Comparison of Emergency Item Lists
Gov. Greg Abbott announced his seven-item list of emergency issues last week during his 2023 State of the State address. Thematically, the list represents the items Abbott finds most important to address this session; procedurally, bills pertaining to those issues are exempt from the Texas Constitution’s date restrictions on legislative action.
It was the largest list of emergency items Abbott has declared during his time as governor. Below is a comparison of the governor’s emergency item lists since taking office in 2015.
2023 2021 2019 2017 2015
Property tax relief Rural broadband expansion Property tax reform CPS reform Expand early childhood education
Restricting pandemic emergency powers Recourse for cities that "defund their police" School finance reform Sanctuary city ban Higher education initiatives
School choice by way of Education Savings Accounts Financial protection from COVID-19 lawsuits Teacher pay raise Ethics reform Ethics reform
School safety measures Election reform School safety measures Convention of States Transportation expansion
Bail restrictions Bail restrictions Creation of the Texas Mental Health Consortium – Border security funding
Securing the border ERCOT power grid reform* Natural disaster response reform – –
Cracking down on fentanyl trafficking – – – –
*Added belatedly after the 2021 blackouts.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
