Greg Abbott names school vouchers and teacher pay as top priorities, while calling for end to 'DEI'
Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday he wants state lawmakers to slash property taxes by $10 billion, launch a massive water project to keep the state from going dry and restrict bail for a slew of crimes.
Those were among a series of items deemed emergencies by the governor in his State of the State speech, meaning the GOP-led Legislature can work to advance them more quickly than other bills. Also on the list was a program to allow public dollars to be spent on private education, new career training programs, pay raises for teachers and a cyber security command center in San Antonio.
The Texas Republican used the address to tout the state’s business-friendly bona fides, bragging that Texas has lured competing rocket companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, created a court system exclusively for businesses and launched its own stock exchange.
“Texas is the blueprint for America’s future,” said Abbott, who is now in his third term leading the country’s biggest red state.
The governor also spent time offering some nods to his base and touting his efforts to secure the border, which he said are now serving as a blueprint for President Donald Trump.
Abbott called for banning diversity, equity and inclusion in K-12 schools. And he said the state only recognizes two genders and that any educator who “tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot.”
The governor also called for cities and counties to be required to assist Trump’s mass deportation operation. He backed legislation that would allow Attorney General Ken Paxton to prosecute elections violations. And he said “hostile foreign nations and their agents” should not be able to buy Texas land.
It all came after Abbott issued a slew of executive orders in recent days directing state agencies to work with Trump on his deportation effort and purge diversity initiatives. Abbott largely spoke in broad strokes with few specifics about what he is looking for in proposed legislation.
Notably absent from Abbott’s address was any mention of consumable THC products that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made it his mission this session to ban in the state. He also made no mention of the state’s abortion ban, which Patrick has said should be clarified to ensure doctors know when they can act in an emergency.
For the second time, Abbott bucked the longstanding tradition of addressing lawmakers in a joint session at the Capitol, instead delivering his address to a packed crowd at an automotive supply company in Austin.
His address was followed by a Democratic response aired in the room and on TV. The response slammed Abbott for being too cozy with Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. It featured an OBGYN who said the state’s abortion ban has made her job more difficult. A teacher said Abbott and his “billionaire buddies” are pushing a voucher program that could ruin public schools.
“The fact is people are struggling after 30 years of Republican rule,” Gilberto Hinojosa, the former Democratic Party chair, said in the response.
Here’s what you need to know about Abbott's speech and priorities:
Emphasizing infrastructure
The governor called for a “generational” investment in water infrastructure, backing a multi-billion-dollar plan to find new sources of water and pipe it across the state.
“We will make the largest investment in water in the history of Texas,” Abbott said. “We will tap into new water supplies and repair pipes to save billions of gallons of water each year.”
The governor backed a plan by Sen. Charles Perry, the Amarillo Republican who chairs the committee overseeing water, to dedicate money annually to water projects, similar to the way the state funds roads.
Perry’s plan would invest in a network of pipelines to distribute water across the state. It would also seek new sources of water promoting desalination plants or purchasing it directly from other states.
The governor also called for boosting the state’s energy grid by investing in nuclear energy, describing it as a way to “fortify” the state’s power grid.
The Public Utility Commission last year released a report, ordered by Abbott, that said Texas was “well-poised” to be a national leader in advanced global energy. The governor said the state would lead a “nuclear power renaissance in the United States.”
Renewing the school voucher push
The governor spent the last year campaigning against members of his own party who opposed his push to give families public dollars to spend on private education. He made clear he expects lawmakers to get the job done this session.
“We must pass school choice this session,” Abbott said to perhaps the biggest applause of the night.
“Government-mandated schools simply cannot meet the unique needs of every student,” the governor said. “But Texas can provide families with the choices to better meet those needs. The majority of Texans support school choice. More than 30 states already have a form of school choice.”
Abbott is pushing for a $1 billion program, which House and Senate leaders have already agreed to spend. That’s double the $500 million lawmakers considered last year. But the chambers still need to hash out the details.
A Senate proposal debated in committee last week would drop $10,000 into 100,000 “education savings accounts” that students could spend on private school tuition, tutoring and other education costs.
House members have not yet unveiled their proposal. In the past, a coalition of rural Republican and Democratic representatives have blocked voucher proposals out of fear they would drain funds away from public schools, among other things.
The governor also deemed teacher pay raises an emergency item, calling for boosting the average salary to an “all-time high.” And he urged lawmakers to expand a merit pay program to put more teachers on a path to six-figure salaries.
In the past, Abbott has linked public school funding bumps to the approval of a voucher program. In 2023, he said he wouldn’t add teacher pay raises to his special session agenda until a voucher bill made it to his desk.
Taking shots at Harris County
The governor specifically targeted the state's biggest blue county as he called for lawmakers to slash property taxes by at least $10 billion and prevent cities and counties from raising them.
Abbott said the tax cuts can only work if local authorities cannot “use loopholes to jack up your property taxes,” saying Harris County raised taxes more than 10% last year.
Voters narrowly approved a county tax rate increase in the November election to help cover the cost of maintaining the county's extensive flood control infrastructure.
Abbott said no taxing entity should be able to raise property taxes without two-thirds approval by voters.
The governor also took a shot at Harris County judges as he renewed his push for legislation he has long sought that would allow judges to deny bail to defendants charged with certain offenses.
“Activist judges have too much discretion to let repeat offenders out on bail, only to see them harm more Texans,” Abbott said, specifically pointing to the slaying of Harris County Deputy Constable Omar Ursin, who he said was “murdered by criminals let out on bail from a prior murder charge.” Ursin’s widow was in the audience, he said.
State law currently prevents judges from denying bail to first-time offenders other than those accused of capital murder and for whom the state is seeking the death penalty.
The legislation would let judges deny bail outright for people accused of serious sex crimes, human trafficking and violent offenses like murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
But the effort faces an uphill battle, as it requires a constitutional amendment and approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate. The Senate has passed the bill multiple times, but Democrats have repeatedly blocked it in the House.
A new cybersecurity hub
Abbott said he wants to build a cybersecurity command hub in San Antonio, which already boasts a large concentration of professionals in the industry because of its large military and national security footprint.
The governor said the state should partner with the University of Texas at San Antonio on the effort, which he said would protect the state from hackers and hostile foreign actors.
“San Antonio is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of cybersecurity experts,” Abbott said. “We must harness those assets to protect against threats from China, Iran, Russia and other foreign enemies. They could cripple our power, our water and our communications with cyber attacks.”
The governor did not offer more details on how much he thought the state should invest in the venture or how it should be structured or operate, beyond that the state should employ “cutting-edge capabilities.”