Greg Abbott's Speech: The Good, The Bad, and the UGLY!!!

"The wicked man does deceptive work,
But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward."
Proverbs 11:18

Texas State Capitol -- Earlier today, Governor Abbott gave his State of the State address.  It was a VERY mixed bag.  While it started out badly, it got substantially better in the second half.  Governor Abbott designated 5 emergency legislative items: Pre-K, pork for University "research," transportation, border security, and bolstering ethical standards.  Of these items, 3 are good, 1 is bad but basically harmless, and one is AWFUL.  Abbott's speech below:



Highlights:

The Good:

• School Choice - Speaks about it favorably (and more openly than Perry ever did), but doesn't make it emergency legislation.

• Transportation - Dedicate half of the motor vehicle sales tax to construction.
• THIRD EMERGENCY ITEM.
• While we would prefer to have heard about reform of TxDOT, but this was a completely reasonable proposal.

• Border Security - Expand DPS at the border; keep National Guard in place until DPS is ready.
• FOURTH EMERGENCY ITEM.
• Clear rebuke of Straus.

• "Permanently Reduce" (NOT eliminate) margins tax.

• Property Taxes -- Must be LASTING.
• Cannot rise with valuations.

• CONSTITUTIONAL SPENDING LIMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Author's Note: But will he fight for this any harder than Perry did?!?
• Assuming you hold all the R's (not a given on something like this), you still need two D's in each the House and Senate to place it on the ballot.

• Requiring state agencies to reduce "general revenue" spending by at least 3%
• Exempts Public & Higher Ed, which is 60% of the budget by itself.

• Ethics Reform -- Disclosing contracts with state agencies.
• Not letting legislators vote on bills they can personally benfit from.
• Author's Note: Lookin' at you Jim Keffer.
• Geren's carrying it.
• FIFTH EMERGENCY ITEM.

The Bad:

• Half billion for Higher Education "Research"
• SECOND EMERGENCY ITEM.
• Translation: Pork for University Administrators.

• "Supporting Community Colleges."

• More funding for "women's health programs."

The UGLY:

• Made "High-Quality Pre-K" FIRST emergency item.
• WTF?!?
• Don't even know where to begin on this one.
• No...seriously...WTF?!?

Bottom Line: For the most part, this was a solid speech from Abbott.  Good ideas outnumbered questionable ones 7 to 4 (3 to 2 among emergency items).  That being said, pre-K as AN EMERGENCY ITEM...WTF?!?

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Update: We largely concur with Jonathan Stickland....

Post by Texas Tribune.