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class="cell w-8 main_column"> <article class="last"> <header> <h1>What Happened to Straus' and Patrick's Priority Bills?</h1> <ul class="meta separator"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/aman-batheja/" rel="author">Aman Batheja</a> and <a href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/becca-aaronson/" rel="author">Becca Aaronson</a></li><li><time datetime="Wed, 8 Jul 2015 06:00:00 -0500" title="2015-07-08 06:00"> July 8, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/comments/"><span class="value">5</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </header> <aside> <ul class="social_links"> <li class="comment"> <a href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/comments/" title=""> <i class="icon-comments-alt"></i> <span>Comment</span> </a> </li> <li class="republish"> <a href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/content/republish/88840/"> <i class="icon-share"></i> <span>Republish</span> </a> </li> <li class="email"> <a href="/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e115d5b4c444b4d5a137a464b0b1c1e7a4b564f5d0b1c1e7a5c474c5b404b140b1c1e664b5c4b0b1c195d0b1c1e4f0b1c1e624141450b1c1e4f5a0b1c1e79464f5aX%20Happened%20With%20Straus%27%20and%20Patrick%27s%20Priority%20Bills&body=I%20read an article%20that%20you%20might%20be%20interested%20in%20at%20The%20Texas%20Tribune:%20Here%27s%20a%20Look%20at%20What%20Happened%20With%20Straus%27%20and%20Patrick%27s%20Priority%20Bills%2C%20by%20Aman Batheja and Becca Aaronson.%20http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/%0DOver%20the%20course%20of%20this%20year%27s%20legislative%20session%2C%20House%20Speaker%26nbsp%3BJoe%20Straus%26nbsp%3Band%20Lt.%20Gov.%26nbsp%3BDan%20Patrick%26nbsp%3Bmade%20their%20priorities%20known%20by%20what%20bills%20got%20the%20lowest%20bill%20numbers.%26nbsp%3BTake%20a%20look%20at%20how%20those%20proposals%20fared." title="" class="email"> <i class="icon-envelope"></i> <span>Email</span> </a> </li> <li class="twitter"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://twitter.com/share?text=What Happened to Straus' and Patrick's Priority Bills?&url=http://trib.it/1flbvyn&via=TexasTribune&related=TexasTribune,TribData"> <i class="icon-twitter"></i> <span>Tweet</span> </a> </li> <li class="facebook"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/08/what-happened-patrick-and-straus-priority-bills/"> <i class="icon-facebook"></i> <span>Recommend</span> </a> </li> </ul> </aside> <div class="content"> <div class="media article_detail unprose"> <a href="//web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/20/StrausPatrick_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" title="House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick." class="lightbox"> <img src="//web.archive.org/web/20150709123412im_/http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/20/StrausPatrick_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick."> </a> <div class="photo_links"> <a href="//web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/20/StrausPatrick_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" title="House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick." class="lightbox enlarge">Enlarge</a> </div> <div class="photo_caption">House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.</div> </div> <p>Along with their bully pulpits and control over the legislative process, Lt. Gov. <a title="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-patrick/" target="_blank">Dan Patrick</a> and House Speaker <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/directory/joe-straus/" target="_blank">Joe Straus</a> had another valuable weapon in their efforts to influence the legislative session: low bill numbers.</p> <p>While most bill numbers are assigned sequentially based on when they are filed, the speaker and the lieutenant governor traditionally award the lowest bill numbers to measures they view as priorities. The proposals that Straus selected for House Bills 1-20 and Patrick for Senate Bills 1-20 offered legislators and Capitol watchers a guide on where the two men were placing their political capital. The bills touched on some of the most contentious issues of the session, including gun rights, border security and school choice. (Straus never assigned three of his top 20 slots: HB 3, HB 16 and HB 17.) </p> <p>Both Patrick and Straus managed to pass nearly all of their priority bills out of their respective chambers. But fewer than half of that total made it to Gov. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/">Greg Abbott</a>’s desk. Those that failed usually didn’t have enough support in the other chamber, or the two chambers passed different versions and a compromise couldn’t be hashed out in time.</p> <p>Abbott ultimately signed 12 of the House’s top 20 bills and four from the Senate. That includes <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://txlege.texastribune.org/84/bills/HB1/">House Bill 1</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://txlege.texastribune.org/84/bills/HB2/">House Bill 2</a>, the budget and supplemental budget that the two chambers alternate authoring each session. This session, it was the House’s turn.</p> <p><span>While Patrick didn’t get as many of his </span><span class="il">priority</span><span> bills to </span><span class="il">Abbott</span><span>’s desk as Straus, House versions of several of Patrick’s </span><span class="il">priority</span><span> bills did become law, with Senate leaders helping shape the final outcome.</span></p> <p>Scroll down to see the various categories, the related bills and links to descriptions of related issues in our <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709123412/http://txlege.texastribune.org/">Texas Legislative Guide</a>.</p><div class="ad_container ad_container--adify"> <div class="ad adunit mobile tablet standard" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_InsideStory_468x60"> </div> </div> <div id="pym-graphic"> </div> <script src="//web.archive.org/web/20150709123412js_/http://s3.amazonaws.com/graphics.texastribune.org/graphics/84th-txlege-outcome-priority-bills/scripts/pym/pym.min.js"></script> 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