Lt. Governor Dan Patrick: ‘A Lot of Good Bills Die’ Due to Slow Legislative Process

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sat down in Austin with Chad Hasty this week for a discussion about several hot-button issues affecting Texas, including border security, open carry and property taxes.

The Lt. Governor explained one of his initials goals for this legislative session was changing the pace. According to Patrick, this decision was made to avoid the clock running out on bills.

"The session is 140 days, and on the 140th day at midnight that's it. A lot of good bills die," Patrick said. "Our focus is to get legislation to the house maybe three to five weeks earlier than normal."

Several bills, including open carry and campus carry, have been passed along due to this revised time frame, he said.

When asked by Hasty whether this push toward quicker legislation turnaround was in response to criticism from voters about the perceived slowness of the legislative process, Patrick said multi-tasking is possible, but admitted even he had become frustrated with the process' slowness during his time as a senator.

The Lt. Governor said Texas Republicans owe the passing of some key legislation to a revised 21-vote rule in the Texas Senate, which now only requires 19 votes for legislation to be brought to the floor. He called the updated rule a "game changer"

"Had we not changed that rule, those bills would still be sitting and the Democrats would still be holding them up," he said.

Lt. Gov. Patrick also made it clear that he and fellow Republicans were elected for one key reason.

"We're a Republican, conservative state," Patrick said. "Greg Abbott and myself won by about 20 points, and as I like to say, not necessarily because of us as individuals, but because of the issues we stood for."

NEXT: Watch Chad Hasty's Interview with Gov. Greg Abbott

Watch part two of Chad Hasty's interview with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick below.

The Chad Hasty Show airs weekday mornings live, from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM and Saturdays 2 PM to 4 PM on News/Talk 790 KFYO, online at KFYO.com, and on the free RadioPup app. Follow Chad on Twitter via @ChadHastyRadio & KFYO Radio at @KFYO!