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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spoke in front of a crowd of lawmakers and supporters to deliver his State of the State Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 from Arnold Oil’s corporate headquarters in East Austin. He named his list of emergency items, which are the only issues lawmakers can pass bills on in the first 60 days of the session. This is a recording of a live presentation of the address from the Texas Standard and The Texas Newsroom.
The full transcript of this episode of Texas Standard is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
David Brown [00:00:02] You are listening to a special report from the Texas Standard and the Texas Newsroom, live coverage of Texas’s biennial State of the State address in the Texas capital city. I’m David Brown of the Texas Standard. Joined by Blase Gainey, who covers politics at the Texas capital, and investigative reporter and editor Lauren McGaughey, both of the Texas newsroom. Now, traditionally, the Texas governor has delivered his State of the State address to a joint session of the Texas legislature, the 89th session convening in mid-January. The regular session expected to continue through at least Memorial Day or thereabouts. Now, I said traditionally these addresses, well, they’re down to the capital, but Covid upended lots of those traditions. And Governor Abbott started to do these speeches from Texas businesses. This underscores his own pro-business political philosophy. This year, he is holding the address at Arnold Oil Company in East Austin. We’ll be going to the governor shortly. Now, we should note this is not a press conference, though we understand reporters will be present to cover it. And, of course, we’ll be bringing you live coverage of his remarks as soon as we get the heads up that he is ready to get underway where he’s expected to go for about an hour. I want to bring in Blaise Gagne again, covers politics at the Texas capital for the Texas newsroom. Blaise, what are you expecting to hear from the governor?
Blaise Gainey [00:01:21] Well, I’m expecting for him basically to lay out his emergency items, things that he wants the legislature to focus on in the first 60 days. Obviously, school choice will likely be one of those. I said before on the show that I expect him to talk about water. And then also, you know, property tamcgauhey some of the big things that people are talking about.
David Brown [00:01:42] I understand the governor is beginning to speak right now. Let’s go to him in the East Austin. Believe this is Cecilia Abbott speaking as soon to speak.
Speaker 3 [00:01:55] Members of the judiciary.
David Brown [00:01:57] That is the.
Gov. Greg Abbott [00:01:58] Texas. We love our state. It means something to be a Texan. No state provides the opportunity that Texas offers. Businesses like Arnold Oil have seized that opportunity. Tonight. I’m at their headquarters in Austin. It’s an 85 year old family business. They supply auto products, lubricants, power equipment and a whole lot more. As Jim Arnold says, they supply anybody with a wrench in their hand. The Texas economy is thriving because of Arnold oil and thousands of businesses just like it. Across our great state. Texas is the most powerful economy in America. CEOs have ranked Texas the best state for doing business for 20 years in a row. Texas ranks. Texas ranks number one for the most new jobs. Texas has been number one for economic development for more than a decade. Texas is the number one best state to start a business. Texas is the blueprint for the future of America. We rank number one for technology and innovation. We ranked number one for saving semiconductors that power things you use every single day. We created a space commission to boost space exploration in Texas. From NASA to Space X to Blue Origin and far beyond. We added new business courts that swiftly deal with complex business litigation. Business is booming so much. We now have our own stock exchange, the Texas Stock Exchange. It will make Texas the financial capital of America. Clearly God has blessed Texas and the state of our state has never been better. But we know that more must be done to ensure that prosperity reaches every Texas family and every Texas business. That’s why I created the Small Business Freedom Council to require all state agencies to slash rules, fees and regulations. It’s is why we will work to keep state spending below constitutional limits. And we must cut your taxes. A lot of Texans are facing an affordability crisis. Last session we saw last year property taxes. But for many Texans, those cuts were wiped out by local taxing authorities that hiked your property taxes even more. That must end this session. I want at least $10 billion more in property tax cuts for our fellow Texans. But here’s the deal That will only work if local authorities cannot use loopholes to jack up your property taxes like Harris County did. They increased your property taxes by more than 10% last year. Loopholes that increase your property taxes must be closed. No taxing entity should be able to raise your property taxes without a two thirds approval of voters. No approval. No new taxes. I’m making property tax relief, an emergency item that must be passed this session. We also need to make housing more affordable. We need to make it easier to build. Slash regulations and speed up the permitting process to make it more affordable to live in your current home. We should offer a one year tax exemption on home improvements like heating and air conditioning. Helping families. Also means improving health care for our fellow Texans. That includes expanding access and funding for mental health. Especially in rural Texas. It means helping our seniors and helping Texans with disabilities by providing pay increases for their caregivers. It means increasing maternal care in every corner of our great state. An issue that affects every family and every business is water. Some of our water supplies are drying up. Many communities have broken and leaking water pipes. Agricultural producers in the Rio Grande Valley and out in West Texas, they don’t have water to be able to grow their crops. Last session, we invested $1 billion in water projects and infrastructure. This session. We need to Texas size that investment. Working with Senator Perry and Representative Cody Harris. We’re going to put Texas on a path to have plenty of water for the next five decades. We will make the largest investment in water in the history of the state of Texas. We will tap into new water supplies. We will repair pipes to save billions of gallons of water every year. This generational investment in water is so important. I’m declaring it an emergency item this session. Our state is growing so fast we need an increase in supply of electric power. Now, already we provide more power than ever before in the history of our state. In just the last four years, we increased power generation by more than 35%. As a result, Texas now ranks number one and the United States for the most power generation. In fact, we generate more power in Texas than California and New York combined. And we’re not done yet. Last session, I signed a law to add 10,000 new megawatts of power to our grid. That’s enough to power more than 2 million homes. We must add more power this session to better fortify our grid. And it is time for Texas to lead a nuclear power renaissance in the United States of America. Texas is number one in so many things. Number one for jobs. Number one for tier one research universities. Number one for cattle and cotton. For oil and gas. We have the largest medical center in the entire world. And the list goes on. Is now time that we set our sights on another number one. Texas must be number one in educating our children. There are three pillars to reach that goal, all of which must be achieved. The first pillar. Is empowered parents. Parents are a child’s first teacher. Schools must work for teachers, for parents, not the other way around. Schools must respond to parents concerns. And parents should be empowered to choose the school that’s best for their child. The second pillar is exemplary teachers. We must fund and train the best teachers. That starts with giving our team our teachers a pay raise. This session. To increase teachers average salary to an all time high. I’m declaring teacher pay an emergency item this session. Additionally, we must reward the best teachers by putting them on a path to earn a six figure salary. More than 25,000 teachers are already on that path. We must expand that merit program to every school district in the entire state. And to keep great teachers, we need to restore discipline in our schools. It’s common sense to give teachers the authority to remove disruptive students from their classrooms. Very simply. Our schools must be safe. Safe for students, teachers, staff and parents to make sure they are adequately safe. We must invest $500, $500 million more to better secure our schools. The third pillar is academic excellence. Public education funding is at an all time high. Funding per student is at an all time high. But improving education requires more than just spending more money. It requires high level instruction and better curriculum. Schools must focus on fundamentals, reading and writing, math and science and, of course, our country’s founding documents. We want to ensure that every child is prepared either to go to college or to go into a good paying career. But let’s be clear. Schools must not push woke agendas on our kids. Our schools are for education, not indoctrination. Last session, we banned the eye in universities. This session we must ban DTI in grades K through 12. And no boys and girls sports, period. The state of Texas recognizes only two genders, male and female. Any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot. Vital to education is expanding career opportunities. That includes expanding career training in our schools. Many of the most in-demand jobs are careers like welding, plumbing and electricians. To prepare students for those careers. High schools must provide more career training programs so that students can go directly from graduation into a good paying job. Ray Raybould, who’s with us here tonight, is a great example of this. Raya She took welding at Gerald High School. After more training at Texas Tech Technical College, her welding work was featured in the Yellowstone TV show. She is now working to become a welding inspector that can earn as much as $85,000 a year. And she’s only 18 years old. Ray, we’re very proud of you. So careers like this are part of the better job and bigger paycheck opportunities that we provide in Texas. That’s why I am making life changing career training an emergency item. I will work with Senator Schwerner and Representatives Keith Bell and Gary Gates on this much needed legislation. So Raya chose the path that was best for her. We want every student at every level to have that same opportunity. That is why we must pass school choice. This session. Government mandated schools simply cannot meet the unique needs of every student. But. Texas can provide families with the choices to better meet those needs. The majority of Texans support school choice. More than 30 states already have a form of school choice. We’re going to continue to fully fund our schools as well as provide teachers with a pay raise. We can do that while also giving parents the choice they deserve. And the fact is education savings accounts have already succeeded in Texas. In 2020, I created a pilot program for special education students. Then in 2021, a bipartisan supermajority of the legislature expanded that program. It provides $1,500 grants for tutors and other support services that help students thrive. One of the successes of that program is with us tonight. Jeremiah Kimmel. As a student with autism from rural Bell County. That program helped Jeremih improve at school as well as in his daily life. His grandmother said that is huge, that she could have a say in the education that was right for Jeremiah. Like Raya and Jeremiah. Every child deserves the education that’s best for them. It is time to expand that same opportunity to every family and the great state of Texas. Thanks to Senator Creighton and Representative Buckley for your leadership on this issue. Tonight I’m declaring school choice an emergency item that must pass this session. For Texans who want to go to college, we must ensure that it’s more affordable and more accessible. Our public universities must also be more accountable. College professors have increasingly pushed woke agendas. They have too much influence over who is hired to educate our kids. We need legislation that prohibits professors from having any say over employment decisions. We must also expand the ban on DTI in our public universities. We must purge it from every corner of our schools and return the focus to merit. I’ve ordered all state agencies to eliminate the EEI. Now we need a law that bans DEA from any entity that receives taxpayer dollars. But a reality is this. No one can benefit from a better education or from our booming economy if they’re not safe. To make our community safer. We need to do things like eliminate parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking. We must. We must denied bail to criminals charged with capital murder and other heinous violent crimes. Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk. Denied bail and turned over to ice. Activist judges simply have too much discretion to let repeat offenders out on bail, only to see them harm more Texans. Many innocent Texans. Including Harris County Deputy Constable Omar Erson. Have been murdered by criminals let out on bail from a prior murder charge. Deputy Harrison’s widow, Whitney. Is with us tonight. Whitney. All of Texas. Grieves with you. We honor your husband for his service, his sacrifice, and know how much we treasure you. Thank you, Whitney. To our lawmakers. Lawmakers must choose. Support the safety of the citizens they represent. Or the criminals who kill them. Thanks to Senator Huffman and Representative Spiller. This legislation will save lives. I am making bail reform an emergency item this session. Another safety issue that must be addressed is the increasing problem that we face in the state caused by squatters. Private property rights are a cornerstone of our values and our legal system. It is against the law to live or stay on somebodies property without their permission. We need stronger laws to immediately remove and prosecute squatters in Texas. Another essential part of public safety is firefighting. This session, we must ensure that our firefighters have the tools they need to better fight fires like air tanker planes and more funding for local firefighters across our state. Joining us tonight are Texas firefighters who battled the panhandle blaze, the largest fire in the history of the state of Texas. And we also have Texas firefighters who fought the catastrophic California fires. Join me in thanking them for their bravery and for their service. As the world becomes more complicated and more dangerous, we must protect our state from hackers and hostile foreign actors. Just in the last two weeks, we’ve seen one of our cities, a hospital in a major business, all hit by serious cyber attacks. That’s why I’m announcing an emergency item to create the Texas Cyber Command. We will partner with the University of Texas at San Antonio. San Antonio is the home to one of the world’s largest concentration of cybersecurity experts. We must harness those assets to protect against threats from China, Iran, Russia and other foreign enemies. They could cripple our power, our water, and our communications with cyberattacks. We must deploy cutting edge capabilities to better secure our state. I thank Senator Parker and represent Rick Leone for their leadership on this issue. And we have to protect Texas from infiltration by foreign adversaries. That includes prohibiting non-citizens from serving in state and local government. It means prohibiting hostile foreign nations and their agents from buying land in Texas. We must safeguard our elections so that only United States citizens are able to register and cast a vote in the state of Texas. And I support Senator Hughes’s Election Integrity bill to restore power to our attorney general to prosecute election violations in Texas. Safer communities require secure borders. I launched Operation Lonestar with the legislature to combat President Biden’s open border policies. We built a border wall, installed Bushes in the Rio Grande. Deployed the National Guard and Department of Public Safety on the ground. In the water and in the air. These brave soldiers and troopers who built border barriers, arrested and jailed illegal crossers and seized enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the United States, Mexico and Canada combined. We’re joined tonight by members of our National Guard and DPS who served on the border. Join me in thanking them for their service to secure our state. Also declared an invasion at the border and designated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And we took the border to Biden by busing more than a hundred thousand migrants to sanctuary cities like D.C. and New York City. But none of those tactics would have been possible without funding by the legislature. Together, our efforts reduced illegal crossings into Texas by more than 85%. Operation Lone Star has been so successful, the Trump administration is using it as a model to secure the border. Finally, we have a president who will partner with Texas to deny illegal entry. To support that mission. I’ve ordered Texas state agencies to assist the Trump administration to arrest jail and deport illegal immigrants. Now, we must also require cities and counties across the state to fully cooperate with those efforts. One of the most dangerous threats is the violent Venezuela gang. Trendy arugula. They take over empty apartments in hotels. They tragic women, children and drugs. I declared them a foreign terrorist organization. I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to dispatch strike teams to root out and destroy Tren de Oro Agua in the state of Texas. Their violence. It’s taken the lives. But innocent Texans. Like 12 year old. Johnson angry. She was brutally. Raped and murdered. By two illegal immigrants. With ties to trendy arugula. Her mother, Alexis. Is with us tonight. Sissy and I are so sorry. For your loss. Justice for Johnson demands action. I demand legislation. Imposing the death penalty on anyone convicted of murdering a child like Joselyn. Ultimately. Ultimately. Our task this session. Is to be guardians of freedom. Freedom will persist as long as we protect it. Freedom stokes self-determination to achieve things once thought impossible. Freedom is the power that turned ashes of the Alamo into victory at San Jacinto. Freedom is the force that has propelled Texas to global economic dominance. Freedom is the spirit behind businesses like art oil that endure for generations. Freedom is the inspiration that drives students like Raya and Jeremiah to choose the path that’s best for them. More than anything. It is freedom that will make Texas stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before in the history of our great state. May God bless you all and God forever bless the great state of Texas.
David Brown [00:37:06] Hey. Hey. So much shorter than expected State of the State address from Governor Greg Abbott delivering his address from Arnold Oil Company in East Austin. This is a new post-COVID era tradition for Abbott to deliver this address from a private business and it is not from the capital. Of course, as has been done in previous years. The site of the speech was set up for a crowd of what looked like about 500 invitation only supporters. Dramatic red, white and blue political lighting staging similar to what you might see at a political debate platform from which the governor spoke emblazoned with the words Building a Stronger Texas governor’s address.
David Brown [00:37:41] For.
David Brown [00:37:41] Texas. We’re about to hear a response from the Democrats. We understand that we are going to be hearing from four Democrats from different parts of the Lone Star State, an ObGyn from Dallas, an electrical union field representative from Houston, an educator with San Antonio’s Northside ISD and the chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Let’s listen.
Gilberto Hinojosa [00:38:00] To hear right now is more politician voice, though those seem better wins. I had my mother used to say, with all due respect, the governor doesn’t have a clue of what the state of your state is. He’s too desperate cozying up to Donald Trump and billionaires like Elon Musk to give a damn about anybody who works for a paycheck to make ends meet. For a moment, let’s turn down the volume and the voices tearing our country and our state and our families apart.
Dr. Austin Dennard [00:38:35] And in the state of my state looks like a constant state of anxiety. I’m a doctor and I knew I wanted to be an Ob-Gyn as far back as I can remember, through years of medical school residency training and working in a hospital. I’ve supported countless women with complicated pregnancies. But Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans have made it nearly impossible for me to do my job. No matter your experience when it happens to you, it’s a shock. And in 2022, during my first trimester of pregnancy, my fetus received a fatal diagnosis. I knew that continuing the pregnancy was going to be too excruciating for me emotionally, and it was going to put my health and my future pregnancies at risk. But Texas abortion bans meant I could not get the care I needed here in my home. That the pregnancy that I was carrying was never going to be a brother to my two children, and he had no chance of survival outside my womb. But that didn’t matter because of our state’s Republican lawmakers. I had to leave my home and my family and travel across the country for the health care that I knew I needed to preserve my future fertility and my health. The state of Texas didn’t just fail me, though. Every day it’s failing women just like me. Some have lost their lives to preventable complications as a result of this negligence. Because of the abortion laws in our state, medical providers are afraid to provide basic reproductive health care. OB-GYNs are leaving the state and medical students are turning elsewhere for their training. The truth is, our health care system is falling apart. Under Governor Abbott, a bigger share of Texans go uninsured than any other state. There are 5 million Texans, including nearly a million children who don’t have access to basic health care. Rural hospitals are shutting their doors, meaning hour long drives to the nearest hospital, a delay that can cost lives. A new executive order signed by President Trump could increase prescription drug prices and insurance costs. With Governor Abbott and President Trump in office. We’re facing higher out-of-pocket costs and fewer protections. My story has a hopeful ending. After everything I went through, I was blessed to welcome a healthy baby boy. But I can’t stop thinking about the countless women and families who won’t get the same chance. Life doesn’t have to be like this. The fight isn’t about politics. It’s about saving people’s lives.
Bobby Ramos [00:41:01] It’s a bit embarrassing acknowledging that in Houston, Texas, the energy capital of the world, we struggle to maintain power even during a light rain. Quite frankly, this is unacceptable. Countless communities face challenges due to the lack of this resource. And when our homes lose power, it’s the committed Texans who braved the night in the early morning to restore order to ensure our safety from clearing fallen trees and debris to workers hitting the road to repair power lines and restore electricity. It’s the Texas workers, not politicians, who lend a helping hand to guide us through these difficult times. We are the ones generating every watt of energy our state needs so that when the next storm strikes, our grid will hold strong. As a proud third generation union member, I see the dedication and hard work of my union brothers and sisters throughout my beautiful city. Our efforts go beyond individual contributions. We focus on enhancing communities for future generations. The oil and gas industry has provided good jobs for decades, and we appreciate the pipeline work done by our locals, which has allowed hardworking Texans to put food on the table and provide for their families. However, a couple of years ago, projects dwindled to only a few a year and we saw a boom and bust cycle firsthand. So we brought into our horizons and embraced the promising future of clean energy, such as wind and solar. Now is not the time to allow politics to hinder our progress. If Texas wants to continue leading the nation in energy production, we must harness every bit of it that we can. Profits for a few billionaires shouldn’t come at the cost of tens of thousands of excellent new union jobs for working people. So what’s the state of my state? I’m tired of working people not being seen. We’re out here building the future, and it would be nice to get some respect and support from the leaders of our great state.
Dior Edison [00:43:01] The state of my state is a state of concern. I’ve been an educator for 15 years, and I wake up every day knowing that I’m living my dream in my classroom. We practice hands on activities like coding and robotics that teach the kids how to solve problems and work together. When I catch up with some of my former students, now young adults, they tell me how they still carry the lessons we learn together. Hearing how those lessons inspire their dreams reminds me of why I do what I do. If you’re a teacher, do you know this feeling all too well? But outside my classroom, Greg Abbott and his billionaire buddies are pushing their experiment that could ruin our public schools forever. Here’s how it works. Private school vouchers take public money, your tax dollars, and send it to private schools. These private schools don’t have to follow the same rules as schools like mine. They don’t have to take all the kids. They don’t have the same learning standards and they don’t have to answer to taxpayers. Private school vouchers are not for most families. They’re for wealthy families who already send their kids to private schools. The rest of us, we’re left with fewer resources for the public schools our kids depend on. If Greg Abbott signs the school voucher bill, public schools will have less money, which means bigger classes, lower teacher pay, and fewer resources for students. Kids with disabilities, kids in rural areas and vital school programs will suffer the most. Instead of giving public money to private schools, we should fully fund public schools. That means paying teachers what they deserve, keeping classes small, and making sure that every kid has a chance to succeed no matter where they live or how much their family makes. For me, the choice is simple. Public schools are the heart of our communities. Let’s keep them strong. Our kids, our families and our future depend on it. The Texas where we invest in teachers, strengthen neighborhood schools and make sure that every child has a chance to dream big. The kids in my classroom deserve that. The families in our neighborhoods deserve that. And the future of Texas depends on it.
Gilberto Hinojosa [00:45:34] In just a few weeks, the Rio Grande Valley is going to celebrate several days. It’s beautiful. It’s more so. This is a real, real grand new valley. The horses, the marching bands, the food. It’s a vibrant celebration of the bond between that house and Mexico. It’s about what makes us dance, about our proud history of family and good neighbors. The fact is, Texas can only thrive. Our relationship with Mexico is strong. Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, they don’t know a thing about it. Plus, the price of a truck was going up because of their nonsense. It’s going to be more expensive to build a home and buy your groceries because immigrant workers pickled vegetables in the fields and immigrants run small businesses. And when technologies and teach our children in our schools every day you look around and billionaires like Elon Musk get everything they want. Just down the road in Boca Chica Beach, Elon blows up his rockets and trashes our public beaches. A Pennsylvania billionaire buys Greg Abbott’s favorite to try to pass private school vouchers and tear down our schools. None of us want our taxpayer dollars paying for private tuition of the very wealthy. That’s why vouchers have failed to pass for decades. Trump and his billionaire backers are tearing down renewable energy. But the Rio Grande Valley is home to some of the biggest wind production in the country. Here’s the thing, Greg. You can understand the state of Texas cozying up to a policy of billionaires that want nothing more than for us to turn our backs on each other. Texas Democrats know the real state of our state because we’ve lived it and hear it every day. Texans love this state and they will do anything to make things a little brighter for their kids and grandkids. The fact is, people are struggling after 30 years of Republican rule. Regular people from all walks of life and every neighborhood deserve a fair shot to get ahead. And they’re not going to get it. While Abbott’s billionaires are lining their pockets every day, our Democratic lawmakers in Congress and at the state capital are fighting back. And every day, our great democratic cities and counties are delivering results. That is why people want to live here. But Texas Democrats have a lot of work ahead to make good on the promise of our state and our country. Glad to have you in the fight with us. With the L.A..
David Brown [00:47:55] Well, you are listening to live coverage of the State of the State address and the Democratic response from the Texas newsroom and the Texas Standard. The last voice that we heard was from the Texas Democratic Party chairman, Alberto Hosa, who was talking about tech billionaires and the like, what he saw as a political infiltration at the expense of Texans. We also heard from a Northside ISD elementary school teacher talking about the governor’s preferred school choice, as he puts it, a voucher program, as critics put it. We also heard from a union representative from Houston talking about renewable energy and the fragility of the Texas power grid. We heard from an Ob-Gyn in Dallas talking about abortion care and abortion services in Texas. And joining us here for more analysis of what we heard tonight, we have Blaise Gainey. He covers politics at the Texas capital for the Texas newsroom. Blaise, great to have you in the studio.
Blaise Gainey [00:48:57] Yeah, love, love being here.
David Brown [00:48:58] And we have Lauren McGaughy. She is investigative reporter and editor with the Texas Newsroom. You know, we haven’t we talked with Blaise briefly earlier before the governor got started. And Lauren, I want to ask you, what stood out to you from the governor’s remarks tonight?
Lauren McGaughy [00:49:14] Yeah, some really interesting priorities, some of the ones that maybe haven’t gotten as much attention in the past. You know, we all we know the governor wants school choice vouchers. You know, depending on what side of the table you sit on. But some interesting new focuses for him, this nuclear power renaissance that he mentioned. He wants Texas to really step up on that right now. Texas has two nuclear plants. And you know that we’re blown out of the water by some other states like Illinois that has, I think, six plants. So does that mean building new plants? What does that mean? You know, there’s been issues in the past with nuclear storage, right? Waste storage from other states.
David Brown [00:49:55] And it’s not just about powering the growth in the number of Texans we have here. There’s a big push for A.I., which is something.
Lauren McGaughy [00:50:02] That’s right. Yeah. You know, there’s we know that the president has announced this big, what is it, $500 billion investment to expand that that the AI.
David Brown [00:50:13] Infrastructure.
Lauren McGaughy [00:50:14] Which is a huge power stock. And so we would need to have more infrastructure. Something else that also stuck out stuck out to me was this Texas Cyber Command. He says he wants to start in conjunction with UTSA. You know, we know that that government infrastructure especially is becoming more vulnerable to ransomware attacks, and that can shut down an entire city or county or worse. Right. If if if these guys are really skilled. So, you know, apparently we have a lot of cybersecurity experts here in Texas. And so utilizing their their skills to to stop those attacks in future.
David Brown [00:50:48] A Texas cyber command is a priority. That did stand out. Blaze, what stood out to you?
Blaise Gainey [00:50:53] You know, the bail reform stood out a little to me. You know, he wants to require judges to deny bail for violent offenders. And then also, once anybody that is accused of capital murder or a sexual offense to also be denied bail. He’s you know, he highlighted, I think, the Venezuelan gang when he was talking about this. But I think obviously trying to apply. That’s correct. And but obviously, that will apply to everybody. So that’s a little tougher on crime, which is always usually something Republicans want to say they are.
David Brown [00:51:26] You know, something that really took me back there was the governor getting emotional when he was talking about immigration in particular, and especially a 12 year old who he said was killed by a migrant. And he wants to see he’s actually asking the legislature for some very specific action there, Lauren.
Lauren McGaughy [00:51:48] Right. Yeah, I mean, not a ton of meat on the bones of it. But he did say that, you know, anyone who is convicted of killing a child like this child that was was allegedly killed by this Venezuelan gang should should be subject to the death penalty, automatic death penalty. So that was that was you know, that the people that were tweeting from the room were saying you could hear a pin drop during that portion of the the speech. It was it was very quiet. And he he, you know, had some emotion in his voice for sure.
David Brown [00:52:17] Indeed. He also talked about divide in the diversity, equity and inclusion. We we during the previous legislative session, the 88th session, the governor pushed through changes to DEA and DEA programs in colleges and universities. Wants to take that a step further, it sounds like.
Blaise Gainey [00:52:39] But, you know, he says he wants to do it now through K through 12 schools, although he also didn’t necessarily take the focus away from colleges by saying now he wants to target in on specific hiring powers, I guess, of professors making sure that they’re not. Hiring people who will then, I guess, teach some sorts of history and, you know, push an agenda that he believes is being pushed in most colleges.
Lauren McGaughy [00:53:03] I just wanted to that really stuck out to me, too, because, you know, faculty are often involved in hiring. You know, they maybe it’s different at every school, but maybe they have a faculty senate or they have a faculty panel that’s put together, or at least they’re reviewing CV’s and resumes. So I’d like to see I’d like to read the details of that. Is that just going to be that this hiring is solely in the hands of a dean or something or in Governor Abbott’s view, Is that not even appropriate? You know, who’s going to actually have to undertake that? Because that’s a big school. That’s a major, you know, major function of the university.
David Brown [00:53:39] You know, when you take into account the fact that we were covering the Texas legislature for a full year and not for the, you know, half year that it normally is, if you look at the last session and all of that was about this school vouchers or school choice program, as the governor likes to call it. That was during the 88th legislative session. And now here we are, what, just two weeks into the 89th session. And already Senate Committee on Education has greenlit this the governor’s plan. Blaise, this seems to be moving like a freight train. And I don’t think that the House has even made its committee selections, right?
Blaise Gainey [00:54:17] That’s correct. Yeah. But I mean, I would expect those committee selections to come up soon. But at the same time, the Senate has had no problem passing the bill at all. It’s always been the House. That’s the one where it’s a little tougher to get it passed. Obviously, the governor believes he has the numbers now after the primary election, but we’ll still have to wait and see exactly who’s the chair of that committee. You know, there’s a lot of things. It’s not a done deal yet, although a lot of people around the governor and on that side of the, you know, lines believe that it is a done deal.
David Brown [00:54:47] You know, and of course, going along with that, we should mention that the governor says he wants to make teacher salaries. Teacher raises a priority here. I guess that is to address the criticism that under the SB to the plan we were just talking about, that would be a $10,000 per student program and how much is spent now on every public school student in Texas? It’s I believe it’s sub 7000, if I’m not mistaken.
Blaise Gainey [00:55:16] I believe that’s the base pay is 7000. And then there’s other factors that can get higher than that. And I think around the average is a little over 10,000.
David Brown [00:55:25] It is. It is. Yeah. But it’s still he’s the fact that he is turning a spotlight on this suggests that perhaps perhaps he expects a fight over still a fight perhaps in the house over.
Lauren McGaughy [00:55:37] Yeah yeah I mean it’s it’s he’s trying to sweeten the deal a little bit for public educators. Right. You know, and it’s I you put out a one pager on this teacher pay raise just in the minutes since his. Is that right? Yeah. And it looks like they’re going to be throwing $750 million into, you know, a fund that already exists that can pay teachers additional money. But I think, you know, he’s spotlighting the need for meritorious raise increases especially. So it’d be interesting for me to see whether this is an across the board pay raise for all teachers, which is expensive, or if he’s only going to be targeting this to, you know, teachers that, you know, maybe we’re going to be base this off test scores, which has been very, very contentious in the past with teachers.
David Brown [00:56:24] Blaze, what are you hearing about how much money the governor’s going to have here? I mean, I think that the budget is looking at what are we talking about, a surplus in the range of around 24 to 26 billion, something like that. Yes.
Blaise Gainey [00:56:37] Yeah, that was the numbers are that is the numbers. I’m not exactly sure the total I think it’s like 321 somewhere in that range.
David Brown [00:56:45] Total total for the year. Yeah.
Blaise Gainey [00:56:47] But you know it just depends on exactly how much of that surplus they want to use. You know, last year they ended with a surplus. So this could be something they want to continue having a surplus just in case, you know, the economy turns around.
David Brown [00:56:59] And of course, we’ve we haven’t mentioned a couple of the governor’s other priorities. He had talked about water and water infrastructure. He talked about looping back around to property tax, which was a major issue in the previous legislative session. And now it looks like we’re in for a round two. We’re going to be breaking four stations and wrap up our coverage here. But I wonder if you all have any thoughts on the Democratic response that we heard as well. Blaise, you’re shaking. You’re nodding your.
Blaise Gainey [00:57:25] Head. Yeah, I thought it was interesting to not have lawmakers give it and have the actual, you know, citizens from around the state participate in responding to the governor’s speech. I think that was a sort of a smart move. If you want to look like a party that cares about the people.
Lauren McGaughy [00:57:40] Yeah. And I just noticed that, you know, obviously this is a response. So they’re responding to the governor specific priorities. But, you know, what is the Democrats priorities? What’s their list of what they want to do? Even as the minority party, it it felt very were. Responsive and maybe people would like to see a little bit more of what they would do if they were in power.
David Brown [00:57:58] Lauren McGaughy is investigative reporter and editor with the Texas Newsroom. We’ve also been hearing from Blaise Gainey, who covers politics at the Capitol for the Texas newsroom. I’m David Brown of the Texas Standard. You’ve been listening to special coverage of the State of the State address and the Democratic response. There will be more on Monday’s edition of the Texas Standard. And from the Texas newsroom right here on this station. On behalf of the Standard and the Newsroom, with thanks to producer Sara Asch, director Kristen Cabrera, technical direction from Rene Chavez and Rachel Lindley with the Texas Newsroom. Working behind the scenes as a digital producer. I’m David Brown. Wish you all the very best from Austin.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
