AUSTIN (Nexstar) — In Friday’s hour-long debate between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and challenger Beto O’Rourke (D), we could only get to so many questions.
We received hundreds of questions, and those of you at home wanted answers. We went through that question list Monday and picked out these themes:
- Water
- Transportation
- Housing inventory
- Racism
- O’Rourke border plan
- Criminal justice reform
- Recapture
- Foster care
- Texans joining together
- Homelessness
We asked both Abbott and O’Rourke’s offices to respond to some questions within these themes Monday morning. O’Rourke’s office responded to several from the list. Abbott’s office is still working on responses. We did some research and will provide some information for preliminary insight on Abbott’s stances.
Water
O’Rourke:
“Greg Abbott vetoed four bipartisan bills in 2017 that would have strengthened our water systems and he has provided rural communities with less than 1% of the funding they were promised to protect their water supply. Meanwhile, Texas leads the nation in water pollution violations as Abbott refuses to acknowledge that climate change is real—even as Texans face record droughts that are undermining our economic success and threatening the livelihoods of Texas farmers and ranchers. As governor, Beto will appoint regulators who will enforce the pollution laws we have on the books and use a portion of Texas’ $35 billion in federal infrastructure funding to invest in water infrastructure, water recycling, and desalination projects.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday.
Transportation
O’Rourke:
“Texas ranks number one for the worst commercial trucking bottlenecks in the country—costing the economy nearly $4 billion every year. While TxDOT highway projects are plagued by inefficiencies and delays, the agency currently spends just 1% of its $26 billion budget on public transportation projects that could ease traffic and make transportation more affordable and accessible. Greg Abbott has done nothing to protect Texans from skyrocketing highway fees and tolls, while failing to improve rail networks that are critical for trade. He has also left major transportation routes through rural counties with a $28 billion backlog in maintenance projects. As governor, Beto will increase the share of TxDOT’s budget spent on public transportation, improve TxDOT’s public bidding processes to make sure Texas contracts with more efficient construction companies, and ensure the $35 billion in federal infrastructure funding earmarked for Texas flows equitably to urban, suburban, and rural communities alike.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, earlier this summer, Abbott released details about the state’s 10-year transportation plan. He said, “as more people move to Texas, and businesses grow across the state, we are working together to make sure Texans’ transportation safety and mobility are secured and businesses can flourish for generations to come.”
Housing Inventory
O’Rourke:
“Rent in some Texas cities is rising faster than it is in even New York or Los Angeles, housing costs are rising four times faster than income, and property taxes have risen 40 percent since Governor Abbott took office. As governor, Beto will establish a state tax credit program to incentivize the development of more affordable homes and rental units—just as Republican governors have done in nearby states like Arizona, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. He’ll also work to lower property taxes by closing corporate tax loopholes, increasing the state’s share of school funding to bring down school property taxes, and bringing in new state revenue through commonsense, bipartisan ideas like legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, Abbott’s campaign website links to a detailed document on property tax policies.
Racism
O’Rourke:
No immediate response on Monday.
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday.
Criminal Justice Reform
O’Rourke:
No immediate response on Monday.
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, Abbott’s office has information on its website about the “Justice Programs Team.”
According to the website, the group’s mission is to “support law enforcement, improve the criminal justice system, and prevent and intervene in juvenile delinquency by filling system gaps and promoting innovative solutions to common challenges. In carrying out this mission, we are committed to helping our grantees by actively finding ways for them to accomplish their goals and by making sure that we have our eye on identifying the approaches that work best.”
Recapture
O’Rourke:
“Texas currently underfunds schools by $4,000 per student compared to the national average, leaving many districts to rely heavily on recapture funding. To better guarantee equity while moving away from recapture, Beto will work to bring school funding up to at least the national average in order to ensure the basic allotment accounts for the true cost of providing a quality education to Texas children and that the school funding formulas properly account for low-income, emergent bilingual, and other special student populations. We can fund this by finally making public education a priority in the biennial budget and bringing in new state revenue sources through commonsense, bipartisan ideas like legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, in 2019, Abbott tweeted Texas will “begin dismantling the flawed robin hood scheme that has failed our schools.”
Foster Care
O’Rourke:
“In 2015, a federal judge warned Governor Abbott that children were aging out of the Texas foster care system “more damaged than when they entered.” Seven years later, she said the system had gone “from bad to worse” under Abbott’s leadership. Since 2017, over 220 children have lost their lives in state care while hundreds more have been sexually abused and trafficked. As governor, Beto will increase transparency and accountability within Child Protective Services, including by ending the privatization of foster care facilities and accepting full responsibility for the children in state care. He will support efforts to recruit and retain more caseworkers, increase kinship placement reimbursements, and invest in preventive services like mental and behavioral health to prevent CPS intervention in the first place.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, in 2021, Abbott signed House Bill 5 to provide $90 million in foster care funding over the span of two years.
Joining Texans
O’Rourke:
“Throughout his career as a public servant, Beto has always focused on delivering for all Texans —Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. During his time in Congress and the El Paso City Council, he held town hall meetings every week to listen to the concerns of his constituents. It kept him focused on finding common ground—demonstrated by the fact that he ranked among the top fifth of all lawmakers who voted in a bipartisan manner. As governor, he will be able to deliver on solutions that bring the majority of us together because he has made the effort to meet Texans in each of this state’s 254 counties—far too many of which have never been visited by Governor Abbott in the 26 years that he has served in statewide office. That is in contrast to Greg Abbott who has ignored the will of the majority to sign the most extreme abortion ban in the nation with no exception for rape or incest, to allow the permitless carry of handguns without a background check or training, and to focus on dividing us and pitting us against one another instead of bringing us together around bipartisan issues like reducing the cost of living, investing in world-class schools, and expanding affordable health care.”
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday.
Homelessness
O’Rourke:
No immediate response on Monday.
Abbott:
No immediate response on Monday. However, Abbott signed House Bill 1925, banning camping in public areas.
O’Rourke’s border plan
O’Rourke:
No immediate response on Monday.
