The Latest Breaking News from Dan Patrick

John M. Crisp: Is all politics truly local?

Is all politics truly local? If so, how do we account for many of the priorities on the list of the bills that my home state’s legislature hopes to pass this year?

Tribune News Service · Mar 6, 2023

Ron DeSantis proclaims Texas, Florida partners against “woke” left in Houston speech

Where others see a budding rivalry between GOP states, the likely presidential candidate focused on similarities with Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas.

The Texas Tribune · Mar 4, 2023

Texas Education Agency would have new power to enforce school safety plans under Senate bill

The bill, introduced months after the Uvalde school shooting, also allocates more funds to the state’s school safety allotment, which is money given to districts to improve campus security.

The Texas Tribune · Mar 3, 2023

Speaker Dade Phelan endorses Medicaid expansion for new mothers, repeal of “tampon tax” in first batch of 2023 priorities

The leader of the state House also threw his support behind bills to crack down on how companies handle private data and to protect children from “addictive algorithms” by digital companies.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 23, 2023

Texas Senate revives effort to make illegal voting a felony

Lawmakers lowered the penalty to a misdemeanor in 2021, but then almost immediately began discussing raising it back.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 23, 2023

What you need to know about education savings accounts, the voucher-like program championed by Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas is the latest state to pitch a version of the program, which lets parents who opt out of their local school districts use tax dollars to pay for private schooling.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 22, 2023

Gov. Greg Abbott proposes devoting $15 billion to property tax cuts in budget plan

Abbott’s spending proposals also include spending $750 million on school safety and mental health services and expanding postpartum Medicaid to a year.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 17, 2023

The Governor’s Grid Gambit

Texas utility regulators are hawking a costly policy for grid reliability.

Texas Observer · Feb 16, 2023

Uvalde’s state lawmakers face an uphill battle raising the age limit for semi-automatic guns. They’re trying anyway.

Many relatives of Uvalde victims back bills that state Rep. Tracy King and Sen. Roland Gutierrez are pushing in the Legislature. But limits on gun access don’t fare well at the Capitol.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 15, 2023

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority bills signal another swing at pushing Texas to the right

Speaking in December, Patrick was less out front about conservative priorities like school book bans and restrictions to rights for transgender people. His priority bill list made clear those are a major part of his focus.

The Texas Tribune · Feb 13, 2023