In a show of political unity, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and new House Speaker Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) held a news conference together outside of the Governor’s Mansion Wednesday morning to lay out the legislature's key priorities for the 2019 session.
“From the day I announced I had the votes to be speaker, the governor and the lieutenant governor have reached out to me from that day forward,” said Bonnen.
The three leaders talked about two issues they want to see get done this session -- reforming the school finance system and providing property tax relief for Texans.
“Everyone in Texas knows that we must reduce property taxes, teachers deserve more money and we have to address school finance,” said Patrick.
These are issues that have come repeatedly in past sessions. We asked the governor why he believes this the session they can get it done. He points to the school finance commission, who have been working for a year as one of the reasons.
“Most of us just came off of the campaign trial. As I have talked to people from Amarillo to Laredo, and parts in between, there was two things that I heard repeatedly in every community large and small. Governor, our property taxes are too high. You have to do something to reform the property tax system. Governor we need to do more to fund education,” said Abbott.
