Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his State of the State address in the House chamber on Tuesday. Reporters at KERA and other public radio stations across Texas have annotated his remarks.
Abbott laid out his agenda for the 85th legislative session, prioritizing which issues deserve the most attention from state lawmakers, who are working with a smaller two-year budget.
Abbott called for a hiring freeze for state agencies and named four emergency items in his address: fixing Texas’ troubled child protective services system passing a resolution to support a convention of states, outlawing so-called “sanctuary cities” and implementing ethics reform. He also promoted “school choice” — a voucher program that would help parents pay for private schools with state tax dollars.
The governor did not mention President Trump's executive order on refugees that left some travelers detained for 30 hours in airports and sparked protests across Texas and across the country. He also did not talk about a piece of controversial legislation filed this session: Senate Bill 6, also known as the “bathroom bill.” Strongly championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the bill would require transgender Texans to use public bathrooms that coincide with their gender at birth rather than their chosen identity.
Watch Abbott's State of the State address below
Video courtesy of CBSDFW.
Here's the speech -- and the annotation from public radio reporters and editors across Texas. (Note: Abbott’s remarks may have deviated from this transcript as he gave his speech.)
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