Lt. Gov. Patrick rips Gov. Abbott for vetoing THC ban, digs in against calls for regulation

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful head of the Texas Senate, sharply rebuked Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday for vetoing his top legislative priority — a ban on all THC products — and dug in his heels against the governor’s call for lawmakers to instead place firmer regulations on the hemp industry.

In vetoing Senate Bill 3 just before midnight Sunday, Abbott argued that the measure would have faced “valid constitutional challenges” that would have kept it tied up in court for years. He called the Legislature back to Austin for a special session next month to pass stricter rules for products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in marijuana known as THC that SB 3 sought to ban.

In a defiant news conference Monday, Patrick refused to cede any ground on his months-long demand for a full prohibition of the substance. He accused Abbott of wanting to “legalize marijuana” by regulating hemp products, claimed that the governor had misled him into believing that he would sign SB 3 into law and lambasted him for failing to weigh in on the issue during the session before vetoing it just minutes before the deadline to do so.

“This is a fight that didn’t need to be,” Patrick said. “Where has he been all session? Where has he been? We get this [veto] proclamation from him last night after midnight, and he parachutes in at the last moment with arguments that we do not think are valid.”

Patrick added that he was “staying with a ban,” continuing to insist that there was not enough law enforcement to regulate Texas’ more than 8,000 THC retailers.

The spat marks a rare break between two of the most powerful Republicans in Texas after a legislative session that ushered in a series of conservative victories on which Patrick and Abbott were largely aligned. And with Patrick doubling down on a ban heading into a special session, there appeared to be no clear resolution in sight.

Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris reiterated the governor’s contention that SB 3 “was well-intentioned but legally flawed, and this is why he is putting it on the special session agenda so that it can be fixed, improved and signed into law.”

“Governor Abbott has always shared the lieutenant governor’s desire to ensure that THC products are not sold to our children and that the dangerous synthetic drugs that we have seen recently are banned,” Mahaleris said in a statement without addressing Patrick’s allegations that the governor had deceived him and neglected to share concerns about the bill sooner.

Instances of public discord between Abbott and Patrick, who have overlapped in their respective roles for a decade, have been far and few between.

In 2023, the two clashed over how to slash property taxes, with Abbott supporting a House proposal over Patrick’s preferred approach. Patrick erupted, saying at the time that Abbott “seems misinformed about the roles of the executive and legislative branches of government.” In the end, Patrick held his ground and won approval on a tax-cut package that included his push to increase the state’s homestead exemption on school district taxes, or the amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed to pay for public schools.

Among the only other public moments of friction between the two GOP leaders came in 2017, when Patrick pushed Abbott to call a special session on a “bathroom bill” aimed at transgender Texans that would have required people to use the bathroom that aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. The measure ultimately did not pass.

Abbott vetoed SB 3 amid immense pressure from across the political spectrum to do so, with recent public polling showing that 50% of Texas voters opposed outlawing hemp products, compared to 34% who voiced approval. The governor also faced a forceful campaign by the hemp industry, farmers, veterans and some conservative activists urging him to sink the ban.

Patrick and his allies argued that outlawing THC was necessary to protect young people from high-potency products. On Monday, he disputed Abbott’s argument that SB 3 would preempt a 2018 federal law that legalized hemp products, and he claimed that most Texans did not want to legalize the products for recreational consumption.

His insistence on a ban despite Abbott’s call for regulation sets up a difficult special session. Asked what could come out of the overtime round, Patrick said he would continue to push for a ban, while conceding that lawmakers would have their own say. He also suggested the Legislature could repeal the 2019 law that inadvertently opened the door to the state’s exploding hemp market.

“I’m not mad at the governor, but I’m not going to legalize marijuana in Texas,” Patrick said. “If people want to vote me out of office for that, so be it.”

Patrick claimed that the last time he had spoken to Abbott before the end of session, the governor told him that SB 3 “is fine,” and “don’t worry about your bill.”

“If he’d have worked with us through the session, maybe we could have addressed some of his issues,” Patrick said. “But he made a decision to veto this bill very late, without even giving us the courtesy of a call.”

Some Republicans, meanwhile, welcomed their renewed opportunity to rein in hemp-derived THC products, even after they had voted in favor of the ban.

“I am glad he vetoed it,” Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, said in a text message, adding that it gave lawmakers a chance to work on a “meaningful bill” to address issues such as packaging, quality control and chemically altered synthetic products.

Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, said he continued to prefer a ban over the regulatory framework that the House initially considered. But he acknowledged that the “legal issues surrounding a ban versus regulation are very real ones.”

“There’s still room for us to help Texans between where we are today and a total ban,” he said in a text message. “The most important thing is protecting young people from these products, and we have plenty of opportunity to achieve that goal.”

Still, the split between Abbott and Patrick — and the intense pressure on the Legislature from both sides of the issue — left GOP lawmakers in a no-win position.

“Folks are mad at me for voting for SB 3 and folks will be mad at me for supporting the veto,” Virdell said. “Unfortunately, politics is more than just policy and not everybody knows how the sausage gets made. I try to give folks insight to how it works and some want to be upset no matter what happens.”

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