Texas Gov. Abbott calls new property tax relief, teacher pay raises, and school choice in State of the State address
AUSTIN — In his State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his vision to address key problems and to keep the "Texas miracle" accelerating into the future.
"Clearly God has blessed Texas, and the state of our state has never been better," Abbott said.
Before 1,100 state and business leaders and supporters at the Arnold Oil Company in Austin, the governor announced seven of his top priorities, also called emergency items for this legislative session.
Relief on Texas school taxes and no property tax raises
He called for $10 billion in relief on school property taxes, on top of the billions approved two years ago. Abbott also wants state lawmakers to make it more difficult for counties and cities to raise property taxes.
"No taxing entity should be able to raise your property taxes without a two-thirds approval by voters," Abbott said. "No approval, no new taxes."
Some of Abbott's other emergency items include the state making record investments in building new water supplies and repairing old pipes to save billions of gallons of water each year.
He also urged lawmakers to help prevent cyber attacks by creating the Texas Cyber Command in San Antonio which will work with experts in the field to protect against threats from China, Russia, and Iran.
No bail for those arrested in the U.S. illegally
The governor also urged lawmakers to pass bail reform, which didn't pass two years ago. He wants to deny bail to those arrested for capital murder and other violent crimes and to those arrested who are in the U.S. illegally.
Abbott also choked up when he called for the death penalty for those convicted of murdering a child. He honored the memory of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungary. Nungary's mother Alexis was in the audience.
"She was brutally raped and murdered by two illegal immigrants with ties to Tren de Aragua," Abbott said.
Three of his seven top priorities focused on education, including giving teachers a pay raise and boosting career-training programs for high school students.
The governor is also pushing for school choice, by providing tax dollars to students to attend private school — a priority of his last session that was killed in the Texas House.
"The majority of Texans support school choice," Abbott said. "More than 30 states already have a form of school choice. We will continue to fully fund public schools and raise teacher pay while also giving parents the choice they need."
State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, sharply criticized the governor's school choice program.
"Voucher scams are not school choice," Talarico said. "It's the schools' choice because private schools can deny admission to any kid for any reason they want. So how is it 'choice' when the private school has all the power in the equation? How is it 'choice' when a majority of counties in the state of Texas don't have a single private school?"
School choice is expected to prompt the biggest fight this session. The governor has said he has the votes to pass it in the House this year. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told CBS News Texas that the Texas Senate will pass its bill this Wednesday.
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