Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday announced his top 25 priority Senate bills for the 2025 legislative session that began earlier this month.
They include a mix of conservative Republican priorities – including some that are likely to align with Gov. Greg Abbott's emergency items that will be announced in Sunday's State of the State address – as well as some infrastructure and health care items that could garner bipartisan support.
Topping the list were three previously announced items: the state budget (Senate Bill 1), school vouchers (SB 2), and a ban on the sale of THC products (SB 3).
One potential source of controversy with the Texas House will be Senate Bill 4, a proposal to lift the property tax homestead exemption to $140,000 for most homeowners and $150,000 for seniors.
"Some have argued that might actually, long term, might make it more difficult for homeowners, because what will happen is property values will just be raised, so it may not actually save money in terms of property taxes," said Jon Taylor, chair of the department of political science and geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Items that are likely to attract Democratic votes include bills to create a research institute to combat Alzheimer's disease and dementia (SB 5), to improve electric grid reliability (SB 6) and to increase investments in water infrastructure (SB 7).
University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said that some of Patrick's top priorities could conflict with each other, in part because of cost.
"School choice is going to be an expensive item, along with extending the homestead exemption, and the water supply issue," Rottinghaus said. "These'll all take up a lot of time and a lot of money."
One possible way to pay for these measures could be dipping into the state's Rainy Day Fund. The fund is currently filled to its statutory limit. While Patrick advocates lifting the cap on the fund to build it up even further (SB 23), there's a growing sentiment in the Legislature that now is the time to put it to use.
"The Rainy Day Fund is flush. It is as high as it's ever been," Rottinghaus said. "So, the prospect of taking some of that money and investing it in some key issues is gaining additional traction."
Rottinghaus said this is a rare moment when Patrick's interests align with not only Governor Greg Abbott's but House Speaker Dustin Burrows' as well.
"There's a lot of overlap here," Rottinghaus said, "and despite the fact that there will be some friction, and we'll hear a lot about House and Senate challenges, it's definitely the case that some of the big ticket items here like school choice, like increasing the amount of homestead exemption, the grid's reliability, water supply, all of these things are elements that both the House and Senate and governor want to get done."
Most of the rest of the agenda focuses on what Taylor terms "red meat" items for Republicans' conservative base, including requiring local law enforcement to cooperate with the Trump Administration's orders to round up and deport people who are in the U.S. without legal status (SB 8). A related bill (SB 16) is aimed at stopping non-citizens from voting – even though there is little evidence this has been a problem anywhere in the U.S.
"Another is about bail reform, one that Governor Abbott has talked about as well, related to violent criminals who have committed crimes while on bail (SB 9). I think we are going to see that," Taylor said. "Others are much more along the lines of keeping certain conservative elements of the Republican Party happy, things such as placing the Ten Commandments in schools (SB 10), the so-called ‘Freedom to Pray in School (SB 11),' which would allow the use of the Bible in teaching and courses, establishing a parental bill of rights (in education, SB 12), which has been around – they tried that a couple of previous times in legislative sessions."
Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate, has reserved the lowest 40 Senate bill numbers for his top priorities. He said he will soon announce his remaining 15 priority bills.