Dan Patrick

The budget bills filed Wednesday would also allocate $600 million to the Texas Education Agency to help school districts “in implementing school safety initiatives.”

The Republican governor will serve his term with an expanded Republican majority in the Texas House and Senate, making it unlikely that his priorities will face significant roadblocks.

And Texas will have $188.2 billion in general revenue for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, a 26% increase from the last biennium.

Conservatives want to use part of the money to provide property tax relief. Progressives want to boost funding for public education.

Patrick, a Republican from Houston who holds the most powerful position in the state Legislature, said he believes his priorities could be accomplished if the state is “smart” in how it uses its over $27 billion surplus.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick defeated Democrat Mike Collier by 10 percentage points and remains one of the most powerful politicians in the state, with the ability to help craft the next year's legislative agenda.

The offices of governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor will remain in conservative hands as Texas Democrats continue their near-three-decade losing streak in statewide contests.

The governor said “real” gun laws have done nothing to stop violence in other parts of the country, like California, New York and Chicago.

The Florida law prohibits teachers from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity to kids below the fourth grade.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s marching orders come after he threatened to revoke tenure for some professors at public universities who teach about critical race theory and its history.