Texas Senate quickly passes over half of initial legislative priorities

AUSTIN, Texas (KAUZ) – Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick today praised the Texas Senate for passing just over half of its legislative priorities at the halfway point of the legislative session.

“At the halfway point of the 89th regular legislative session, the Texas Senate is hard at work passing important legislation. At the beginning of the session in January, I laid out the most conservative and bold agenda in Texas Senate history. Just one week after the bill filing deadline, the Texas Senate had already passed 21 of the top 40 priority bills, including my priorities, the senators’ priorities, and the most important bills the voters asked me to pass. In the coming weeks, Senators will pass the remaining priority bills. All credit goes to the senators. They are working at lightspeed to deliver for the people of Texas,” Patrick said in a statement.

The bills will now go to the Texas House of Representatives to face another round of scrutiny and revision before potentially becoming law.

The bills the Senate has passed so far include:

Senate Bill 2 – Providing School Choice

Senate Bill 3 – Banning THC in Texas

Senate Bill 4 – Increasing the Homestead Exemption to $140,000 ($150,000 for Seniors)

Senate Bill 5 – Combatting Dementia and Alzheimer’s – Establishing DPRIT (Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas)

Senate Bill 6 – Increasing Texas’ Electric Grid Reliability

Senate Bill 9 – Reforming Bail – Keeping Violent Criminals Off Our Streets

Senate Bill 10 – Placing the Ten Commandments in School

Senate Bill 11 – Protecting the Freedom to Pray in School

Senate Bill 12 – Establishing a Parental Bill of Rights in Public Education

Senate Bill 13 – Guarding Against Inappropriate Books in Public Schools