Gov. Greg Abbott laid out his legislative priorities in his biennial State of the State address at the Arnold Oil Company on Sunday to members of the Texas House and Senate. 

While the Texas Legislature cannot pass laws within the first 60 days of a legislative session, Abbott discussed several “emergency” items, including measures on property taxes, education, bail reform and water security, which would allow the Legislature to act on them before the 60th day of the session. 

Abbott called for cutting local property taxes and decreasing municipalities’ power to impose them. He also proposed a two-thirds voter approval requirement for cities to increase property taxes. While Texas has no state property tax, city property taxes make up most of the money cities use for local services. 

“(Property tax cuts) will only work if local authorities cannot use loopholes to jack up your property taxes,” Abbott said during the address. 

The governor called on the Legislature to pass “school choice” legislation to reappropriate public funds towards private and charter schools.  He also said to extend the current university diversity, equity and inclusion ban to K-12 schools and increase teacher pay. 

Abbott also said he would continue efforts against diversity, equity and inclusion in university staffing decisions and prohibit universities from listening to professors’ input in hiring decisions. 

“College professors have increasingly pushed woke agendas that have too much influence over who is hired to educate our kids,” Abbott said. 

Abbott discussed the elimination of parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking and denial of bail for criminals charged with murder. Bail reform would also include required training for judges when setting bail.

Abbott also called for an investment in the state’s water supply — the largest funding increase in water in the state’s history. He endorsed Sen. Charles Perry and Rep. Cody Harris’s plan to ensure the state has enough water for the next five decades by tapping into new water sources and making pipe repairs. 

“Last session we invested a billion dollars in water projects and infrastructure,” Abbott said. “This session, we need to Texas-size that investment.”