Patrick calls on Abbott to add 12 more issue-based special sessions

(The Center Square) – After the Republican-controlled House failed to pass many of the bills passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and many of Gov. Greg Abbott’s legislative priorities, the governor on Monday immediately called for a special legislative session to begin Monday at 9 pm.

Abbott listed 14 legislative priorities he said the legislature “must pass,” including property tax relief and border security, which he listed as the top two priorities for the first of many special legislative sessions he said he planned to call.

Notably absent on Gov. Abbott’s list are 12 additional items Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick adds, including several election integrity reform measures, banning critical race theory, and conservative “must haves” among the grassroots like prayer in school and banning drag queen story hour.

At the end of the regular session on Monday, Patrick issued a statement saying the Senate accomplished “significant victories for Texans but, unfortunately, far too many of the people’s conservative priorities, sponsored by the Senate, were killed in the Texas House.”

He said, “The Texas Senate passed all 30 of our priority bills by April 21, with plenty of time for passage through the Texas House. Ultimately, we were able to deliver significant victories for Texans by addressing many key issues facing our state.”

“Unfortunately, 9 of the Texas Senate’s top 30 priority bills never received hearings in the House, and only 20 of the Senate’s top 30 priority bills became law,” he added. “Thousands of other important bills were killed in the House, to the detriment of all Texans.”

Many of the “good bills” the Republican-controlled House killed, he said, included:

The largest property tax cut in Texas history, which died due to House leadership’s California-style plan that was opposed by realtors, business groups, and many in the media
Affirming parental rights in education with the largest school choice plan in America
Creating a state crime for illegal border crossings
Pushing back on the ESG scam
Banning Critical Race Theory in higher education
Creating a mandatory 10-year prison sentence for criminals committing gun crime
Prohibiting hostile foreign governments from owning land in Texas
Ending countywide polling places
Reforming our broken bail system and ending bail for violent crime
Allowing prayer in public schools
Allowing the Ten Commandments in our classrooms
Banning drag queen story hour in Texas public libraries
Expanding virtual education in Texas
Mandating that votes be counted in a timely fashion
Stopping telehealth from selling dangerous drugs online.
Patrick also sent a letter to Gov. Abbott asking him to consider 15 bills in special legislative sessions in addition to passing school choice and property tax relief.

The bills he asked Gov. Abbott to include as priority legislative items include:

SB 5 Increasing the Business Personal Property Tax Exemption & Inventory Tax Credit
SB 9 – Teacher Pay Raise
SB 16 – Banning Critical Race Theory in Higher Education
SB 23 – Creating A Mandatory 10-Year Prison Sentence for Criminals Committing Gun Crime
SB 147 – Prohibiting Hostile Foreign Governments Land Ownership in Texas
SB 990 – End Countywide Polling Places
SB 1039 – Election Audit Bill
SB 1318 – Bail Reform
SB 1396 – Prayer Time in Public Schools
SB 1515 – Ten Commandments in Schools
SB 1601 – Drag Queen Story Hour
SB 1861 – Virtual Education
SB 1907 – Timely Vote Count
SB 1911 – Sufficient Ballots
SB 2424 – Criminals Trespassing Across Our Southern Border
Patrick said he was very proud of the work state senators accomplished, who “fought for Texans at every turn, only to see many of our efforts killed in the Texas House.

“The Texas Senate did its job, it is time for the House to do the same.”