AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following the Texas Senate’s bipartisan passage of Senate Bill 29, Banning Local COVID-19 Mandates, by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury:

“In March 2020, when the world locked down, I went on Fox News and suggested that Texas reopen our economy as quickly and safely as possible. I took an extraordinary amount of criticism but, in hindsight, everybody can now see that I was correct. Texas is thriving and our economy is the strongest in the world.

“Local governments across Texas and America took extreme measures to shut down businesses, schools and houses of worship. SB 29 is a top priority of mine to prevent that from ever happening in the future.”

SB 29 prohibits any governmental entity from imposing mask or vaccine mandates or closing private businesses and schools in response to COVID-19.