Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott will deliver his State of the State address on Sunday as he is expected to lay out several key legislative policies including the school voucher program.
Newsweek has reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Abbott’s upcoming address will play a crucial role in shaping the Lone Star state’s legislative agenda as he unveils his list of “emergency items” for the 2025 session. Under the Texas Constitution, lawmakers can only pass bills related to these designated priorities during the first 60 days of the session, giving the governor significant influence over the early legislative landscape.
With his address set for Sunday, the governor’s priorities will effectively determine which issues take center stage at the Statehouse in the weeks ahead, setting the tone for what Texans can expect from their lawmakers this year.
How To Watch
The speech will be broadcasted live at 5 p.m. CT on Nexstar television stations and their websites across Texas. Nexstar will also make the telecast available to all broadcasting companies that serve Texas.
Local news channel KXAN will also livestream the address on its website.
The program is expected to go for about an hour with the governor’s speech followed by a 10-minute pre-recorded response by the Texas Democratic Party.
What To Know
According to the governor’s office, Abbott will be listing the “emergency issues” he is urging state lawmakers to focus on during the upcoming legislative session.
“Texas is the blueprint for America’s future,” Abbott said in a statement announcing his State of the State address. “This 89th Legislative Session brings new opportunities for the Texas Legislature and statewide leaders to strengthen our national and global position as the beacon of economic opportunity, prosperity, and individual liberty.”
While Abbott has not explicitly said what these “emergency issues” are, they are expected to include border security, school vouchers and the need for bail reform.
Abbott’s Push for School Voucher Program
One of the key issues expected to be at the forefront is Abbott’s push to pass a school voucher program or what the governor’s office refers to as “school choice,” which would allow the state to give tax dollars to private schools to help subsidize the cost of a child’s tuition.
Access to school choice programs varies widely by state, as some offer voucher programs and charter school funding while others have resisted.
The issue has been one of the governor’s top priorities in recent years with a more substantial push after the Texas House of Representatives previously voted against the attempt to include a school voucher program into the state’s education funding bill in 2023.
Opponents, including several GOP lawmakers representing rural areas, had argued that the program would negatively impact their communities by taking money away from public school systems.
More recently, the Texas Senate Education Committee has advanced an education proposal incorporating vouchers to the full chamber on Wednesday on the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order supporting increased funding for school choice.
The Texas bill, which was introduced on January 24, aims to “provide additional educational options to assist families in this state in exercising the right to direct the educational needs of their children.”
Federally, Trump’s Wednesday executive order states that the education secretary “shall include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs,” ensuring school choice initiatives are allotted more funding.
However, critics argue that redirecting federal funds to expand school choice could further strain public schools and exacerbate educational inequalities by weakening public schools—and leaving those without access to alternative education options at a disadvantage.
What People Are Saying
Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday: “An overwhelming majority of Texans support expanding school choice to ALL Texas families. I’ll work closely with the Texas Legislature to give our families the ability to choose the BEST education path for their child. Let’s put parents back in charge of their kid’s education.”
Advocacy organization EdTrust said in a press release on Wednesday: “What doesn’t work? Vouchers that direct public dollars to private schools lead to even worse academic outcomes and increase gaps between the haves and have-nots. Let’s call Trump’s proposed plan what it really is: ending public education by diverting taxpayer dollars to private schools.”
Texas state Senator Brandon Creighton, who sponsored the recent bill, said on Tuesday: “We know that a one-size-fits-all education does not work for many of our students in Texas.”
What Happens Next
In addition to the school voucher program, all eyes are expected to be on how border security and priorities will change under Trump’s administration as Abbott, a Trump ally, is expected to continue working with the president on a crackdown on illegal border crossings.
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