Updated on May 1, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. with remarks from Sen. John Whitmire and on April 30, 2019 at 11:25 a.m. with the final vote count on House Bill 63 and with comment from Rep. Joe Moody.

AUSTIN — A day after the Texas House made history by backing reduced penalties for pot possession, the effort was declared suddenly and unceremoniously dead.

On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced his opposition to a bill that would lessen the repercussions for people caught with less than an ounce of marijuana. Patrick, who serves as president of the Texas Senate, said the legislation would not survive in his chamber.

"I join with those House Republicans who oppose this step toward legalization of marijuana," he tweeted.

The Texas House gave the bill its preliminary approval on Monday. On Tuesday, the House gave it final approval, voting 103 to 42 to send to bill to the Senate.

But Patrick soon called into question its chances of becoming law. In his tweet, Patrick said, "@whitmire_john is right that [House Bill 63] is dead in the @Texas Senate." He was referring to Sen. John Whitmire, the Houston Democrat who chairs the Committee on Criminal Justice, where the bill would need to be debated and passed to reach the Senate floor.

Whitmire was quoted in The Texas Observer earlier in the week saying he didn't think there was an appetite for the issue in the Senate.

"I try not to bring issues that are going to be time-consuming if they're not going to get support," Whitmire told The Observer. "At this stage, time is value. I still don't want to do a show-and-tell. I'd like to have a hearing on something that's got some traction."

But on Wednesday, Whitmire told The Dallas Morning News he was referring to an old version of Moody's bill when he said the votes weren't there in the Senate.

As originally filed, Moody's bill would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, replacing the criminal penalty with a civil fine. But Moody amended the bill before it was debated on the House floor. Pot possession would still be a crime under the new version of the bill, although it would no longer be an arrestable offense and criminal records could be more easily expunged.

"That statement was the civil penalties [bill] that he didn't have the votes for," Whitmire said Wednesday. "I think someone played back the comments of two weeks ago, where I said there was not support for the civil [penalties bill], and the lieutenant governor said he agreed with my assessment that it was dead. The problem is the two kind of ran together."

Whitmire said that he would be "pulling" members on his committee to support Moody's bill now, but that "it becomes a real challenge when the lieutenant governor makes his announcement."

"This is an important bill that I personally think is good for criminal justice and taxpayer dollars. It's kind of ridiculous for us to have the range of punishment we currently have when other states have made it legal. But this is Texas," Whitmire said. "It's challenging to get people to make a tough vote on a relatively new issue that's never been favorably considered by the Legislature. So, we have a lot of work to do. Do you have a hearing? I'm not sure at this point."

He added: "This should not be a party vote. It wasn't in the House. It shouldn't be here."

Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, has tried for multiple sessions to pass the legislation. On Monday, he said it's been 45 years since lawmakers have eased state marijuana laws.

Under current law, getting caught with an ounce or less of marijuana is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and up to $2,000 in fines. Moody's bill would lessen this to a maximum fine of $500 and no jail time and make it easier for people to expunge their criminal records after one year. It would also prohibit police from arresting anyone caught with small amounts of pot.

In 2017, more than 60,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. They accounted for more than half the drug possession arrests in the state.

Ahead of the final House vote Tuesday, Moody addressed Patrick's comments. While Gov. Greg Abbott has not openly backed the bill, he said the governor's office "worked diligently" with him to craft it.

"This bill is backed by overwhelming majority of those in this body and by an overwhelming majority of those back home who you represent," Moody said. "Whatever you think about Colorado-style legalization — this isn't it. It's not even a step toward it."

Moody also told his House colleagues not to forget this episode, hinting it may elicit reprisals against the Senate's priorities.

"Let's vote this across the hall so they can get to work on the House's priorities. ... And so we can see how those priorities are respected as we consider Senate bills over here over the next few weeks," Moody said. "Dan Patrick is the odd man out here and the ball is in his court."

Abbott's staff did not returned requests for comment.

Staff writer Rebekah Allen contributed to this report.