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AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott took his State of the State speech on the road late Monday, stressing that after a tough year of the coronavirus pandemic and recession, “normalcy is returning to Texas.”

In a television program broadcast live from a small business in the Central Texas town of Lockhart, Abbott hailed the “Texas model” of low taxes and light regulations that he said is attracting corporations and entrepreneurs from all over the country – from Charles Schwab’s campus north of Fort Worth to Austin newcomers Oracle and Elon Musk.

“Hard-working Texans are at the forefront of our agenda this legislative session as we build a healthier, safer, freer and more prosperous state,” he said from a warehouse-like setting at Visionary Fiber Technologies, a chemical-processing technology firm.

Playing to his Republican base and big-business backers, Abbott offered five emergency items he wants lawmakers to move quickly on – “election integrity,” changes to bail bonds, improved broadband access, a liability shield for businesses on COVID-19 lawsuits and discouraging cities from “defunding the police.”

He also pushed red meat items such as a need to create a Second Amendment “sanctuary state” for gun rights, pass a ban on abortions for reasons of genetic selection and bar any government from shutting down religious activity.

“We also have a duty this session to keep Texas the freedom capital of America,” he said.

“Whether you’re a newcomer to our state or your family has been here for generations, we all unite around the ideals of freedom and personal liberty. But freedom is fragile. If left undefended, we risk losing our freedoms one by one.”

As expected, Abbott called on the GOP-controlled Legislature to pass a two-year state budget “without increasing taxes.”

On education, Texas must keep putting more money into public schools, a push begun in 2019, he said. Last session, lawmakers boosted classroom spending in public schools by a few billion dollars, added $2 billion for educator pay raises and poured $5 billion into lowering property taxes over the two-year cycle.

“This session we must continue to fund education as we promised,” he said.

But Abbott was silent on two pressing issues for many educators, parents and students – whether students will have to take the STAAR test in person this spring and whether lawmakers will “hold harmless” school districts from loss of state aid caused by remote learning during the pandemic.

Abbott spoke of teacher pay raises and closing a “digital divide,” and likened investments in students to investments in the state’s future.

But he said nothing about tests and financing, didn’t mention two mass shootings in West Texas that occurred since the Legislature last met and only waved at a “need to improve policing,” offering no details.

Democratic response

Democrats, who’ve accused Abbott of being too timid in tamping down COVID-19, gave the speech low marks.

“The governor’s speech was notable only for what he did not say: no mention of increasing health care access to millions of uninsured Texans, no mention of policing and criminal justice reform, no mention of gun violence in the wake of El Paso and Odessa and no relief from the STAAR test,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Chris Turner of Grand Prairie.

“Texas House Democrats are fighting to tackle these issues and to help our state recover from COVID-19,” Turner said in a written statement. “We look forward to working with any legislators – Republican or Democrat – who will prioritize people over politics and provide real solutions for all Texans.”

Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West, who appeared on a roundtable during the State of the State program, noted that Democrats and Black lawmakers have offered detailed plans on how to end police brutality and hold officers accountable.

“I was dismayed he didn’t mention that in his speech,” West said.

Abbott has just entered his seventh year as Texas’ chief executive, after 2020 posed a severe test of his leadership skills: A COVID-19 outbreak that infected nearly 2.4 million Texans, killing more than 37,000 of them, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Many libertarian-leaning Republicans have sharply criticized Abbott for his shutdowns of businesses and disaster declarations that have spanned nearly a year. Some in the Legislature have vowed to try this session to dial back his executive powers during emergencies.

Abbott seemed to acknowledge the criticism, saying families and businesses should “never again face the financial consequences they experienced in 2020.”

But he remained vague.

“I will continue working with the Legislature to find ways to navigate a pandemic while also allowing businesses to remain open,” he said.

The Republican governor called for lawmakers this year to speedily pass protections for business against lawsuits over harms caused by COVID-19 if the firms “operated in good faith.”

He declared an emergency item – freeing lawmakers to act quickly – on the lawsuit shield but also on expansion of internet services.

“From medicine to education to business, broadband access is not a luxury – it is an essential tool that must be available for all Texans,” he said.

Abbott, who for the first time in his political career could face a stout challenge from his right as he faces re-election next year, also took pains to declare “election integrity” as an emergency item.

“One thing all of us should agree on whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, is that we must have trust and confidence in the outcome of our elections,” he said.

Abbott offered no specifics. There has been no proof of widespread vote fraud or manipulation in state or national elections.

However, the state GOP has listed as its top legislative priority bills requiring proof of citizenship when people register to vote and making “Election Code violations that threaten election integrity” a felony.

Law-and-order items

The other two emergency items Abbott declared were an overhaul of “a broken bail system,” which he said too often frees dangerous criminals; and legislation to prevent cities from reducing their spending on law enforcement – a reaction to civil unrest across the U.S. last summer, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

“We will not let Texas cities follow the lead of cities like Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis by defunding the police,” he said. “That’s crazy.”

Abbott offered no specifics, though he has floated proposals that ranged from withholding local sales tax money from cities and barring them from further annexation.

Turner, the House Democratic Caucus leader, wondered out loud whether reducing even one law enforcement position in a city budget, though attrition, would qualify and “trigger a retaliatory action by the state of Texas.”

Democrats don’t support defunding the police, Turner said.

“But let’s let city councils make city budget decisions,” he said.

On health care, Abbott called on lawmakers to make permanent his suspension of rules about telemedicine that have widened its use during the pandemic. He also repeated vague comments he made last month about health insurance for people with chronic medical conditions.

While the state regulates only the “individual” health insurance market, a small sliver, Abbott said he wants legislation “ensuring that Texans with pre-existing conditions have access to health care coverage without being forced into the Affordable Care Act.” He did not elaborate.

As part of a Democratic video responding to the governor’s speech, Houston Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the second-longest-serving House member, called for reducing the state’s vast throng of uninsured residents. In both raw number and percentage terms, Texas has more than any other state. The state should expand Medicaid to include low-income adults, as encouraged by Obamacare, she said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered the ugly truth of the inequities in our health care system,” Thompson said. “For a long time we’ve been leaving billions of Texas dollars on the table. They belong to us, and it’s time to bring that money home.”