{"id":225610,"date":"2026-03-29T09:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/225610\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T09:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:12:24","slug":"dan-patrick-adds-data-centers-prediction-markets-to-legislative-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/225610\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Patrick adds data centers, prediction markets to legislative priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday instructed state senators to study a broad range of policy issues ahead of next year\u2019s legislative session, including prediction markets, data centers, THC and more, expanding on an initial list of priorities<\/a> that included \u201cpreventing Sharia law\u201d and investigating Medicaid fraud.<\/p>\n

Patrick\u2019s latest list of interim charges corresponded with many of the priorities House Speaker Dustin Burrows laid out<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n

Data centers appeared three times on Patrick\u2019s priorities, with the lieutenant governor \u2014 who leads the state Senate \u2014\u00a0instructing various committees to assess the water demands of \u201cenergy-intensive technologies,\u201d including data centers; to consider how to meet electricity demands of data centers but also \u201cbalance economic development benefits of this growth against the impacts on landowners, private property rights, water infrastructure, and community integrity;\u201d and evaluate the costs of the sales tax exemption granted to data centers. <\/p>\n

Patrick also indicated a continued focus on banning hemp-based THC products, charging the Health and Human Services Committee with studying \u201cthe impact of THC on increased health care costs, mental health emergency detentions, and the risk of being diagnosed with a THC-induced psychotic disorder.\u201d Patrick made a ban on the products one of his top priorities last legislative session, but the bill that passed the Legislature was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n

Prediction market gambling also landed in Patrick\u2019s sights, as markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded in the state through a federal loophole even while sports betting and casinos are otherwise outlawed in Texas. Patrick instructed the state affairs committee to \u201cstudy the sudden inundation of prediction market gambling\u201d and \u201cmake recommendations to ensure the integrity of Texas elections and Texas sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

On property taxes, Patrick reemphasized \u201cOperation Double Nickel,\u201d his proposal<\/a> to reduce property taxes by further increasing the amount of a home\u2019s value that can\u2019t be taxed to pay for public schools, known as the homestead exemption. The plan also involves lowering the age at which Texans qualify for additional relief on their school tax bills.<\/p>\n

Patrick\u2019s proposal contrasts with the approach House leadership has generally favored to reduce property taxes, via compressing school district tax rates and lowering appraisal caps. Gov. Greg Abbott has laid out a separate property tax cut plan, the centerpiece of which is abolishing homeowner school property taxes, setting up a potential legislative fight over the issue next year.<\/p>\n

Patrick also listed election security and efficiency on his list of priorities, directing the State Affairs Committee to \u201cguarantee poll watcher access,\u201d study \u201cdifferent methods counties employ regarding the marking and counting of ballots\u201d and evaluate countywide polling sites during primary elections. Thousands of Dallas County voters showed up at the wrong polling location<\/a> this month after the Dallas County GOP eliminated countywide polling sites, leading to election day chaos.<\/p>\n

Like Burrows\u2019 list, Patrick\u2019s priorities include cracking down on immigrant truck drivers, with the Transportation committee charged with ensuring English-proficiency of drivers and bolstering safety standards of driving schools through \u201cunannounced or undercover audits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick also included reproductive issues on his list, instructing senators to \u201cexamine the unethical and foreign interests exploiting the surrogacy and fertility industries in Texas\u201d and to study the \u201ccontinued threat posed by abortion pills unlawfully shipped to Texas.\u201d The Legislature last year restricted the manufacturing and distribution<\/a> of abortion pills in the state.<\/p>\n

In another alignment with the House, Patrick directed the Heath and Human Services committee to study \u201cthe drivers of rising health care costs.\u201d Thousands of Texans are seeing higher premiums<\/a> this year after the Republican-controlled Congress declined to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies last year.<\/p>\n

The Committee on Religious Liberty, formed this month by Patrick, was charged with recommending \u201cany legislation needed to improve, enhance, or complete implementation\u201d of measures the Legislature passed last session requiring the public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments and enabling schools to devote time<\/a> during the day to prayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1864,27,29,293,28,1863],"class_list":["post-225610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-dan-patrick","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}