The Senate raced to pass the session's first bill, approving a road-funding plan that would funnel billions of dollars annually from taxes collected on vehicles sales to transportation projects.
Gov. Greg Abbott made the issue an "emergency item," freeing up the Legislature to pass it quickly. And the proposal's sponsor, Jacksonville Republican Sen. Robert Nichols, sped it through committee.
Nichols said he spent workdays, nights and weekends counting votes among his Senate colleagues to ensure his plan would pass when on the floor — which it easily did. Patrick, who oversees the Senate, applauded the chamber's "energy and efficiency."
The House, however, may not be so speedy. If the road funding bill stalls for weeks there, it might be another sign of disagreement between Patrick and fellow Republican and House Speaker Joe Straus.
Here are other upcoming issues at the Texas Capitol:
SCHOOL VOUCHERS VEXED?: Patrick has yet to unveil a "school choice" package, despite months of promising a Senate plan that would allow parents to get state funding to pull their kids out of struggling public schools and into private and religious alternatives. The Senate also hasn't announced major proposals to expand pre-kindergarten programs, despite Abbott making those another "emergency item." Patrick vows that both are coming soon, and there's still plenty of time for such proposals to sail through the Senate once they're ready. But hammering them out is taking longer than expected.
PRE-K GETS HOUSE HEARING: The House Public Education Committee on Tuesday is hearing a series of pre-kindergarten bills. One most closely tracks Abbott's campaign promises to offer extra funding to districts that can meet new state early education benchmarks that classroom advocates would like to see have more teeth.
TEXAS VS. THE FEDS: Texas has sued in federal court in Brownsville and won a stay against White House executive orders designed to allow millions of immigrants in the country illegally to stay. Now, state Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing the Obama administration of fibbing about when it began implementing the executive order amid pending legal challenges — and is asking federal courts to provide more details on what actions administration officials took. Whether Paxton will get more information is unclear — but for top Texas Republicans, the matter is already settled. Abbott said, "I'm confident an investigation would find the administration knowingly or recklessly misled" the court, while Patrick called for getting to the bottom of "what appears to be untruths."
CAPITOL GRILLE GRILLED: The recent threat of icy roads led officials to shutter area schools and left many state agencies starting late or operating with skeleton crews. Even the Capitol cafeteria didn't open until 10 a.m. on Thursday, meaning House members went hungry before the week's final floor session. When Bedford Republican Rep. Jonathan Stickland made a formal parliamentary inquiry and demanded, tongue in cheek, that such a transgression not be allowed to occur again, the chamber parliamentarian's response smacked of hunger pangs: "I feel your pain."
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