If you missed Gov. Perry already, it’s time to meet the new governor, Greg Abbott.
Earlier I had participate in a Lutheran Legislative Event, hung out with Texas Impact folks, greeted Sen. Kolkhorst of Brenham and shook hands with Rep. Will Metcalf of Conroe. Will’s daddy is Tommy Metcalf, with whom I worked at Metcalf Funeral Home the 10 years I served Grace Lutheran Church in Conroe. Tommy later became mayor of Conroe. Will, born in 1984, is the youngest person in the Texas Legislature. A bright young man, he’ll do well.
Intern Ashley Dellagiacoma and I arrived early to hear Governor Abbott’s State of the State address.
I’ll include a link below where you can listen to the speech. The speech did not disappoint. Plenty of Texas bravado.
“We unite to make Texas even better.”
“I’m proud to report as the sun rises on 2015, the state is strong.”
“We are at the pinnacle of the country’s economy.”
“Last year we created more jobs than in any other year in the history of this great state.”
“Sales tax revenue increased by 11%.”
“Earlier today I submitted a budget that will keep Texas number one.”
Texas is an amazing state. Unfortunately, we are number one in uninsured people. We are number one in capital punishment. I was hoping these topics might come up in the speech.
The governor outlined five emergency items which comprise the majority of his speech, along with a few other key issues.
1. “I am declaring Early education as my first emergency item as the governor of Texas.”
Putting money into better PreK is a really, really smart move. This was a fantastic start. I had just heard an educator tell us that if kids are reading by the first grade, the odds are against them. The district court ruling the Texas head unconstitutionally underfunded education is in appeal. He deftly navigated around this.
2. “We must make college more affordable and more accessible… My second emergency item is higher education.”
Impressive. Two education items. He had my attention.
3. “3rd emergency item: Roads.”
Proposition 1 shows Texans are tired of being stuck in traffic. His budget adds $4B a year: With funding from Proposition 1, by ending the diversion of highway funds, and directing half of motor vehicle sales tax to roads. Smart.
4. “4th emergency item: We must secure our border.”
This item gets must attention from Texans. It garnered much applause in the Joint Session. Border crossings, however are at a historic low. We always seem to want to fix immigration with a hammer and a gun. His plan will double border security spending. More state troopers. More tech. It’s a popular talking point. It’s based on the illusion that all the people are “out there.” If we keep “them” out we’ll be safe.
5. Health care.
He had my attention. 20% of Texans have no health insurance. The federal government is offering subsidies, but southern states believe that if they use this money, they are supporting Obama care, which is anathema. So Texas is left $3 billion on the table. That could have insured quite a few people. This money comes from income taxes we pay. One light at the end of the tunnel: a couple of Republicans told me they could see a way toward getting this money if there was some reform in the way Medicaid contracts were controlled. Maybe there is a way forward.
Then we had, for a short moment, the most touching moment of the day. He introduced the oldest living World War II veteran, who was 108 years old.
He went on to talk about health screening for veterans and more funding for women’s health programs. Treatment of post-pactum depression. Funding for in-home care attendants. Good stuff. Important stuff. Thank you. It’s a step in the right direction. Now, about closing the insurance gap…
6. Tax cuts. “I will reject any budget that does not create tax relief for business. I will also reduce property taxes.”
Everyone loves tax cuts. The question becomes, how do you do all these new initiatives he’s proposing and cut taxes? His answer:
7. “The time has come to begin reducing our state’s debt. Debt today becomes taxes tomorrow. We must begin now.”
Texas has more full time state employees per capita than California. He called for a reduction of general revenue spending by at least 3%. Then he offered to cut the governor’s office budget by 10%. Leading by example. Impressive.
8. “I want to sign a law that makes Texas the 45th state in America to open carry.”
Sigh. In Texas you can walk around with a long gun, but we have never approved open carry for handguns. Actually, open carry polls well. It probably would’ve passed sooner until this video of gun activists in the Texas Capitol went viral. It set the pro gun folks back a bit. People started wondering, what of folks like this are allowed to open carry? https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=947244001967453&permPage=1
It totally amazes me that people think we will be safer when teachers and college students are all carrying guns around all day.
9. Then the Governor called for ethics reform. More disclosure of campaign finance information. Blueprint ethics reforms.
Conclusion: our lives are not measured by the ways we are challenge, but by the way we respond to the challenges we face.
The legislature will be doing with a number of other interesting things that never came up. Uber wants to give you rides without Taxi licenses. They have hired lobbyists. Taxi companies have hired lobbyists. It’s going to be a showdown. I’m glad we don’t have open carry, yet. Tesla wants to sell cars on the Internet without having to follow the dealership laws in Texas. Wal-Mart wants to sell whiskey. Ross Ramsey, Executive Editor of The Texas Tribune (and a fine, upstanding Episcopalian) helped us get our mind around these issues. College tuition has skyrocketed with tuition deregulation. The state of Texas only pays 12% of the operating costs of the University of Texas. All in all it’s shaping up to be an exciting legislative session in Texas. No one will be bored. Keep your eye on the Houston Chronicle.
Here’s the video of the speech. You should watch a little bit of it, just to get a feel for the atmosphere. http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/17/abbott-lists-5-emergency-items-session/
