Dan Patrick

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick: Statement on the Passage of Senate Bill 2

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick issued this statement July 15th, following the passage of Senate Bill 2, Fair Sports for Women and Girls, by Senator Charles Perry, R-Lubbock:

“When Senate Bill 29 was killed in the Texas House at the end of the 87th Regular Legislative Session, I asked Governor Greg Abbott to include fair sports for women and girls on the special session call because this issue is crucial for the survival of women's sports. Women have been fighting for equality in sports for decades with tremendous success. We can’t stop that progress.

“It is simply not fair to allow boys to compete in girls' sports. In Texas schools, the athletic statistics show the reality of sports competition — boys run faster, they throw farther, they jump higher. To pretend they don’t denies women and girl athletes the right to compete on a level playing field and be the best in their sport. It also pushes them out of athletic scholarships.

“Final passage of this bill into law will require the House Democrats who have fled the state to return to the House for a quorum. If they do not, this bill will die, but the Senate will pass Senate Bill 2 over and over again until the House finally has a quorum.

“I commend Senator Perry for his courage and leadership on this important issue.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick Calls for Expert Panel on Anti-Alamo Book

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick issued the following statement July 15th, announcing that he has asked the University of Texas to host a panel to discuss the book Forget the Alamo, which purports to examine the motivation for the fight for Texas independence and the defenders of the Alamo:

“After learning that the authors of the book Forget the Alamo, which is highly critical of the defenders of the Alamo, had been scheduled to make a presentation at the Texas State History Museum without any rebuttal or critique, I immediately made sure the event was cancelled. The Texas State History Museum is overseen by the Texas State Preservation Board on which I serve, but I had not been informed that the event was being held.

“We are all interested in continued study and research on the history of Texas and the people who founded our state, but we must make certain that the information being put forward at state-sponsored events is wellresearched and based in fact.

“That is not the case with Forget the Alamo, which has been debunked by a number of professional historians who point to the book’s shoddy research and selective use of facts. Virtually no respected Texas historian agrees with the thesis of this book — that the defenders of the Alamo were fighting for slavery in Texas. With its incendiary title, the authors clearly want to make Forget the Alamo another 1619 Project — a polemic posing as history which has also been debunked.

“The authors of Forget the Alamo are not historians — one is a Democrat operative and the other two are newspaper reporters.

“It is time that these writers are asked tough questions by serious historians about their research and thesis. I have asked the University of Texas if they would host a panel with the Forget the Alamo authors alongside history experts to explore the scholarship of this book, debate the facts and get to the truth. The university has agreed to host this event, and I hope it will be scheduled in the next few weeks.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick: Statement on the Passage of Senate Bill 3

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick issued this statement July 16th, following the passage of Senate Bill 3, banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Texas Schools, by Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola:

“Texans roundly reject ‘woke’ philosophies that espouse that one race or sex is better than another, and that someone, by virtue of their race or sex, is innately racist, oppressive or sexist.

“Senate Bill 3 will make certain that critical race philosophies, including the debunked 1619 founding myth, are removed from our school curriculums statewide. Texas parents do not want their children to be taught these false ideas. Parents want their students to learn how to think critically, not be indoctrinated by the ridiculous leftist narrative that America and our Constitution are rooted in racism.

“Final passage of this bill into law will require the House Democrats who have fled the state to return to the House for a quorum. If they do not, this bill will die, but the Senate will pass Senate Bill 3 over and over again until the House finally has a quorum. I am grateful for Senator Hughes' leadership on this important issue.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick: Statement on the Passage of Senate Bill 4

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick issued this statement July 16th, following the passage of Senate Bill 4, prohibiting the availability of abortion-inducing drugs by mail, by Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville:

“Since I was first elected to the Texas Senate, protecting life has been one of my top priorities, and I'm grateful that Governor Greg Abbott included this critical issue on the special session call. When abortion-inducing drugs are available by mail, Texas women are put at risk from human traffickers and abusive spouses or significant others. By banning abortion-inducing drugs’ availability by mail, Senate Bill 4 strengthens Texas’ position that we are a pro-life state.

“Final passage of this bill into law will require the House Democrats who have fled the state to return to the House for a quorum. If they do not, this bill will die, but the Senate will pass Senate Bill 4 over and over again until the House finally has a quorum.

“I thank Senator Lucio for his ardent commitment to protecting life in Texas.”

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick: Statement on the Appointment of G. Brint Ryan to the ERCOT Board Selection Committee

In addition to restructuring the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), one of the provisions of Senate Bill 2, signed into law following the 87th Legislative Session, requires the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House of Representatives to each appoint one member to the ERCOT Board Selection Committee. Today, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has selected G. Brint Ryan, of Dallas, as his appointee to the three-member selection committee. Upon making the appointment, Lieutenant Governor Patrick issued the following statement:

"Brint Ryan is one of the most successful business leaders in Texas and the nation. He has significant experience working with search firms and directly hiring high-level staff around the world. He is perfect for this crucial appointment to select members of the ERCOT Board."

G. Brint Ryan, of Dallas, is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Ryan, LLC, a global tax consulting firm based in Dallas. Ryan is the chairman of the Texas Association of Business and served on the University of North Texas Board of Regents. Ryan is a member of the Lieutenant Governor's Business Advisory Board, and he chaired the Lieutenant Governor’s Back to Work Task Force in 2020. Ryan and his wife, Amanda, have five daughters and reside in Dallas.

Eight proposed amendments on November ballot

The order has been drawn for eight proposed amendments to the much-amended Texas Constitution that will appear on the November 2 ballot. The proposed amendments were approved by at least two thirds of both houses of the state Legislature. According to the Austin American-Statesman, they include:

• Allowing families to designate an “essential caregiver” to have access to loved ones in nursing homes and other longterm facilities. The issue came up when visitors were banned from such facilities during the pandemic.

• Banning all government entities — state, cities, counties, etc. — from limiting or preventing religious services, also an issue that arose during the pandemic.

• Providing property tax exemptions to spouses of soldiers killed in the line of duty.

• Barring attorneys whose law license has previously been suspended or revoked from serving as judges, and requiring district judges to be practicing lawyers for at least eight years. The minimum required now is four years.

• Allowing counties to issue bonds to finance transportation or other infrastructure projects in blighted or unproductive areas.

• Allowing the state’s professional rodeo associations to raise money through raffles, as other charities can do.

• Authorizing the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which investigates complaints against judges, to also oversee the conduct of judicial candidates.

• Allowing school taxes to continue to be reduced for those 55 and older upon the death of a spouse with a disability.

As the Statesman reported, Texas voters to date have approved 507 amendments, making the Texas Constitution one of the longest in the nation.

Advice on trees recovering from Winter Storm Uri

As August arrives, landowners wondering about trees stricken during Winter Storm Uri in mid-February can quit wondering what to do about trees that are still completely bare: they are almost certainly not going to come back.

Specialists with the Texas A&M Forest Service, along with Neil Sperry, a widely known gardening and horticulture expert, teamed up last May to urge Texans to wait until mid-July before cutting down leafless trees. The vast majority of trees that were slow to leaf out have mostly recovered.

“The waiting was important, because we’re just now beginning to differentiate between those trees that are obviously not going to survive; those that are wounded and we hope will survive; and those that are definitely going to survive, but are going to take a little while to come back,” Sperry said,

Gretchen Riley, the Urban and Community Forestry Program Leader at Texas A&M Forest Service, said if a tree is bare and hasn’t put out a single leaf, it is almost certainly dead. This also applies to palm trees, which were especially hard hit by the storm.

“Anything green means that the tree has a chance for recovery,” Riley said. “But a single small frond should have grown and opened on palm trees by now. No green means it is dead and has already started rotting internally.”

She added that trees that lost much of their canopy may or may not survive. A good rule of thumb is imagining a circle around all a tree’s branches. A fourth of that circle should be filled in with leaves. If not, the tree is most likely doing to die, Riley said.

State reports first West Nile case

The state’s first case of illness caused by West Nile virus this year was reported in Dallas County, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The virus is transmitted through bites from infected mosquitoes. While most people exposed to West Nile don’t get sick, about 20% develop symptoms such as headache, fever, joint and muscle aches, nausea and fatigue.

DSHS urges Texans venturing outdoors to wear long sleeves and pants and apply insect repellent. The agency also recommends removing standing water from tires, toys, buckets and other items.

Over the past five years, the state has had 805 cases of West Nile virus and 63 deaths.

TCEQ plans to use drones during disasters

The next time a hurricane or other natural disaster hits Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality plans to use drones to help staff survey land difficult for personnel to visit by foot or in a vehicle.

TCEQ now has 25 drones equipped to allow live-streaming video during disaster events. More than two dozen staff members have completed classroom instruction, with 17 having passed the FAA exam for what are formally called Unmanned Aerial Systems.

DSHS awards $10 million in grants for vaccine efforts

As COVID-19 vaccination rates lag and cases of the delta variant spike, DSHS will award $10 million to local groups working to promote vaccination efforts. The grants of $50,000 to $150,000 will go to a wide range of organizations providing vaccine education across the state.

A total of 6,251 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients were in Texas hospitals as of Sunday, according to DSHS. That is quadruple the number reported a month ago and the most seen since February.

The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University reported 62,722 new cases in Texas during the past week and 271 deaths — a five-fold increase from a month ago. A total of 12.67 million Texans are fully vaccinated — about 43% of the state’s population.

Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches and Cedar Park. Email: <gborders@texaspress. com>.