Schools top Abbott’s State of State priorities
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas lawmakers on Tuesday to quickly begin work on an ambitious agenda focused heavily on schools, including boosting teacher pay, reforming state education funding and improving safety in the wake of the Santa Fe school shooting.
In addition, in his State of the State Address, Abbott called on the Legislature to tackle soaring property tax bills, the state’s mental health needs and funding for Hurricane Harvey relief.
“We serve at a unique time in Texas history,” Abbott told lawmakers in the House chamber, “a time that we are going to be able to seize an opportunity to cement a legacy for Texas.”
With those issues declared emergency items, lawmakers can begin hearings and voting on bills to address them now — without waiting 60 days for the legislation to come to the floor, as the rules set out.
The priorities Abbott named aren’t a surprise. He, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen — all Republicans — have long identified school finance and property tax reform as top issues this session. Whether they can find fixes that suit a majority of lawmakers by the end of the 140-day session, however, remains to be seen.
A plan released by the three leaders last week — to limit property tax hikes by cities, counties and school districts to 2.5 percent a year unless they hold an election — is already drawing rebukes from municipal and public education groups. What’s more, the GOP-led House and Senate couldn’t agree last session on a similar proposal that carried an even higher cap.
Abbott acknowledged the challenges in passing the “transformative agenda.”
“Whenever you try to do something extraordinary, it is never easy. Yes, there’s naysayers. There’s going to be people who cling to the status quo. So, of course it’s going to be hard. But I believe that you were made for this moment. We were made for this moment,” he said.
Patrick, who controls the Senate, said he was pleased with Abbott’s address — which sidestepped Patrick’s favored plan for a $5,000 across-the-board pay bump for teachers. Instead, Abbott said he wants to make a six-figure salary attainable for educators.
“It was fabulous,” Patrick said after the speech. “He said every teacher deserves a pay raise. I’m extremely happy with everything he said.”
Dems seek health care
Democratic legislators, in a rebuttal after the speech, said they were disappointed Abbott didn’t make health care a priority, given the state has the nation’s highest uninsured rate. Several called for the state to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income adults — something Abbott and other Republican lawmakers in Texas have declined to do, saying it would amount to signing a blank check to the federal government for escalating costs in the future.
Also, Democrats voiced concern that if the state doesn’t boost funding for education, public school districts could lose money because of the proposed cap on what they can raise in property tax revenue.
“We stand ready to work on education issues,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who sits on the education committee. “We want to make certain there’s a solid funding source to go ... with reform.”
In his two-year budget blueprint released Tuesday, Abbott recommended the Legislature inject an additional $3 billion into education for teacher pay and to reward districts for positive outcomes. Another $3 billion would cover the loss of revenue local school districts would see under the property tax cap, the document said.
Though Abbott didn’t mention it during the speech, his budget document requests lawmakers give the Texas Enterprise Fund $150 million to help lure new business to Texas, in addition to $50 million for film and music marketing.
All in all, Abbott’s speech “wasn’t as red-meaty as it normally is,” said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, one of the longest-serving members in the House.
She was disappointed the governor left out early education as a way to help students read on grade-level by third grade, one of Abbott’s stated goals. The governor prioritized quality pre-K in 2015 and urged lawmakers to take up pre-K again in 2017, with little success the second time around.
Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, said he was glad to see the governor make mental health an emergency item both because it would ensure safer schools, and also help veterans who struggle with issues like PTSD.
“A lot the problems we’ve got in society come from mental health and you can bury your head in the sand and say, ‘Lock these folks up,’ but it doesn’t do any good unless you have treatment and you have processes people can work through some of it.”
Appraisals, security
Abbott also proposed giving taxpayers power to fire their property tax appraisers and elect a new one.
The booming economy in Texas continues to fuel growth and higher home values that often lead to bigger property tax bills. Chief appraisers in Texas are hired by a board of directors that is appointed by taxing agencies, such as city and county govern can’t ments and school districts.
On school safety, Abbott is calling on lawmakers to fund $7.2 million for a School Safety Center at Texas State University and give $4 million to support a program at the university that trains law enforcement in active shooter response.
The desire to beef up safety comes after a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School last May that left 10 dead and 13 wounded.
Beyond the emergency items, Abbott called on lawmakers to continue funding border security initiatives, which cost the state roughly $800 million in the current two-year budget.
Freshman Rep. John Bucy III had mix reactions after watching his first State of the State speech as one of nearly 30 new members elected to the House.
“Some of it is very encouraging. I think we’re going to make progress on public education. But we be wasting our money on things that are not our state’s responsibility,” said the Austin Democrat, who wants Texas to leave border security to the federal government.
President Donald Trump was expected to highlight border security in his own State of the Union speech , after a partial government shutdown over funding for a wall ended late last month.
Nothing on vote issues
Absent from Abbott’s speech was any mention of elections or voting issues that have plunged Texas leaders into hot water after the state sent counties flawed lists of suspected non-citizen voters to purge from their rolls Jan. 28. Thousands of registered voters were wrongly flagged as non-citizens, and the effort has already drawn multiple lawsuits.
The line that drew the biggest cheers came when Abbott pledged to work with Larson on a bill to reinstate the rivalry football game between Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin.
It was a peace offering, after Abbott backed Larson's challenger in last year's Republican primary election.
Putting any bad blood in the past, Abbott said he feels "inspired by the comradery and collaboration that have infused this session."
Larson said Abbott’s remarks signaled growing cooperation between the House and governor’s office.
“There was a cold war between the two of us over the last couple years,” said Larson after the speech. Larson said he has reached out to the governor’s office in the last few months to come to a peace agreement.
“I think it culminated with this comment in his speech, that he’s willing to meet me half-way to work through this. It’s good for the state.”
“We stand ready to work on education issues. We want to make certain there’s a solid fundings source to go ... with reform.”
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas