Texas’ 88th legislative session ended on Monday without addressing many of Governor Greg Abbott’s stated legislative priorities.
In his February State of the State address, the governor laid out seven issues he said the state government must confront: school safety, the fentanyl crisis, COVID-19 restrictions, border security, bail reform, school choice, and property tax relief.
While the legislature did pass bills relating to school safety, fentanyl, and COVID restrictions, the other four priorities went unaddressed.
Although the legislative session ended on Monday, Governor Abbott does have the authority to call a special session for state lawmakers to tackle his priorities and has recently suggested the possibility of such a session.
In a May 14 statement on Senate Bill 8, which aims to address school choice, Abbott said the “failure” of the legislature “to expand the scope of school choice … will necessitate special sessions.”
“This latest version does little to provide meaningful school choice,” he claimed. “Legislators deserve to know that it would be vetoed if it reached my desk.”
Derek Cohen, vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The Dallas Express he is “very confident” the legislature will reconvene to address school choice given the governor’s comments.
“It is very disappointing that the two chambers couldn’t come to an agreement to really allow parents to choose the style and form of education that’s best for their kid,” Cohen added.
Cohen told The Dallas Express that bail reform, on the other hand, is a “more complex” issue.
“We are one of the few states that basically cannot detain somebody without actually having a smoking gun,” he said. “Literally having evidence that suggests up front that the person is guilty of a capital offense or having a serious habitual felon. These are the only people that can be denied bail.”
Cohen said it is “a shame” that the two legislative chambers could not agree on bail reform because “we’re literally talking about people’s safety at this point.”
He noted that while the legislature has allocated “substantial” funding toward border security, the legislature has “unfortunately” not made any policy changes that will assist DPS or local governments in keeping the border safe.
Speaking on property tax reform, Cohen said that “both chambers generally agree on the amount [and] they agree that it needs to happen” but they have yet to reach an agreement on whether the reform should be measured by exemptions or appraisal caps.
“That’s one of the things I find very disappointing,” he said. “They basically get to the one-yard line and they can’t pull a good play out of the playbook to get this done for the State of Texas.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Governor Abbott’s office for comment but received no response by press time.
The governor did emphasize the importance of these issues in his State of the State address.
He said property taxes “are suffocating Texans” and described border security and bail reform as “emergency item[s].”
“Activist judges are using low bail to let dangerous criminals back on the streets,” he added. “I am making ending revolving door bail an emergency item this session.”
Here in Dallas, District Attorney John Creuzot has criticized the push for bail reform, arguing that “poor defendants” should not be “kept in jail because of their economic disadvantages,” as previously reported by The Dallas Express.