My First Round of Top 40 Priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session
Thousands of bills are filed by Texas senators each session. Traditionally, bill numbers 1 through 20 have indicated the Lt. Governor’s priorities for the Senate. In 2017, I increased the number of priority bills to 30. This year, I am increasing the number of priority bills to 40.
Just because a bill is not included in the top 40 does not mean it is not a priority for me or the Senate. Many other priorities are included in our state budget, such as border security funding, hiring more state troopers for the Department of Public Safety, and enhancing statewide disaster response with new equipment and more personnel.
Over the last four years, the Texas Senate held the line, fighting back against President Biden’s disastrous agenda. Now, with President Trump back in office, Texas has a friend in the White House. The Texas Senate will continue to lead as the preeminent legislative body in America by passing our bold, conservative agenda, helping President Trump deliver on his promise of making America great again.
Senate priority bills 26 through 40 are coming soon.
Last Week’s Filing of the State Budget
“Our conservative approach to budgeting has allowed Texas to maintain a pristine balance sheet going into the next biennium. I look forward to the legislature’s final product.”
Last week, Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman filed SB 1, the Texas Senate’s introduced state budget for the 2026-2027 biennium. SB 1 maintains our promise to Texans by keeping our state on a conservative path to greater prosperity. Here’s my official statement.
As soon as the Texas Senate’s state budget was filed, the teacher unions were quick to attack. Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina was unimpressed. She says Texas schools are currently not fully funded. She is wrong. They are fully funded under the state formula.
Since I became Lt. Governor in 2015, the Senate and I have increased school funding by $39 billion - and we’ve increased teacher pay more than ever before in Texas history, despite the school population being mostly flat during those years.
As you can see on the chart above, public education is the biggest share of our state budget.
In 2019, the Senate increased teacher pay based on experience. Less experienced teachers received an average pay increase of $3,800, while the average pay increase for more experienced teachers was over $5,000. I also made sure the money flowed directly to teachers, not tied to any other school funding mechanism.
In 2023, the Senate passed a bill with $4 billion specifically allocated for teacher pay increases. The Senate passed $3,000 pay raises for all teachers with an additional $7,000 pay increase for rural teachers to help close the pay gap between smaller and larger districts.
Inexplicably, Speaker Dade Phelan killed that teacher pay raise bill on the last day of the session. The bill would have passed the House resoundingly.
None of the teachers' unions helped pass any of those pay increases. It was the Senate and my initiative. No matter what funding increases they get, they are never enough.
When It Comes to Illegal Immigration, President Trump Means Business
Before President Trump took office, I said on day one that Texas and President Trump would secure the border—and we have. I joined Laura Ingraham on Fox News Friday night to discuss. Click here to watch the interview.
Visiting the Naval Academy
I visited the Naval Academy, located just 30 miles or so from D.C., and met the Superintendent, Yvette Davids, who is from San Antonio. She looked like she could have been related to Senator Donna Campbell, who represents part of San Antonio.
If you didn’t know, one of our two new Republican senators, Brent Hagenbuch, is a Naval Academy graduate.
Stopping by the Maryland Capitol in Annapolis
I also stopped by the Maryland Capitol in Annapolis. You could almost fit the entire Maryland Capitol inside the Texas Senate Chamber. It’s small but rich in history—George Washington resigned from the army in this very building.
While there, I visited with Maryland Lt. Governor Aruna Miller. Our politics are vastly different, but she was a gracious host.
In Case You Missed It: Back in the West Wing
I made many trips to the White House in President Trump's first term.
I was never invited during the four years of Biden's presidency. He wanted nothing to do with Texas except to try to hurt us in every way he could, from attacking the oil and gas industry to opening up the border.
It felt good to be back in the West Wing last week for a meeting with the President's team on the first full day of his new term. Texas could not have a better friend than President Trump. #MAGA
Thank you for all your support over the years and for everything you do to keep Texas red. May God bless you and your family, and may He continue to bless the greatest state of all—Texas.
Sincerely,
Dan Patrick
Lieutenant Governor of Texas
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"Whomever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant."
Matthew 20:26 (NLT)
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