AUSTIN, Texas — On Sunday night, Gov. Greg Abbott laid out the seven emergency items he’s hoping lawmakers will prioritize passing bills on this session. Many of them came as no surprise to lawmakers and advocates, as he’s been talking about some of these priorities for months, if not years already.
Education savings accounts/school choice
Creating “Education Savings Accounts” (ESA) is something Abbott has been talking about for several years now. Last legislative session, he called three special sessions to try to get ESAs passed.
As one of his top priorities again this session, he told lawmakers on Sunday it’s something that “must be passed.”
The Senate version of the ESA bill is Senate Bill 2. It would establish a $1 billion ESA program that would allow Texas families to use public tax dollars for private education. Under the bill, students in the program would get at least $10,000 in their ESAs.
Abbott claims ESAs are true “school choice,” giving parents the power to decide which schools they want to send their kids to.
“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 deserve.”
But opponents of the ESAs strongly disagree, saying the real power of choice lies within private schools, because they can choose whom they want to admit. They also call the ESA program a coupon, saying that $10,000 is not even close to enough to cover the full price of a private school tuition.
“The rich parent, who is already sending their kid to a $20,000-a-year private school, they’re about to get a $10,000 coupon at our expense,” said State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin). “Vouchers are welfare for the wealthy, and if it passes in Texas, it’ll be a historic transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top.”
Teacher pay raises
Abbott also announced raising teacher pay as an emergency item, specifically through investing $750 million in the Teacher Incentive Allotment. But House Democrats point out that would not give all teachers raises.
They said what is really needed to invest in teachers is an across-the-board pay raise so they can keep first- and second-year teachers, who are the group leaving the profession most often.
“We have a teacher retention crisis in this state, and Gov. Abbott has known about it for years but has done nothing,” said State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin).
House Democrats have introduced a bill that would give every Texas teacher a $15,000 raise, which they say is going to be crucial to solve the school funding crisis.
Bail reform
Another big priority for Abbott is working on more bail reform, calling on lawmakers to pass a law requiring judges to deny bail for violent offenders. He’s also hoping they pass a law that would deny bail for people accused of capital murder or a sexual offense of a child.
On Monday, State Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston filed a bail reform package with five bills, including one that would deny bail for immigrants in Texas illegally accused of a felony.
“Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk, denied bail and turned over to ICE,” Abbott said. “Activist judges simply have too much discretion to let repeat offenders out on bail, only to see them harm more Texans.”
The ACLU of Texas spoke out against Abbott’s address Monday, saying the Texas bail system is already flawed because it is based on access to wealth and not safety.
“Gov. Abbott’s comments ignored both the Constitution and the reality that Texas’ bail system already keeps tens of thousands of people behind bars not because they are dangerous, but because they are poor,” said Nick Hudson, policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas.
The organization also called the governor’s support of automatic denial of bail unconstitutional.
“Any law or amendment that automatically jails people based only on the charges filed would be plainly unconstitutional,” Hudson said. “It would lock people up before trial without allowing a judge to consider their situation, the details of their case, or whether they’re likely to return to court.”
Investing in water infrastructure
Something else Abbott and many lawmakers have continued to emphasize is more investments into the state’s water infrastructure.
Abbott noted that last session, lawmakers invested $1 billion in water projects and infrastructure. This session, he wants lawmakers to make an even larger investment in the water, to secure the state’s water supply for the next 50 years.
His plan includes allocating $1 billion a year for the next 10 years to repair pipes and get new water supplies.
“Some of our water supplies are drying up,” Abbott said. “Many communities have leaking and broken water lines. Agriculture producers in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas do not have enough water to grow their crops.”
Many Democratic lawmakers are happy that investing in water infrastructure has been acknowledged as an emergency item but are hoping the laws that are passed are also sustainable.
“I was glad to hear that he is investing in fixing leaky pipes, but at the same time, we need to make sure that we’re using water in a smart way, and oil production is planning to use fresh water out of the Pecos River and the Red Bluff Basin, rather than using recycled water, which is available at the same price,” said State Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin).
Texas 2036, a nonprofit data public policy organization, completed a study on Texas’ water infrastructure needs. It found that for the next 50 years, the state will need about $153.8 billion for new water supplies and to fix old and broken systems.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said investing in water infrastructure is also a priority for the Senate. The Senate version of the budget includes $2.5 billion for water and flood infrastructure.
Abbott’s other emergency items include more property tax relief, expanding career training and creating the Texas Cyber Command. During the first 60 days of the legislative session, lawmakers can only pass bills related to the items the governor has declared as these “emergency items.”