Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick defends THC ban, praises tax relief in Wichita Falls stop

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he thinks he 'knows where his heart is,' referring to Gov. Greg Abbott's pending decision on whether to sign a controversial ban on THC, the psychoactive component of hemp.
Patrick stopped short of predicting whether Abbott will sign the bill that passed in the recent legislative session.
'My job is to pass strong legislation for the welfare of the state, and the governor will make those decisions,' the Republican said.
Patrick, who shepherded the bill to passage, held a news conference Tuesday at the Wichita Falls Regional Airport.
'The testimony on THC that's sold in our vape and smoke shops around Texas is devastating,' he said.
Patrick said 8,000 smoke and vape shops have opened in Texas in the past three years.
'Top put that in comparison, we only have 1,100 McDonald's. They're selling gummies and candy and popcorn and cookies and drinks to young people,' he said.
Patrick said the narcotic content of those products is three or four times more potent than the marijuana 'of the old days.'
'They're very dangerous. No one knows what's in these products,' he said.
By law, Abbott has until June 22 to sign or veto the bill or allow it to become law without his signature.
Patrick said the ban would not impact industrial hemp, such as that processed in the Panda Biotech plant in Wichita Falls. He also said of the 1.25 million acres of farmland in Texas, only 200 acres focus on hemp.
Patrick said he stopped in Wichita Falls as part of a swing through rural Texas to tout measures passed in legislative session that ended June 2.
He said the Legislature passed the 'biggest property tax cut ever' for school taxes.
'This year we increased the homestead exemption to $200,000 for seniors and $140,000 for those under 65 with homestead exemptions,' he said.
He said that means the average homeowner over age 65 will no longer pay school property taxes, and those under 65 will see a reduction of about 50%. He said the state will use its portion of sales tax revenue to make up the difference for schools.
Patrick said the state could not afford a total elimination of property taxes as some groups have proposed.
He said the Legislature set aside $4 billion for raises for public school teachers, which he said will increase the average teacher salary to $69,000 annually.
He said the controversial school choice program that passed, often referred to as school vouchers, does not take money away from public schools.
'We're not taking anything away from public education. We spent more money than ever,' he said.
Other laws that passed that Patrick lauded included:
Putting the Ten Commandments in every classroom
Putting prayer back into schools in the form of private time for prayer if students want it.
Putting billions of dollars into water development
Putting money into construction of natural gas plants
Patrick got into a contentious exchange at the end of the press conference with a woman who demanded to know why a handful of sign-carriers were not allowed into the building.
'This is a wonderful country. Why don't you allow everybody in?' she said.
'They're not journalists. They're not journalism teachers. We only have so much room for so many people,' Patrick said.
The exchange lasted several minutes. Afterward, the woman said she was Annette Bever, a communications teacher at Midwestern State University and Vernon College.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Dan Patrick defends THC ban, praises tax relief at Wichita Falls news conference