Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has announced the first round of his top 40 priority bills for the upcoming 2025 legislative session in Texas. This marks an increase from previous years, where traditionally only the first 20 bill numbers indicated the Lt. Governor's priorities. In 2017, Patrick expanded this list to 30 and now it stands at 40.

"Thousands of bills are filed by Texas senators each session," Patrick said. "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."

Patrick emphasized that a low bill number is significant as it indicates a high probability of passage and represents the conservative majority's will in Texas, with many expected to gain bipartisan support.

He noted that additional priorities are included in the state budget, highlighting areas such as border security funding, hiring more state troopers for the Department of Public Safety, and enhancing disaster response capabilities.

"Over the last four years, the Texas Senate held the line, fighting back against President Biden’s disastrous agenda," he remarked. "Now, with President Trump back in office, Texas has a friend in the White House."

The priority bills include measures on various issues such as school choice (Senate Bill 2), banning THC (Senate Bill 3), increasing electric grid reliability (Senate Bill 6), and establishing a parental bill of rights in public education (Senate Bill 12). Other proposed legislation addresses voting by non-citizens (Senate Bill 16) and foreign land ownership (Senate Bill 17).

The announcement concluded with a note that details on Senate Priority Bills numbered from 26 through 40 would be released soon.