Summary: The TX Lt. Governor is often regarded as the most powerful statewide elected office, because it presides over the Texas Senate and wields tremendous influence over legislation and is also in charge of setting the Senate’s agenda and standing committees.
Latest Update: 30 November, 2022
Select #Tags for additional articles: #StateLegislation #PropertyTax
88th TX Legislative Session: General Legislative
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick during 88th Tx Legislative Session
Lt. Governor Unveils Broad 2023 Priorities, Constitutional Amendment Maneuver to Avoid Busting Spending Cap, The Texan, 30 November 2022, Excerpts
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick unveiled a broad list of his 2023 legislative priorities, many of which depend on spending portions of the projected $27 billionsurplus.
Patrick made clear that the Legislature will not spend all of it, choosing to leave some aside for a rainy day.
Property tax relief is atop Patrick’s priority list, he said Wednesday. He laid out a couple items to accomplish that, along with a broader list of priorities. That list includes:
Raise the standard homestead exemption again, raised last year to $40,000
Expand the business personal property tax exemption to at least $100,000
Build more natural gas power plants for the state’s main power grid
Level the financial playing field between renewable and thermal sources of electricity generation
Establish a Rural Law Enforcement Fund to buttress local budgets in low-population counties
Provide a pay enhancement for sheriff’s offices
Create a 10-year minimum sentence for those who use a firearm in a crime
Codify a mechanism to recall district attorneys and judges who facilitate the release of a criminal on bond who then goes on to commit another crime
Add more funding for border security
Invest more in additional mental health facilities
Finish restoration of the Alamo
Trim debt where possible
Create a university-subsidization fund for institutions other than the University of Texas and Texas A&M University
Expand scholarship opportunities for teachers and law enforcement
Increase teacher salaries
Issue a “13th Check” or a cost-of-living adjustment for retired teachers
“Empower parents by giving them a voice in their children’s education”
Add to school safety funding
Reform tenure in higher education institutions
Restore the penalty for voter fraud to a felony
“Ensure timely counting of votes and review of machines”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prioritizes property tax relief, electric grid fixes and border security for 2023 legislative session, The Texas Tribune, 30 November 2022, Excerpts
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday unveiled a list of 21 legislative priorities including property tax relief, improving the reliability of the electric grid and continuing to spend money on border security funding.
Patrick, who presides over the Senate and wields tremendous power over legislation, also said he will focus on issues like boosting border security, law enforcement, state investment in mental health facilities, restoration of the Alamo, education, school security and tightening the state’s election laws.
But at the top of the priority list is addressing ballooning property taxes for homeowners. Patrick said lawmakers have an “extraordinary opportunity” to shape the future of Texas at the start of the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 10, because they’re expected to have a $27 billion budget surplus to spend on state projects.
Patrick said he would prioritize spending some of that surplus on property tax relief in the form of increasing the homestead exemptions for homeowners. In a break with Gov. Greg Abbott, Patrick said half of the surplus could not be used for property tax relief efforts — which was a promise Abbott made on the campaign trail this year — without breaking a constitutional spending cap set on Wednesday by the Legislative Budget Board, which Patrick co-chairs with House Speaker Dade Phelan. To address that, Patrick said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, would propose a bill this upcoming session that would allow lawmakers to save more money in the state’s rainy day fund.