AUSTIN, Texas — On the campaign trail, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told supporters he’d tackle rising crime in Texas if reelected.
“We will pass legislation for a mandatory 10-year sentence for any person who uses a gun in a crime,” Patrick said at a campaign event in October.
He echoed the same message on election night, after he beat his Democratic challenger, Mike Collier.
“So, the first issue we’re going to address is crime,” he said.
Dr. Jim Riddlesperger of Texas Christian University thinks Patrick will keep this promise, saying a mandatory-minimum bill could definitely pass in the next session.
“This is the Republican response, obviously, to the Democrats’ preference for having more strict gun laws in the country,” Dr. Riddlesperger said. “And the Republicans’ argument is that gun laws won’t deter crime, but maybe penalties for people to use guns will. So, that’s the genesis of this. And the answer is that, of course, it’s possible that the legislature could pass it. We have a firmly Republican legislature right now. We have a conservative Republican governor who would likely sign such a bill.”
But the legislation could look different from the original campaign promise.
“What we see was Lieutenant Governor Patrick’s first volley,” Dr. Riddlesperger said. “But now we’re going to get into the sausage-making process of the Legislature and actually trying to find something that can attract the support of 16 Senators and 76 members of the House. And once we get that, then, in fact, you can start talking about what the legislation will look like.”
Patrick also supports school choice. Many Democrats and rural Republicans haven’t backed this in the past because it would take money away from public schools to be used in private schools. Still, Joshua Blank with the Texas Politics Project thinks Patrick will keep pushing for it.
“You should expect him to put his full weight behind whatever kind of school choice program he can get passed, including whatever compromises he needs to make to bring along, I would say, reluctant Republicans,” Blank said.
Even if he puts his weight behind it, Dr. Riddlesburger doesn’t think the policy has a chance next session.
“I think school vouchers are a very, very tough sell,” he said.
On the trail, Patrick also said he wanted to secure the border. Additionally, he said building more natural gas power plants is a priority.
“I don’t think it will be primarily legislative-driven,” Dr. Riddlesperger said. “I think it’ll be primarily market-driven. As long as gas prices are as high as they are, there’s every incentive to drill more wells... But the other reality is that all legislators are looking for reliable sources of energy of all kinds. And so what we’re seeing is a much more, what I call an ‘omnivore approach,’ to energy these days. And that means that I also would not be surprised to see the legislature have openness to the development of more wind energy, more solar energy. Because those, of course, increase the energy independence of Texas as well.”
As lieutenant governor, Patrick has the power to add his campaign promises to the legislative agenda. But Patrick isn’t a lawmaker. Ultimately, Dr. Riddlesperger said, it’s lawmakers who will work together to draft legislation, and many compromises could be made along the way. And, the governor has veto power.
“The lieutenant governor has to have big ears,” he said. “I think that’s the most misunderstood thing about the political process, is you have to listen to people and different perspectives. And many of those perspectives are not even ideological. They just have to do with different perspectives about the way you solve problems. And while we have big picture agreement within those political parties, and most Republicans agree with Lt. Gov Patrick on the kind of big picture promises that he made, the process of legislating is very different from that. And it’s going to mean that he’s going to have to refine, alter, change, reduce the kinds of promises that he made, just as part of the process. No one running for public office can deliver on all the promises they make, because it always takes cooperation from others to fulfill those promises.”
The next legislative session begins in January. Hundreds of bills have already been pre-filed.