Lieutenant Governor visits Harlingen

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick visited the Valley Monday as part of a post-legislative session press tour. His Harlingen stop was one of seven or eight he had planned for Monday. All the destinations focused on rural areas of the state. He said "so much" of the legislative session was focused on the concerns of smaller communities.

Patrick spent the majority of Monday's remarks recapping the regular session and touting the legislation that was passed.

“This has been a major session for schools. Cutting your school property taxes. Funding schools more than ever. Giving teachers the biggest pay raise ever, and protecting your children from drugs and letting them take their beliefs, their faith, into the classroom,” Patrick said.

State Senator Adam Hinojosa, whose district stretches from the lower Valley up to Corpus Christi, joined Patrick for Monday's event at Gulf Aviation near the Valley International Airport in Harlingen.

“As you know, this is one of the most conservative sessions that has ever happened in the state legislature. I’m so excited that we had a lot of success. We’re bringing a lot of resources, much needed resources, to the Rio Grande Valley," Hinojosa said.

One of the Lieutenant Governor's main priorities during the recently ended legislative session has been his push to ban THC consumable products in the state. Senate Bill 3 was passed by both chambers in Austin and sent to Governor Greg Abbott's desk in late May.

Patrick expressed concern about the explosion in the number of stores selling these products, saying, “So, there are 1,100 McDonald’s in the state of Texas. Seems like a lot. You see them everywhere, right? Twelve or 1,300 Starbucks. But there are 8,000, eight times as many...that are smoke shops and vape shops.”

Patrick also touted the progress that was made in education funding, and how that funding is related to property tax relief. In November, voters will have the option to increase the homestead exemption amount to $140 thousand for most homeowners and $200 thousand for senior citizens aged sixty-five and older. Patrick said that means it will "basically remove" all school property taxes for every senior in the state.

But, he said, that difference in funding will have to be made up somewhere.

“They get funded now more by us, every year. About 50% of funding now comes from the state to your school districts and to your local schools, instead of you having to write that big check for your school taxes,” Patrick said.

The Lt. Governor said the total cost comes out to about $51 billion of the budget. He said that amounts to nearly 20% of the entire budget.

The issue of the border and illegal immigration were also part of Monday's remarks. ValleyCentral asked about recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, and whether or not businesses that hire undocumented workers will face any consequences. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 makes it a federal crime to "knowingly" hire undocumented workers. Patrick said his first priority was to secure the border.

“You have a faucet leak in the kitchen, you have a plumbing issue and water starts coming in the floor. You don’t worry about the fix after the problem. You worry about stopping the leak first,” Patrick said.

During his remarks, Patrick said that during the Biden administration, there were days that "thousands and thousands" of people were crossing the border illegally. Now, he said, there are some days were fewer than 20 come across the entire 1,200 mile Texas border. Patrick said the Senate is always looking at both sides of this issue.

For the third straight session, legislation that would require employers to use the e-verify system for any potential new hires did not get enough support to become law.