Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has announced the second round of his top 40 priority bills for the 89th Legislative Session, highlighting new initiatives on teachers’ rights, business tax relief, and border security.
“The Texas Senate has started the 89th regular legislative session at breakneck pace,” Patrick stated in his announcement, noting that 10 of his priority bills have already passed the Senate and are now before the Texas House.
Patrick announced his first round of priorities in January. Among the bills already approved by the Senate are:
• SB 2 – Providing school choice
• SB 4 – Increasing the homestead exemption to $140,000 ($150,000 for seniors)
• SB 5 – Establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
• SB 9 – Bail reform
• SB 20 – Banning AI-generated child pornography
• SB 21 – Creating the Texas Bitcoin Reserve
• SB 25 – Health policy reforms
• SB 26 – Increasing teacher pay
• SB 28 – Banning lottery couriers
• SB 40 – Further bail reform
Patrick expressed optimism about working with the House, led by Speaker Dustin Burrows, calling it a “hopeful working relationship.” He emphasized the Senate’s commitment to advancing a “bold, conservative agenda” and pledged to have all 40 priority bills passed by mid-April.
The new batch of priority bills includes the following:
• SB 27 – Establishing a Teacher Bill of Rights
• SB 29 – Incorporating Texas
• SB 30 – Curbing nuclear verdicts in the legal system
• SB 31 – Life of the Mother Act
• SB 32 – Business tax relief
• SB 33 – Stopping taxpayer-funded abortion travel
• SB 34 – Enhancing wildfire response efforts
• SB 35 – Increasing competition for road projects
• SB 36 – Creating a Homeland Security Division within the Department of Public Safety
• SB 37 – Reforming faculty senates at public universities
• SB 38 – Preventing squatting on private property
• SB 39 – Protecting Texas’ trucking industry
Patrick reiterated that while only 40 bills carry his official priority designation, the Senate is set to pass hundreds of bills. He also noted that border security, additional Department of Public Safety hiring, and disaster relief remain core budgetary priorities.
The House, meanwhile, has not passed any legislation so far. Friday is the bill-filing deadline, marking the 60th day of the session.
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