AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his plan for the legislative session Sunday, delivering his State of the State address - and naming a number of emergency items as priorities for lawmakers to work on.
Abbott spoke from the headquarters of Arnold Oil Company in southeast Austin. "The Texas economy is thriving because of Arnold Oil and thousands of businesses like it," Abbott said.
Under the Texas Constitution, the only items that lawmakers can pass legislation on for the first sixty days of each legislative session are the emergency items declared by the governor.
Among the emergency items named by Abbott is property tax relief. "We know that many Texans face an affordability crisis," Abbott said. "Last session, we slashed your property taxes. But for many Texans, those cuts were wiped out by local taxing authorities that hiked your property taxes even more. That must end this session."
Abbott is calling for $10 billion in property tax relief, along with eliminating what the governor called "loopholes" enabling local taxing jurisdictions to raise taxes without voter approval. The governor's proposal would require a two-thirds voter approval for all tax rate increases, along with requiring all local bond issues and tax rate elections to be placed on the November ballot.
A second emergency item is investment in water supplies across the state. Abbott is calling on lawmakers to invest $1 billion a year for the next 10 years, along with a significant one-time investment this year, to tap into new water supplies to fuel the state's growing population.
"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."
Several education items are also emergency items for Abbott, including school choice, teacher pay, and career training. "Texas is No. 1 in so many ways, like jobs, Tier One research universities, cattle and cotton, oil and gas, and we’re home to the largest medical center in the world," Abbott said. "The list goes on. It is now time that we set our sights on another No. 1. Texas should be No. 1 in educating our children."
Bail reform and cyber security are the final two emergency items Abbott declared on Sunday, including a plan to create a Texas Cyber Command in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio.
"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, water, and communications with cyberattacks. We must use cutting-edge capabilities to secure our state."