Abbott vows pay raises for teachers and more property tax relief

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

In a speech with something for everybody, Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated Texas’ economic strength and set an agenda focused on keeping the state a national leader by continuing its business-friendly policies, cutting down on property taxes for homeowners and passing a school voucher-like program in his sixth State of the State address on Sunday evening.

Abbott, a Republican in his 10th year as the state’s chief executive, touted the state’s pro-business reputation, saying it has been named the best state to do business in for two decades and is the national leader in creating new jobs and starting new businesses. In a speech held in front of 1,100 people, including members of the House and Senate, at Arnold Oil Company in Austin, he highlighted the newly created Texas Stock Exchange and said it will make the state the financial capital of America.

“Clearly, God has blessed Texas, and the state of our state has never been better,” he said.

Casting his vision forward, Abbott laid out seven emergency items that he said would help Texas remain a national leader: cutting property taxes, a “generational investment” in the state’s water infrastructure, increasing teacher pay, beefing up vocational career training programs for students after high school, allowing the use of public dollars for private education purposes, stiffening the state’s bail laws and creating a cybersecurity hub in San Antonio.

Abbott’s designation of those topics as “emergency items” will allow lawmakers to circumvent the constitutional ban on passing any legislation in the first 60 days without 80% support of both chambers and will fast-track their movement through the legislative process.

But he also called for policies that push forward culture wars on immigration, continued restrictions on the rights of transgender Texans and banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in any entities that receive taxpayer money.

The biennial State of the State address gives the governor an opportunity to set his agenda in a widely watched speech. It has traditionally been held at the Capitol, but four years ago Abbott began a new tradition of holding it in private businesses surrounded by supporters.

Property taxes and affordability

Abbott began his speech by promising to keep state spending below constitutional limits and cut taxes.

He praised the Legislature’s past work on cutting property taxes, including last session’s use of $13.3 billion of a historic budget surplus to give homeowners some property tax relief. But the governor said local taxing authorities, like Harris County, had used loopholes to cut into those tax cuts.

He asked for at least $10 billion in “new property tax relief” but said that funding would only work if the Legislature banned the tactics used by taxing entities like Harris County, which increased taxes by more than 10% last year. He said those entities should be required to get the approval of two-thirds of voters to increase taxes.

“No approval, no new taxes,” he said.

Abbott also plans to work with lawmakers to make sure all local bond and tax rate elections are moved to November races, which usually have higher voter turnout.

The governor said housing in the state must be made more affordable. He proposed slashing regulations and speeding up permitting to make it easier to build homes in the state. And he got behind a one-year tax exemption on home improvements, like heating and air conditioning.

Water infrastructure

The governor also asked lawmakers to make a “generational investment” in the state’s water infrastructure, saying it was an issue that affected every family and business.

“Some of our water supplies are drying up,” he said. “Many communities have leaking and broken water lines. Agriculture producers in the Rio Grande Valley and out in West Texas, they don’t have water to be able to grow their crops.”

Citing a $1 billion investment in water two years ago, Abbott promised to “Texas-size” that investment this time around and put Texas on a path to have plentiful water for the next 50 years.

“We will make the largest investment in water in the history of Texas,” he said.

The governor wants to dedicate $1 billion a year for 10 years to find new water supplies and repair water pipes, which would save billions of gallons of water each year by stopping leaks from old pipes.

Abbott’s plan would also create a long-term dedicated funding stream for water infrastructure similar to what the state does for other items, like transportation. The new water funding would also go toward new water supply strategies like desalination and moving water toward areas that need it.

Abbott similarly pushed for more money to ensure the state’s power grid can keep up with the state’s growing power supply.

The latter issue has been an increasing focus for state leaders since February 2021, when a winter freeze shut down the state’s power grid and left millions of Texans without power for days.

Abbott called for further investment in nuclear power, saying he wants the state to be a leader in the field.

“We must add more power this session to better fortify our grid,” he said. “It is time for Texas to lead a nuclear power renaissance in the United States.”

School vouchers and education

Abbott said the state “must be No. 1 in educating our children.”

As expected, Abbott prioritized legislation that would allow parents to take public dollars from the state and use them toward their child’s private education – a long-brewing issue that has gained new momentum in Republican-leaning states, including Texas. The governor spent much of last year’s primary election targeting fellow Republicans who had opposed the issue last session and successfully replaced enough of them to make him confident that the legislation will pass both chambers this year.

“Tonight, I am declaring school choice an emergency item that must pass this session,” he said.

Abbott said the state can continue to fully fund public schools and give teachers pay raises “while also giving parents the choice they deserve.”

Abbott said more than 30 states already have “school choice” as he calls the initiative and he pointed to a smaller version of the voucher-like program for special education students that he created in 2020 and was expanded by the Legislature in 2021.

Opponents say his proposal is school vouchers under a different name and would divert state funds away from already struggling public schools with little oversight over how those funds would be used privately.

The issue is expected to be one of the major battles between legislators this session.

Education played a large role in Abbott’s agenda Sunday night, with the governor also declaring teacher pay raises and expanding career training emergency items.

Abbott said teachers are a key pillar in ensuring that Texas students receive a top education.

“We must fund and train the best teachers,” he said. “That starts with giving our teachers a pay raise this session.”

He said those top teachers must be rewarded by putting them on a path to earn a six-figure salary. He called for a program that puts teachers on that path to be expanded to every school district in the state.

Teacher unions say the state currently trails $9,000 behind the national average and pay is one of the main reasons harming teacher retention.

Lawmakers seem keen on helping Abbott provide that extra pay, with Senate leaders earmarking funds in their budget proposal to give public school teachers a $4,000 pay raise with an additional $6,000 raise for teachers in rural areas.

Abbott also said the state should invest $500 million in school safety measures.

The governor also called for lawmakers to focus on career training after high school for jobs like welding, plumbing and electrical work. Making the issue an emergency item, he highlighted a 18-year-old Jarrell High School graduate, Raya Rabold, who is training to become a welding inspector at Texas State Technical College, a job that could fetch her an $85,000 yearly salary.

“Careers like this are part of the better job and bigger paycheck opportunities that we provide in Texas,” he said.

On top of his emergency items on education, Abbott set a target on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. He said schools should focus on fundamentals like reading, writing, math, science and the country’s founding document instead of pushing “woke agendas.”

“Schools are for education, not indoctrination,” he said. “Last session we banned DEI in universities. This session we must ban DEI in grades K-12.”

He also called for an expansion of a ban on DEI programs in public institutions of higher education in the state.

“We must purge it from every corner of our schools and return the focus to merit,” he said.

Alluding to an executive order he issued last week banning these programs in state agencies, he said he wanted to ban them in any entity that receives taxpayer dollars. It’s unclear however what specific changes the governor’s executive orders last week would make. His office has not responded to questions from news outlets.

Throwing another nod to conservative culture wars, Abbott said there should be “no boys in girls’ sports” and that the state of Texas recognizes only two genders – male and female.

“Any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot,” he said.

Such a policy, in which a teacher who acknowledges the existence of transgender people could be fired, would be a major change to standard job protections under current existing contracts. It could also place an additional emotional strain on students and families who condemn such views as dangerous and unfair and on already struggling teachers who could have transgender students in their classes.

Changing the state’s bail laws

As he has done in the last two sessions, Abbott pushed for lawmakers to stiffen the state’s bail laws. He said “activist judges” have too much discretion to let repeat offenders out on bail, “only to see them harm more Texans.”

Abbott highlighted the death of Harris County Deputy Constable Omar Ursin. Some of the suspects in his murder had been let out on bail for prior murder charges. Ursin’s widow, Whitney, was a guest in the audience and Abbott said “all Texas grieves with you.”

“We must eliminate parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking,” he said. “We must deny bail to criminals charged with capital murder and other heinous violent crimes. Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk, denied bail, and turned over to ICE.”

Creating a Texas Cyber Command

Abbott also said he wants the state to lead in the field of cybersecurity and proposed the creation of a “Texas Cyber Command” in San Antonio, to help fight off attacks from hostile foreign nations like Russia, China and Iran.

“They could cripple our power, water and communications with cyberattacks,” he said. “We must use cutting-edge capabilities to secure our state.”

The city already has a large presence in the sector because of its Air Force base. Many federal agencies including the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency and the FBI have offices in the region.

Abbott also threw his support behind a bill that would bar people from countries designated as hostile foreign nations from owning land in the state. He also said people who are not U.S. citizens should not be allowed to work in state and local government.

On the subject of elections, Abbott said the state needs more safeguards to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registering and casting votes. He also backed a proposal to allow the attorney general to prosecute cases involving election law, even when local prosecutors don’t ask the agency to help on the case. The issue has been an ongoing battle for several sessions.

Abbott labeled as a success his border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, which has sent thousands of National Guard members and state troopers to the border. He thanked National Guard members in the audience for the speech and said their efforts had led to an 85% reduction in illegal crossings into the state.

He said his initiatives have been so successful that President Donald Trump, who recently praised Abbott for his border security work, is using them as a model for his federal initiatives on immigration enforcement. Abbott said he has ordered state agencies to help the federal government in “arresting, jailing and deporting illegal immigrants.”

“Today, we have a President who will partner with Texas to deny illegal entry,” he said.

In a warning shot to the state’s large Democrat-led cities, Abbott said cities and counties across the state should also be required to fully cooperate in immigration enforcement efforts.

Democratic response

The traditional Democratic response came in the form of a 10-minute prerecorded video with average Texans talking about the “state of their state.”

Dior Edison, a San Antonio public school teacher, said that Abbott was pushing a school voucher experiment that could endanger schools and classrooms like hers.

“Private school vouchers are not for most families, they’re for wealthy families that already send their kids to private schools,” she said. “Kids with disabilities, kids in rural areas and vital school programs will suffer the most.”

In a video he posted on social media platform X following Abbott’s speech, Democratic Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio called lawmakers’ proposed voucher program a “scam” with high administrative costs.

A Dallas OB-GYN said the state’s abortion ban has led some OB-GYNs to flee the state and pushed medical students to train in other states.

“The truth is, our health care system is falling apart,” said Austin Dennard, who also shared that Texas’ abortion ban forced her to leave the state to seek health care in 2022, when her fetus received a fatal diagnosis. “It was going to put my health and my future pregnancies at risk, but Texas abortion bans meant I could not get the care I needed here in my home.”

From Houston, labor union member Bobby Ramos lauded the state’s clean energy sector and said the state should continue to invest in wind and solar energy.

Have more questions on vouchers?

Get quick answers from our archive of school voucher reporting with our AI assistant.

Ask us anything

Gilberto Hinojosa, former chair of the Texas Democratic Party, highlighted the role immigrants play in Texas, especially in border towns and in the Rio Grande Valley. “Texas can only thrive if our relationship with Mexico is strong,” Hinojosa said. “Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, they don’t know a thing about it. The price of a taco is going up because of their nonsense.”

Pooja Salhotra contributed to this report.