July 17, 2017      6:19 PM
SB: Patrick meets Straus on the Speaker's preferred battlefield
Public education dominates the narrative for now, but the legislative combatants should not underestimate Patrick’s ability to undermine the speaker in the lower chamber
Throughout
his ascendancy at the Texas Capitol, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has proven time and again
the ability to adapt to the political environment. Unlike many in the Tea
Party faction of the Republican Party from which he derives his support,
Patrick comes to government to govern, not to protest.
Last
week as Patrick rolled out his education plans, we saw him adapt because the environment
had indeed changed ahead of the special session set to start tomorrow.
Speaker
Joe Straus has all year invited
Patrick to a debate about public education – the issue that represents Straus’
surest political footing with his members – and Patrick has finally shifted his
rhetoric accordingly. The Speaker reset the landscape in recent weeks by focusing
on public education and publicizing his concerns about suicides among
transgender Texans as a consequence of passing restrictions
on public restrooms based on gender.
Patrick
quickly learned in his first session as a senator, back in 2007 when he entered
government as a protester, that he wouldn’t get everything he wanted all at
once.
By Scott Braddock
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