“No state offers the opportunity that Texas provides. … But we know that more must be done to ensure that prosperity reaches every Texas family and every Texas business,” Abbott said to a crowd of about 1,100 at Arnold Oil, an automotive equipment and fuel company in East Austin.
The third-term governor named seven emergency items: increasing property tax relief, investing in water infrastructure, raising salaries for teachers, expanding career training in high schools, enacting school choice, tightening bail restrictions and creating a state cybersecurity center in San Antonio.
Declaring emergency priorities allows lawmakers to sidestep a constitutional rule that generally prevents them from passing legislation before the 60th day of the legislative session—March 14.
Two of Abbott’s goals for this session, school choice and bail reform, were priorities in 2023 but did not garner enough support in the Texas House to become law.
Increasing property tax relief
“A lot of Texans are facing an affordability crisis,” Abbott said. “Last session, we slashed your property taxes. But for many Texans, those were wiped out by local taxing authorities that hiked your property taxes even more. That must end this session.”
Abbott said he wanted to spend at least $10 billion of the state’s nearly $24 billion budget surplus on tax cuts and pass legislation preventing local taxing entities from raising property tax rates without voter approval.
Lawmakers approved $18 billion in tax relief in 2023. The package gave most homeowners a $100,000 tax exemption on their primary residence and reduced the tax rates school districts could charge.
Both chambers of the legislature set aside about $6.5 billion for additional tax cuts in early drafts of the 2026-27 state budget.
“We must also make housing more affordable,” Abbott said. “To do that, we need to make it easier to build, slash regulations and speed up permitting.”
The state comptroller’s office reported in August that Texas’ population growth has outpaced homebuilding since 2020, resulting in a widespread housing shortage. Up For Growth, a national housing policy organization, estimated in 2023 that Texas needs about 306,000 more homes to meet demand.
Investing in water infrastructure
“Another issue that affects every family and every business is water,” Abbott said. “Some of our water supplies are drying up. Many communities have leaking and broken water lines.”
The governor echoed comments from Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who has spearheaded a multibillion-dollar plan to help local utilities purchase more water and upgrade their infrastructure. Abbott said he would work with Perry and Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, to pass the legislation, which would include a one-time, “Texas-sized” investment this year and a $1 billion dedication in future years.
The plan would build on $1 billion in the Texas Water Fund, which Texas voters approved in 2023.
“We will put Texas on a path to have plenty of water for the next 50 years,” Abbott said. “We will make the largest investment in water in the history of Texas. We will tap into new water supplies and repair pipes to save billions of gallons of water each year.”
Lawmakers must also pass legislation to add more power to the state grid, Abbott said.
Demand on the grid reached a record 85,000 megawatts in 2023, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. In June, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas told senators the state must nearly double its power capacity to 150,000 megawatts by 2030, due to population growth and demand from large users like data centers and oil and gas companies.
In July, over 2 million people lost power in the Houston area after Hurricane Beryl pummeled the region. In the aftermath of Beryl, state leaders said utility companies needed to do more to prepare for future storms, such as clearing vegetation.
“Why is it that here in Houston, in Texas, the energy capital of the world, we can’t even keep the lights on during a light drizzle?” said Bobby Ramos, president of Houston’s Laborers Local 350 union, during a pre-recorded response to Abbott’s speech from the Texas Democratic Party. “Even when we’re going without power ourselves, it’s the men and women in labor out there in the middle of the night when disaster strikes, cleaning up fallen trees and getting power lines back up. It’s the workers of Texas, not the politicians, getting us out of this mess.”
Raising salaries for teachers
To applause from audience members, Abbott announced his third emergency item: providing a pay raise for public school teachers and making Texas “No. 1 in educating our children.”
Abbott did not specify how much money he wanted to spend on the pay raises. State budget writers have set aside about $4.9 billion for the raises and other school funding initiatives, including a proposed increase to the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a merit-based program for “outstanding teachers.”
The Senate’s plan would raise all public school teachers’ salaries by $4,000, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s office. Teachers in rural school districts would receive a $10,000 raise under the plan, which Patrick said would “close the salary gap between our rural and larger school districts.”
The average Texas teacher made $60,716 during the 2022-23 school year, according to the National Education Association. The national average teacher salary was $69,597 during the same period, the NEA reported.
The governor also endorsed spending $500 million on school safety and security, while lawmakers have budgeted $400 million for the effort.
Expanding career training options
Texas must require high schools to provide career training programs “so students can go from graduation directly into a good-paying job,” Abbott said.
Lawmakers should increase funding for dual credit programs, the Jobs and Education for Texans grant program, and options for rural school districts, according to documents from the governor’s office.
“Many of the most in-demand jobs are careers like welders, plumbers, and electricians. … Careers like this are part of the better job and bigger paycheck opportunities that we provide in Texas,” Abbott said.
He highlighted Raya Rabold, a former student from Jarrell, a city about 40 miles north of Austin. Rabold took welding classes in high school and at Texas State Technical College, and her work was later featured in “Yellowstone,” an award-winning television show.
“Raya chose the path that was best for her. We want every student at every level to have that same opportunity,” Abbott said as he announced his fifth emergency item, school choice.
Enacting school choice
“Government-mandated schools cannot meet the unique needs of every student,” Abbott said. “But Texas can provide families with choices to meet those needs.”
Creating an education savings account program has been one of the governor’s top priorities since 2023. Abbott, Patrick and other Texas Republican leaders have said they would spend $1 billion on the plan, which would give families public money to send their children to private schools.
The Texas Senate is moving quickly on education savings accounts, and could adopt their version of the plan this week. Senate Bill 2, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, is on the upper chamber’s intent calendar for Feb. 4, according to Texas Legislature Online.
The proposal would give families $10,000 annually per student to pay for tuition and other educational expenses, such as textbooks or transportation, at an accredited private school. Children with disabilities would receive $11,500 each year for private school, and families who homeschool their children would receive at least $2,000 annually, according to previous reporting.
“I’m for more choices in education. What I’m not for is giving away our tax dollars with no strings attached,” Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, said during a panel following Abbott’s address. “Greg Abbott just said that he’s provided historic property tax relief, historic school funding. But every Texan watching knows that our property taxes are higher than ever, and our local schools are closing at a rapid rate.”
Tightening bail restrictions
The governor’s sixth emergency item, bail reform, is another repeat from 2023. To make communities safer, lawmakers must pass legislation requiring judges to deny bail for people accused of violent crimes if they have prior convictions, he said.
“No one can benefit from a better education or a booming economy if they are not safe. … Lawmakers must choose: support the safety of the citizens they represent, or the criminals who kill them,” Abbott said.
State senators passed similar legislation in 2023, but it did not receive approval in the House.
Creating a state cybersecurity center
To protect Texas from cybersecurity threats, Abbott proposed launching the “Texas Cyber Command” in San Antonio. The legislature would work with the University of Texas at San Antonio to create the new center, he said.
“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.”
According to documents from the governor’s office, the cyber command would:
- Anticipate, detect and respond to potential threats
- Promote cybersecurity awareness and training
- Conduct exercises to prepare for cyberattacks
- Work with local, state and federal agencies to strengthen Texas’ cybersecurity response