Updated on March 27, 2019 at 2 p.m. with comment from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's office and on March 28 at 4:40 p.m. with comment from Sen. Brandon Creighton's office.

AUSTIN — Apple, Dell, PepsiCo and several other businesses, tourism groups and chambers of commerce have penned a letter to Texas lawmakers criticizing bills they say would hurt the state's economy and target the LGBT community.

"We will continue to oppose any unnecessary, discriminatory, and divisive measures that would damage Texas' reputation and create problems for our employees and their families," the letter reads. "These include policies that explicitly or implicitly allow for the exclusion of LGBTQ people, or anyone else."

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, HP and PayPal also signed the letter, as did the Dallas, McKinney, Plano and Richardson chambers of commerce and the Dallas and Fort Worth convention and visitors bureaus.

The business coalition held a news conference Wednesday at which it specifically targeted two of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's priorities.

Senate Bill 15, which aims to do away with local sick leave policies, would also undo city rules that prohibit discrimination for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, the coalition said. Senate Bill 17, which would give legal cover to occupational license holders who cite sincerely held religious beliefs to turn away clients or refuse services to certain people, also drew the businesses' opposition.

Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, denies that his bill would affect local LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances. Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said his licensing bill is meant to protect people's religious freedoms, not to act as a free pass to discriminate.

The businesses disagree. "Such measures are inconsistent with an innovative, forward-facing Texas that we can all be proud of," the coalition wrote.

Patrick's office defended the bills in a written statement.

"The vast majority of business leaders in Texas know they have no greater ally than Lt. Gov. Patrick who is helping lead the fight to ensure the Texas economy remains number one in the nation and among the strongest in the world," Patrick spokesman Alejandro Garcia said.

And Creighton's staff said he knows of businesses "small and large" who support his bill.

"Dozens of the companies represented at yesterday's small gathering were supportive of SB 15, but have been threatened and bullied into opposing this pro-business legislation and are terrified by these scare tactics," Creighton spokeswoman Erin Wilson said in a statement. "This false rhetoric is irresponsible when the Texas economy is at stake. It is not new for groups to oppose legislation in efforts to justify their lobby retainers or increase fundraising, but this opposition is anti-business and flat-out dishonest."

This isn't the first time companies have come together to oppose legislation they say will hurt LGBT Texans and be bad for Texas business. In 2017, they mobilized to fight the bathroom bill, another Patrick priority that would have restricted restroom use based on sex. The legislation was described as a public safety bill by its Republican supporters, but as a thinly-veiled attack on the transgender community by businesses and LGBT rights advocates.

The bill ultimately failed, in large part due to opposition from big business, including 51 Fortune 500 companies, and Patrick has said it's unnecessary to resurrect the measure this year. But convention and visitors bureaus in North Texas, which led opposition to the bathroom bill, say they believe they're fighting the same fight again with Senate bills 15 and 17.

"Discrimination is again threatening Texas' reputation as welcoming for businesses and families. These bills create risk for vulnerable people and for businesses, workers, and communities," Phillip Jones, president & CEO of VisitDallas, the city's convention and visitors bureau, said in a written statement. "We are still feeling the impacts of the 2017 bathroom bill. This cuts to the heart of our industry, our small businesses, and everyday Texans working to make ends meet."

This coalition is keeping several other bills in its sights, six each in the Texas House and Senate. Here is a full list of the bills it opposes: