes expanding the Personal Property Exemption which will cut taxes for businesses. “I believe the cap is $2,500 or anything over $2,500. I’d like to raise it up really to a hundred thousand,” said Patrick. “There’s just so much freedom to small businesses, and remember small businesses would create jobs…and I’m open to the business community to come up with ideas as well.”
Then, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick moved to talk about the electric grid. Specifically, Patrick wants to prioritize increasing natural gas production, leveling the playing field with renewables. He also wants to attract investment in natural gas plants to better prepare the power grid.
Then the Lt. governor talked about border security and law enforcement. Patrick wants the state to create a rural law enforcement fund. Patrick emphasized a need to increase funding for sheriff’s departments and pay rural law enforcement better. “The people in rural Texas deserve to be protected from crime just as people in the big city or the big counties,” said Patrick. Patrick plans to work with the Texas Association of Counties to develop a plan that works.
Additionally, Patrick wants the state to pass a law that would penalize people who use a gun in any crime with a 10-year minimum sentence. “We got to get the guns out of the criminals’ hands. This wild west nonsense out there allowed in many big counties because either they’re not prosecuted or judges let them out on the street and they start taking potshots at everyone,” said Patrick.
Patrick wants to recall District Attornies and Judges who fail to execute Texas law. Dan Patrick said there needs to be a penalization for district attorneys and judges by recalling them for failing to enforce Texas law based on their political beliefs.
Then, Patrick reiterated the state’s efforts to continue funding Abbott’s border protection policy.
Dan Patrick went over his ideas for education and school security. Patrick wants to boost funding for schools that are not Permanent University Funded Schools such as Texas A&M or the University of Texas, which receive large funding and are able to advance their programs. Patrick wants schools like Texas Tech and The University of Houston to increase university competition and allow Texas universities to build better academic programs with more funding.
Patrick furthermore discussed scholarship programs to increase the workforces of teachers, law enforcement, and nurses. “If you’ll go to school today and get a degree in math and science we’ll pay for your education if you agree to teach,” informed Patrick. “If you go to school and get a degree and any discipline and agree to go into law enforcement, we’ll pay for your education. There are some parameters you have to qualify.” He added they need to use those same incentives to attract nurses and fix the state’s nursing and healthcare worker shortage.
Patrick went more into increasing teacher pay and working on a cost of living adjustment for retired teachers or a 13th check. Patrick vocalized his initiative to empower parents by giving them a voice in their child’s education and might be crafting a parental rights bill. The Lt. Governor finished with wanting to continue to fund the School Safety Fund. What Patrick did not touch on, was his plans on reforming tenure in higher education so professors can be held accountable.
The Lt. Governor also touched a lot on investing in the Texas mental health system. They have 8.9 billion in mental health funding right now. Patrick wants to build a new number of mental health hospitals around the state and renovate existing ones. Furthermore, he wants to increase the number of beds in each mental health care facility. Patrick proposed to build a mental health care facility in the Pan Handle and add hundreds of beds to the facilities in El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, the Terrel unit, and the Wichita Falls unit and increase the staffing in these facilities. What was on his list that Patrick did not touch on, was finishing the Alamo restoration and retiring debt which saves the state money.
Lastly, Patrick talked about election integrity and touched on that there needs to be an efficient way for counties to count the votes without issues. “We need to restore voter fraud to a felony,” said Patrick. “Unfortunately, it was dropped to a misdemeanor last time. It’s a serious crime; you steal someone’s vote. It just needs to be restored to a felony. That’s one of the bills that will pass on the Senate.”