Lt. Gov. Patrick calls legislative session most productive ever for Republicans | Texas: The Issue Is

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on legislative session

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick talks with FOX 7's Rudy Koski about where things stand as the end of the legislative session approaches. Then, FOX 4's Steven Dial talks to Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder about his opinion of the session.

AUSTIN - The 89th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature is set to end on Monday after a frantic final push for big votes to meet critical deadlines.

FOX 7's Rudy Koski talked to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick about the sprint to the finish line and an assessment of what was and wasn't accomplished this session.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on session

What they're saying:

"We're on the verge of the best, productive session ever for conservatives and for Republicans, but for all Texans. With school choice, the biggest amount of money ever put into public education, the biggest pay raises, a $200,000 homestead exemption for seniors, meaning almost all seniors in the state will never have to pay school property taxes again for as long as they own their home. We'll put the Ten Commandments back in the classrooms, prayer back in their classroom. And just a litany of bills that are going to change the face of Texas," said Patrick.

The clock did run out on some of Patrick's priorities.

A crackdown on mail order abortion pills, proof of citizenship for voting and bail bans for undocumented immigrants and violent repeat offenders did not pass this session.

Patrick says there will always be some bills that don't make it through.

"School choice alone would be a session. The public financing for public education and how we're redoing that and focusing on teachers and students really for the first time, that would be session bill. All of these big issues alone would be a session if you just pass one of them, and we're passing all of them," he said.

Lt. Gov. Patrick on relationship with the House

(Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

The lieutenant governor did partake in the political arm-twisting and made the occasional threat to force a special session if some of his priority bills failed in the House.

"There's been less arm-twisting this session than ever. Better communication than ever. The relationship between the speaker's office and the lieutenant governor's office is light years ahead of where it's been the last four years, where there was no communication, quite frankly. The relationship between the senators and the house members, Republican and Democrats: better than it's ever been. You're always going to bump your head along the way somewhere and someone says something you're not happy with. I mean that's been almost non-existent," Patrick said.

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The Source: Information in this article comes from an interview with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.

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