Gov. Greg Abbott is proposing $15 billion in property tax cuts in the budget plan.

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Gov. Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to spend $15 billion to cut taxes on Texans’ property and at least $750 million on school safety measures like guards and expanded mental health services, while continuing to fully fund his safety operation. on the border, according to his plan for 2024-2025. the budget proposal was circulated on Thursday.

“To build the Texas of tomorrow, we must continue the state’s tireless efforts to build infrastructure, develop the energy sector, improve job training and public education, and provide access to healthcare—all while keeping Texans safe and preserving the freedoms we enjoy today. , for the future. generations,” the Republican governor wrote in a 25-page document first published by Quorum Report.

The proposal lays out for the first time how Abbott wants lawmakers to cut the property tax, an idea agreed by Republicans in both houses, even though the details of the plans differ.

Abbott proposes to maintain existing school property tax cuts made as part of the massive 2019 school funding package and use public dollars to further reduce taxes under this law. The state isn’t really raising property taxes—that money is collected by cities, counties, school districts, and other local entities—but by funneling more public money into schools, it can lower the amount that schools collect. The cuts will affect both homes and businesses.

[Gov. Greg Abbott calls for legislative action on school choice, property taxes and fentanyl in State of the State]

It also asks lawmakers to consider expanding broadband, supporting alternatives to abortion, providing family leave for government employees, investing in flood mitigation and other major infrastructure projects, paying off part of government unfunded pension obligations for government employees, and raising wages. teachers. both current and retirees.

Abbott also includes a new proposal to increase death benefits for members of the Texas National Guard who have been stationed along the border as part of its multi-billion dollar security mission, Operation Lone Star.

The document also calls for extending postpartum Medicaid benefits to 12 months, addressing staffing and funding shortages in nursing homes, and procuring harm reduction drugs for law enforcement officers to combat the fentanyl crisis. He proposes to fund reform for the struggling Texas Department of Family and Welfare and to support child abuse investigators and programs to care for separated children.

As with Abbott’s budget proposals in previous sessions, the document is sparse in detail. It does not list total statewide or statewide funding amounts, nor does it provide details on how to balance the cost of the ideas it proposes with other state spending requirements or spending limits. Much of the specific budgeting work will be left to House and Senate legislators, although Abbott has veto power over the final product and the ability to remove certain items.

The Texas constitution requires the governor’s budget plan to be presented to legislators prior to his biennial address to the state.

Each originally proposed $130.1 billion in total revenue for the 2024-2025 biennium, leaving at least $50 billion of available money unallocated in the original projects.

This includes a historic $32.7 billion budget surplus associated with record tax collection over the past 18 months.

“Our powerful Texas economy has set another record as we now have the largest budget surplus in our state’s history,” Abbott wrote in the proposal. “But make no mistake, this money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the taxpayers.”

Legislators are required to adopt a balanced budget before the end of the session. The new budget is usually approved towards the end of May.

Abbott’s proposals for the next biennium largely reflect the priorities he outlined Thursday night in his State of the Union address at Noveon Magnetics in San Marcos.

In his speech on Thursday, he named seven emergency issues that lawmakers can vote on immediately: cut property taxes, lift COVID-19 restrictions “for good”, expand school choice, improve school safety, end bail revolving door policy, secure state security. the border with Mexico and the fight against fentanyl.

The budget document was circulated Thursday and addressed to Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and members of the 88th Legislative Assembly. The document had not been posted on the Abbott website as of Friday morning.

Reducing property taxes

The $15 billion Abbott wants to spend on property tax cuts is in line with the amount already set out in House and Senate spending proposals and his previous claims that at least half of the surplus would be spent on these cuts.

“We must – and we will – do more to provide substantial tax breaks to homeowners and businesses across the state,” Abbott said in the document. “Fortunately, a robustly growing economy and an extraordinary revenue surplus in the state budget provided us with the opportunity to do so.”

Abbott’s budget proposal lacks any mention of increasing the state’s homestead exemption from school district taxes or the dollar value of the house, which cannot be taxed. Increasing the exemption is a top priority for Patrick, who called for $3 billion to be used to increase the exemption from $40,000 to $70,000. But it will only benefit homeowners, critics say, meaning more of the burden of paying property taxes will fall on renters and businesses.

But Abbott and Patrick seem to agree with the idea of ​​lowering the property taxes that businesses pay on “personal property” such as furniture and equipment, with Abbott expressing support for “targeted relief” for businesses through increased personal property tax exemptions.

Abbott also called for a freeze on county property taxes for seniors and to ensure they automatically receive the additional $10,000 property tax exemption already allocated to seniors.

Notably, Abbott said House and Senate budget planners should look for federal funds made available through bills such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act—significant achievements of President Joe Biden—and ” determine which programs are worth continuing.”

School vouchers and other policy measures

Among the most widely discussed policy ideas in Abbott’s proposal is redirecting public school dollars to charter schools, private schools and homeschooling programs, a battle the Legislature has been waging for decades that divides Republicans in rural and urban areas.

“Parents deserve the opportunity to choose the educational environment that is best for their child, whether it be a traditional public school, public charter school, private school or homeschooling,” Abbott wrote in his budget proposal.

The proposal proposes the creation of educational savings accounts to “provide parents with the opportunity to use funds that would otherwise be allocated to their child’s public school for a variety of educational expenses such as private school tuition, online learning programs, study materials and educational materials. . therapy.”

But critics of vouchers and similar programs, including rural Republicans and most Democrats, say they are draining vital funding from a school system that, unlike charter and private schools, is available to all students and should be fully funded.

“After nearly a decade under Gov. Abbott, he is responding to the anger and frustration felt by parents and teachers in schools with limited funds with a ploy that further undermines the public education that the vast majority of Texas schoolchildren and their families rely on,” it says. in a statement by Rep. Gene Hinojosa of Austin.

School safety

Among Abbott’s budgetary priorities are allocating at least $600 million for what he called “school safety measures,” including technology upgrades; “fortifying” or strengthening the security of school buildings and campuses to protect against mass shootings; and “enhanced mental health resources”.

It is also calling for $147 million to continue funding the statewide telehealth program to connect children to mental health resources through schools, a program run at state universities by the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium.

Abbott also wants $6.6 million to be spent on gun shooting training for law enforcement officers, a priority he has named among his school initiatives.

The proposal does not mention a substantial increase in funding for struggling public schools or tying funding to enrollment rather than attendance, both ideas put forward by public education advocates.

Public safety and border security

In his proposal, Abbott also praises his Lone Star border operation for detaining migrants and seizing the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Funding for the operation, which involved members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety and currently cost $4.3 billion in public funds, should continue to be funded, Abbott said. He wrote that Texas will continue to press the federal government to reimburse the state’s $6.7 billion cost to secure the border with Mexico.

In his proposal, Abbott is asking for a new program to increase death benefits for the Texas National Guard. In April, Bishop Evans died during Operation Lone Star trying to rescue migrants from the water. His family was not eligible for state death benefits, prompting lawmakers to try to change that policy.

“While the brave men and women on the frontier have accomplished much, there is still much work to be done to protect Texans as the federal government shows no sign of willingness to quell this humanitarian crisis,” the document says.

James Barragan contributed to this report.