On Thursday evening in a televised broadcast, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will lay out his priorities for the Texas Legislature in his biennial State of the State address.

The latest State of the State in more than 30 years, at 38 days into the 140-day legislative session, Abbott’s address will lay out his emergency priorities for the session. Per the Texas Constitution, the governor’s emergency items are the only topics the Legislature can act on for the first 60 days of the session.

However, with only 22 days to act on the governor’s priorities during this early window, it is unlikely that any legislation will be passed through both chambers before the 60th day. .

In his inaugural address last month, Abbott alluded that both school choice and significant property tax relief will be prioritized.

He has also said he will sign Senate Bill 147—a ban on land ownership by Chinese nationals and other antagonistic nations—once it reaches his desk. With his latest moves to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from state devices, Abbott may include protections from foreign interference in his emergency priorities.

Conservative grassroots organizations are requesting the governor include Republican priority legislation in his emergency items, including border security, the elimination of property taxes, vaccine choice, and the prohibition of the sexualization of Texas children.

Though the address has traditionally been delivered during a joint session of the Texas House and Senate in the middle of the day, Abbott is taking this year’s address in a different direction. Instead, he will be giving the address from the Noveon Magnetics Corp. manufacturing facility near San Marcos. While the general public and reporters have not been invited, it will be televised statewide in prime time.

Abbott also delivered a private televised State of the State address in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.

Citizens can watch the State of the State at 7 p.m. CST on the following stations:

KDAF-TV (CW) in Dallas
KIAH-TV (CW) in Houston
KXAN-TV (NBC) in Austin
KWKT-TV (FOX) in Waco
KVEO-TV/KGBT-TV (NBC/MyNet) in Harlingen/Brownsville
KSHV-TV (FOX) in Shreveport, LA
KTSM-TV (NBC) in El Paso
KETK-TV (NBC) in Tyler
KAMR-TV (NBC) in Amarillo
KAMC-TV/KLBK-TV (ABC/CBS) in Lubbock
KMID-TV (ABC) in Midland/Odessa
KFDX-TV (NBC) in Wichita Falls
KTAB-TV (CBS) in Abilene
KLST-TV (CBS) in San Angelo

Sydnie Henry

A born and bred Texan, Sydnie serves as the Managing Editor for Texas Scorecard. She graduated from Patrick Henry College with a B.A. in Government and is utilizing her research and writing skills to spread truth to Texans.

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