For 2306: more on what will be prioritized in the regular session of the 88th Texas Legislature.
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Gov. Greg Abbott, in his third inaugural address Tuesday, emphasized that the legislative session would be centered on the historic budget surplus, “parental rights” in schools and public safety.
Notably, he pitched a focus on infrastructure that included the power grid, after the 2021 winter storm and blackout left millions of Texans in the dark and hundreds dead. Abbott trumpeted grid improvements that he successfully pushed in the months after but acknowledged there is more work to do.
In doing so, he aligned himself with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has called the grid a top priority for the session. Abbott, while running for reelection last year, was dismissive of critiques that there were unresolved grid issues and declared it fixed.
. . . Democrats criticized the inauguration as lacking a plan to “address the economic pain Texans are facing,” as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus put it.
“All over this state, families are having difficult conversations around the kitchen table about the rising costs of goods and services,” Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said in a statement. “Texas Republicans have controlled this state for nearly thirty years and thirty years later costs for Texas families have never been higher."
To the contrary, both of the inaugural speeches were dripping with sunny Texas exceptionalism; Abbott declared the state “America’s undisputed economic leader.” And he said that was evident in the massive $33 billion budget surplus, which he stressed “belongs to the taxpayers” in pitching a record property tax cut.
Patrick has been more careful — if not more specific — in making promises on property tax relief. In his speech, he said there would be “billions of dollars” in relief and that leaders would find a way to ensure it is sustainable. He also said the Senate will introduce a budget this week that would increase the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000, a larger bump than he has previously discussed.
