Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is making it clear that expanding religious liberty will remain a top priority when Texas lawmakers return to Austin next year.
On Monday, Patrick released a new round of interim charges directing Senate committees to study issues before the 2027 legislative session. Among the most closely watched assignments are three given to the Senate's newly created Religious Liberty Committee, signaling that Republican leaders are looking for additional ways to strengthen the role of religion in public life.
One of the committee's primary tasks is to compare Texas and federal religious liberty laws to determine whether state law fully reflects the First Amendment's Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause. Senators have also been instructed to determine whether "additional protections are needed."
A second charge calls on lawmakers to examine ways to educate Texans about their right to practice their religion "in all settings, including, but not limited to: education, workplace, government, and healthcare."
The committee will also review a law passed during the 2025 legislative session that allows public school students to receive excused absences for off-campus religious instruction. Senators are expected to evaluate how the law is being implemented and whether any changes should be recommended.
Patrick announced the Religious Liberty Committee in March and appointed Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, as its chairman. The committee was created as religious freedom has become one of the defining issues for Republican leadership in Texas.
The latest directives continue a broader push that has unfolded over several legislative sessions. Texas lawmakers have approved measures requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, allowing school districts to set aside time for prayer, and requiring classrooms to display donated "In God We Trust" signs.
The Legislature has also authorized public schools to use unlicensed religious chaplains in place of mental health counselors and approved curriculum materials that incorporate the Bible and other religious texts into elementary classroom lessons.
Not every measure has seen widespread adoption. Although lawmakers gave school districts the option to set aside time for prayer, relatively few school boards chose to implement the policy during the last school year.
Patrick has consistently argued that religion has been pushed too far out of public life and has rejected the commonly cited phrase "separation of church and state" as a constitutional principle.
"There is no such thing as 'separation of church and state' in the Constitution. For too long, the anti-God left has used this phrase to suppress people of religion in our country," Patrick said in April after the presidential Commission on Religious Liberty held its final hearing.
President Donald Trump selected Patrick last year to lead that commission, further raising his profile on issues involving religious freedom.
The new charges also arrive amid continued debate over religion in Texas politics. Earlier this year, Patrick instructed senators to study ways to prevent Sharia law in Texas. During last month's Texas Republican Party convention, some party members also sought to expel Muslim participants who had attended the event.
Interim charges serve as the Legislature's agenda between regular sessions. Senate committees spend the months leading up to the next session holding hearings, gathering testimony and preparing recommendations that often become legislation.
Patrick's latest round of directives extends beyond religious liberty. Other Senate committees will study ways to prevent unfair online ticket sales, investigate gaming platforms that expose children to inappropriate advertising, examine what Patrick described as "inefficient or inconsistent" divorce and child custody proceedings, and assess water conditions in the Pecos River Basin.
The Senate is expected to begin work on the interim studies in the coming months before lawmakers reconvene in January. Whether the committee ultimately recommends new legislation remains to be seen, but Patrick's latest directives leave little doubt that religious liberty will remain a central issue during the next legislative session.
