Abbott's address lays out priorities
AUSTIN— Laying out his vision and priorities for the state, Gov. Greg Abbott delivered the State of the State Address and focused on successes from 2024 and plans for the 2025 legislative session.
During the address, Abbott pinpointed emergency items for the 89th Legislative Session, many regarding improving public schools.
"The priorities set by Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Burrows reflect the values and concerns of Texans. I am proud to carry legislation that upholds the rights of parents, protects our state's sovereignty and ensures that our children are safe," Texas House District 23 Rep. Terri Leo Wilson said. "This session, I will work tirelessly to advance policies that put Texans first and strengthen the foundation of our great state."
Abbott primarily focused on education, naming three pillars to strengthen the state's education system.
The first pillar is empowering parents to share their concerns and to give them a choice in schools.
"Parents are a child's first teacher. Schools must work for parents, not the other way around," Abbott said. "Schools must respond to parents' concerns, and parents should be empowered to choose the school that's best for their children."
The second pillar is exemplary teachers, with Abbott naming teacher pay an emergency item.
"We must fund and train the best teachers. That starts with giving our teachers a pay raise this session," Abbott said.
Abbott added its "commonsense" to allow teachers to remove disruptive students from the classroom.
Additionally, Abbott hopes to make schools safer for students, teachers, staff and parents. Abbott said $500 million must be invested to better secure schools.
The third pillar is exceptional academics, including high-level instruction and an improved curriculum.
Abbott said schools should focus on the fundamentals, reading, writing, math, science and the country's founding documents.
"Schools are for education, not indoctrination," Abbott said.
Abbott seeks to ban DEI in grades K to 12, having already done so for public universities. DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. Proponents of DEI programs contend that they were created to provide access to employment and education opportunities.
"We must purge it from every corner of our schools and return the focus to merit. I have ordered all state agencies to eliminate DEI," Abbott said. "Now, we need a law that bans DEI from any entity that receives taxpayer dollars."
Additionally, Abbott said boys should not be allowed in girls' sports and the state only recognizes two genders.
"Any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot," Abbott said.
Abbott believes "woke agendas" should not be pushed in schools.
Abbott noted just as traditional education should be improved, career training should be. Welders, plumbers, electricians and other trade careers are just as needed as any other career.
Abbott said high schools should provide more career training programs to aid students in finding well-paying jobs after graduation. He made life-changing career training an emergency item.
"Careers like this are part of the better job and bigger paycheck opportunities that we provide in Texas," Abbott said.
Next up, Abbott mentioned school choice as an emergency item. About 30 states have a form of school choice.
"Government-mandated schools cannot meet the unique needs of every student. But Texas can provide families with choices to meet those needs," Abbott said.
Abbott thanked District 4 State Sen. Brandon Creighton and Texas House District 54 Rep. Brad Buckley for their leadership in trying to pass school choice legislation.
While not an emergency item, Abbott gave a recap on the southern border security since launching Operation Lone Star.
"Our efforts have reduced illegal crossings into Texas by more than 85%," Abbott said. "Operation Lone Star has been so successful the Trump Administration is using it as a model to secure the border."
Since launching the operation, buoys have been installed in the Rio Grande and a border barrier was built. The Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety were deployed on the ground, in the water and in the air.
"These brave soldiers and troopers have arrested and jailed illegal crossers and seized enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the United States, Mexico and Canada combined," Abbott said.
Abbott declared Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan crime organization, a foreign terrorist organization.
"I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to dispatch strike teams to root out and destroy Tren de Aragua in the state of Texas," Abbott said.
Naming property tax relief an emergency item, Abbott hopes to provide additional tax cuts and cut-out "loopholes" in the tax law.
Abbott said Texas leads the country in technology and innovation. Abbott seeks to ensure prosperity for everyone in the state, a key reason in creating the Small Business Freedom Council, a board that requires state agencies to cut back on rules, fees and regulations.
Abbott hopes to ban "loopholes" increasing property tax, using the example of Harris County raising the tax 10% last year.
Abbott also named bail reform an emergency item to better protect residents of Texas.
"To make our community safer, we need to do things like eliminate parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking. We must deny bail to criminals charged with capital murder and other heinous violent crimes," Abbott said. "Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk, denied bail and turned over to ICE."
Although not an emergency item, Abbott said stronger laws are needed to immediately remove and prosecute squatters in the state.
The next emergency item named was creating Texas Cyber Command to combat cyberattacks.
"As the world becomes more complicated and dangerous, we must protect our state from hackers and hostile foreign actors," Abbott said. "Just in the last two weeks, we have seen one of our cities, a hospital and a major business all hit by serious cyberattacks."
The state will partner with the University of Texas at San Antonio on the effort.
Abbott named water production and management an emergency item.
Abbott said $1 billion was invested in water projects and infrastructure last legislative session but he plans to "Texas-size" the investment. He hopes to create new water supplies and repair pipes this session.
Abbott expressed support for District 1 State Sen. Bryan Hughes's election integrity bill.
"We have to protect Texas from infiltration by foreign adversaries," Abbott said. "That includes prohibiting non-citizens from serving in state and local government. It means prohibiting hostile foreign nations and their agents from buying Texas land."
The bill would grant power to the attorney general to prosecute election violations.
"Ultimately, our task this session is to be guardians of freedom. Freedom will persist for as long as we protect it," Abbott said. "It is freedom that will make Texas stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever in the history of our great state."