LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has unveiled his campaign plan to address several facets of the number one issue Texans care about in the race: affordability.
Abbott visited Lubbock, Texas, on Sept. 4, touting a plan to lower Texans' property taxes, the cost of higher education, the cost of health care and more, as recent polling shows the governor's race is tightening.
"Texas ranks number one in the United States for the most jobs," Abbot said. "We rank number one as the best economy in the United States. Now I want to make Texas number one for affordability."
Here's a look at the key point of Abbott's affordability as he vies for reelection against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.
Reducing property taxes by half
Abbott wants to cut Texans' property tax bill by 50%
by doing the following:
- Require two-thirds voter approval for tax increases
- Empower voters to roll back taxes
- Create appraisal predictability and cap appraisal growth at 3% every year.
Additionally, Abbott wants to eliminate school property taxes for homeowners.
"What I say is, the state of Texas should assume that full responsibility of funding public education, not your homestead," Abbott said. "Instead of you paying whatever you pay right now for your homestead for public schools, that amount should be zero going forward, ensuring that your property taxes will be cut by more than half."
Abbott eyes lowering health care, college and insurance costs
Here are other key points Abbott pitched to help address affordability in Texas:
- Higher education —
- Three-year degree programs for selected high‑demand fields
- Discounted summer classes for college students
- Home, Auto Insurance —
- Create a fortified roof program to help lower home insurance premiums
- Introduce a good-driver discount program where good drivers pay less than high‑risk drivers.
- Housing cost —
- Cut regulations and speed up permitting for home construction.
- Healthcare cost —
- Plans to cap inhalers and epinephrine (EpiPens) at about $55 per month.
- Create a new type of insurance policy that covers essential needs — primary care physician, preventive care, hospital care and emergency room.
Abbott touts protecting Texans from rising costs due to data centers
Texas has not been immune to growing anger over data centers, as a recent Aug. 25 poll showed that more than half of Texans do not want data centers built in their communities.
Abbott took time to tout his success in regulating data centers through his recent directives over the summer that require data centers to:
- Prohibit data centers from using water that's needed by local communities.
- Prohibit data centers from drawing power from the state's power grid.
- Mandate that data centers lower the cost of electricity by:
- Requiring them to generate more energy to send to the grid or
- Allowing them to buy down electricity costs for Texans
He also prohibited them from being built in neighborhoods and in rural communities.
"All combined, I've established those comprehensive rules, regulations, and guidelines and guardrails of any governor across the United States of America, and we expect to ensure that we're going to be protecting our rural communities from any type of invasion by data centers," Abbott said.
The Texas Democratic Party responded that it was hypocritical for Abbott to tout a win on an issue he created for the state regarding data centers.
"You don't get to give data centers some of the largest tax breaks in the nation and vow to turn Texas into an AI epicenter, then shrug your shoulders and play dumb once Texas communities start asking legitimate questions," said Texas Democratic Party Spokesman Jacob Long. "If you don't know what's going on in Texas, you're in for a rude awakening come November."
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas Gov. Abbott pitches 50% property tax cut in affordability plan
