Gov. Abbott says he'll call multiple special sessions to address property taxes, school funding and more
Gov. Abbott says he'll call multiple special sessions
Gov. Greg Abbott said he has a long list of bills he will be signing into law. But there are several critical measures the lawmakers still need to address. He announced the first of several special sessions in Austin and said lawmakers will not be going home any time soon.
DALLAS - Gov. Greg Abbott told Texas lawmakers to stay in Austin for what he called the first of multiple special sessions.
State lawmakers approved a budget that includes spending $17.6 billion to cut property taxes. But the legislature could not agree on how to use that money.
Lawmakers also did not pass several measures that Abbott had listed as his top priorities by the time the regular session ended Monday.
The first special session began at 9 p.m. Monday night and will continue Tuesday.
Abbott wants lawmakers to focus more on tax relief and human smugglers at the border.
"We must cut property taxes. During the regular session, we added $17.6 billion to cut property taxes. However, the legislature could not agree on how to allocate funds to accomplish this goal. Texans want and need a path towards eliminating property taxes. The best way to do that is to direct property tax reduction dollars to cut school property tax rates," he said in a statement.
When it comes to the border, Abbott wants to see enhanced penalties for human smuggling and people who operate stash houses.
Teacher pay raises and school vouchers are also expected to come up again in a future special session.
The governor wants a bill passed that would give parents taxpayer funds to help pay for private schools.
Lawmakers had been considering a bill to spend more than $4 billion on teacher pay raises and other school funding. But it failed after the senate added the controversial school voucher measure to the bill.
Public education groups said they are glad it did not pass.
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Plano ISD school board president Nancy Humphrey hopes lawmakers will now consider vouchers independently.
"If legislators really want to ensure that there’s more funding for classrooms and for teacher pay, they will consider school finance separate from ESA vouchers for private schools. Those are two different decisions," she said.
"It’s time for the political games to stop. It’s time to fund our schools to give teachers pay raises and to adjust for inflation to do all of these things that public schools need today and not to hold those funds hostage so that we have vouchers," added Kevin Brown, the executive director for the Texas Association of School Administrators.
The Texas School Coalition said it will oppose any voucher bill that comes up in a special session.
It’s still not clear if there is enough support for a school choice plan in the Texas House.
Abbott did not specify how many special sessions he’ll call but noted that each one will only have a few items for lawmakers to address.