Of Senate's debate on HB438:
Sen Hegar introduces the bill
(starts at 13hrs, 12mins, 13sec)
Sen. Patrick – forces a vote on Property Tax Appraisal Caps Amendment to HB438
(starts at 13hr, 13min, 00sec)
Of Senate's debate on HB1:
Sen. Patrick - state overall budget
(starts at 9hr, 54min, 52sec)
Of Senate's debate on SB920:
Sen. Patrick - Ultrasound Requirement before an Abortion
(starts at 2hr, 07min, 20sec)
Of Senate's debate on HB1034:
Sen. Patrick - Placing "Under God" in Texas pledge
(starts at 8hrs, 09min, 30sec)
Of Senate's budget debate:
Sen. Patrick and Sen. Ogden -overall budget debate
(starts at 1hr, 32min, 45sec)
-AND-
Sen. Patrick and Sen. Williams - border security funding
(starts at 4hr, 36min, 10sec)
-AND-
Sen. Patrick, Sen. Gallegos, Sen. Lucio and Sen. Whitmire - property owners who receive tax cuts are "rich."
(starts at 5hr, 1min, 20sec)
(Real Video - Apr. 12, 2007).
Of Senator Patrick's Personal Privilege speech following the Senate's opening prayer.
(Real Video - Apr 4, 2007
starts at 1hr and 45 min).
Of Senator Patrick's remarks on:
Privacy amendment to electric deregulation
(starts at 1hr, 52min)
-AND-
Truth in taxation amendment to electric deregulation bill
(starts at 1hr, 58min)
-AND-
Spending reduction question from Sen. Shapleigh
(starts at 2hr, 3min, 35sec)
(Real Video - Mar. 15, 2007).
Of Senator Patrick and Senator Shapleigh's debate on English language in public schools.
(Real Video - Mar. 15, 2007
starts at 1hr).
Of Senator Patrick's pastor Randy Weaver delivery of the invocation
(Real Video - Mar. 14, 2007
starts at 1 minute).
Of Senator Patrick's remarks on "SR 384 " (conduct in the Texas Youth Commission).
(Real Video - Feb 28, 2007 starts at
28 min).
Of Senator Patrick's
Sales Tax Holiday Press Conference.
(Real Video - Feb 28, 2007).
Of Senator Patrick's remarks on spending on high school sports
(Senate Education Committee).
(Real Video - Feb 27, 2007 starts at
20 min, 20 sec.).
Of Senator Patrick's $1 Million Dollar Press Conference.
(Real Video - Feb 14, 2007).
Of Senator Patrick's remarks on "SCR 20" (busting the spending cap).
(Real Video - Feb 14, 2007 starts at
1 hour 13 min 48 secs).
Of Senate's approval of Sen. Patrick's "In God We Trust" resolution. (Real Video - Jan 30, 2007 starts at
30 min 40 secs).
Of Senate floor debate on the "Blocker Bill."
(Real Video - Jan 9, 2007 starts at
2 min 30 secs).
|
1 | Reduce the appraisal cap to 3% per year on all residential property
Texans are being taxed out of their homes. We must end the stealth 8–10% annual tax increase on homeowners. If local governments feel a need to raise revenue, they should do so by raising the tax rate; not by hiding behind an automatic appraisal increase. Voters can then determine if the increase was necessary and if those elected officials are worthy of re-election.
2 | Illegal immigration – secure our borders now
The Federal Government has failed to protect our borders as they are constitutionally required. It is time we use Texas taxpayers’ resources to protect our borders instead of providing services to those that entered this state illegally. It is time for Texans to protect the Texas border.
3 | Reduce government spending now
We elected Republican majorities in the Texas House and Senate and expected them to be fiscally conservative. Our legislature has let us down. The most recent state budget includes a 20% increase in spending. We should focus on needs-based-budgeting, rather than revenue-based-budgeting.
4 | Responsible education funding
School budgets and administrative positions have increased faster than student enrollment and classroom teacher positions. The legislature should require that 65% of school spending be dedicated to the classroom. We must focus education resources on the classroom instruction of our children.
5 | Legislators should put tax cuts before their own pension increases
Legislators found the votes to increase their own pensions in the last legislative session, but after two special sessions could not find the votes to reduce your property taxes or lower the appraisal cap. We should focus first on cutting taxes before we increase legislator’s benefits.
6 | We are the majority party and we should govern as such
I have called for an end to the so called “blocker bill” in the Senate. For years, this Senate tradition helped ensure civility in the upper house, but recently Democrats have used the practice to block meaningful legislation from being approved. We should end the practice of requiring 2/3 of the Senate to agree before a measure can be considered in the Senate.
|
