Austin. Gov. Greg Abbott named seven priorities in his State of the Union address Thursday that he wants the GOP-led legislature to speed up.

Unlike other bills, these items can now be voted off before the usual mid-March deadline.

Property tax relief

Abbott is calling on the Legislature to spend $15 billion on property tax relief, a proposal already written into House and Senate budget proposals.

COVID mandates

Abbott called on the Legislature to “permanently lift COVID-related restrictions” by banning government-issued shutdown orders, vaccine mandates and mask requirements related to the coronavirus.

He faced backlash from conservatives after he adopted some of these strategies early in the pandemic.

“Freedom of Education”

Abbott said all Texas students should have access to education savings accounts. The voucher-like initiative typically gives families government dollars to spend on private School or other educational expenses.

Abbott did not provide details on how he wants the program to work, how much students could receive, or what accountability measures would be taken.

School safety

Not to mention the gunfire massacre at Uvalde Elementary School last May, Abbott called for School Safety standards to be upheld, as well as more mental health professionals in schools.

Collateral policy

In singling out Harris County, Abbott complained about “activist judges” who he said were too lenient with some criminal defendants, which he said endangered the public. Legislators should add to the limits on judicial discretion that were passed in the last session, he said.

Border Security

Denouncing President Joe Biden’s “open borders policy”, Abbott called for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for smuggling undocumented immigrants. He approved another increase in government spending, to $4.6 billion for his Operation Lone Star over the next two years, from about $4 billion in the current cycle.

fentanyl death

Amid a string of deaths from fentanyl, Abbott wants them to be classified as poisonings and prosecuted as murders. He also urged lawmakers to make the overdose drug Narcan more accessible.