LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has unveiled a campaign plan addressing several parts of the affordability debate, including property taxes, insurance, health care, higher education and electricity costs.
Abbott visited Lubbock on Sept. 4 to promote the plan as recent polling showed the governor’s race tightening. The proposals are campaign promises, not enacted changes, so Texans would need legislative or other action before most could affect their bills.
A proposed 50% property-tax cut
Abbott says he wants to cut Texans’ property-tax bills by 50% through several measures:
- Require two-thirds voter approval for tax increases
- Empower voters to roll back taxes
- Cap appraisal growth at 3% each year and create more predictability around appraisals
- Eliminate school property taxes for homeowners, with the state taking full responsibility for funding public education
Abbott said eliminating the school-tax portion of a homestead bill would cut property taxes by more than half for some homeowners. The actual effect would depend on a homeowner’s local tax bill and how any replacement funding works.
Other affordability proposals
The plan also includes proposals involving higher education, insurance, housing and health care:
- Higher education: Create three-year degree programs in selected high-demand fields and offer discounted summer classes.
- Home and auto insurance: Establish a fortified-roof program intended to lower home-insurance premiums and create a good-driver discount program.
- Housing: Cut regulations and speed up permitting for home construction.
- Health care: Cap inhalers and EpiPens at about $55 per month and create a policy covering primary, preventive, hospital and emergency care.
Data-center costs and electricity
Abbott also highlighted directives he says are intended to protect Texans from costs associated with data centers. The directives would restrict data centers from using water needed by local communities, drawing power from the state grid and locating in neighborhoods and rural communities.
He said data centers would also have to generate more energy for the grid or buy down electricity costs for Texans.
The Texas Democratic Party responded that Abbott was being hypocritical by touting an issue it said he helped create through tax breaks for data centers and plans to make Texas an artificial-intelligence hub.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY. It is presented here through USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.
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