Governor Greg Abbott’s Sunday night announcement came not from the State Capitol or a Texas small town, but from a backdrop overlooking the Houston skyline. “Let’s Roll,” the campaign banner read — a slogan built for a national audience, not for the communities that make this state work.
Abbott isn’t running for Governor anymore. He’s running for President.
His speech was full of applause lines for national conservative audiences: border security, “banning DEI,” “protecting girls’ sports,” and “the largest dayone schoolvoucherprogram.” He claimed Texas is now the “Top State for Education,” though the school finance crisis tells a different story. He bragged about “lowering property taxes,” and rolled out a new five-point plan that will choke the life out of local government.
When our elected officials stick around too long – it’ll make 16 years as Governor for Abbott – they become protective of what they’ve created. So make no mistake: Abbott’s fourth term is not about governing; it’s about legacy. Texas communities face growing water infrastructure needs, crumbling roads, the closure of rural hospitals, teacher shortages, struggling volunteer fire departments, and underfunded schools. Yet his announcement sounded more like a bid for national headlines.
Upgrade to paid Most concerning is Abbott’s “property tax reform” plan, an anti-localgovernment weapon. “Local governments are hiking your property taxes incessantly,” he said. “It’s time to drive a stake through the heart of the ability of local property tax hikes for good.”
His five-point plan would:
• Cap local spending growth at the lesser of population growth + inflation or 3.5%.
• Require a two-thirds vote for any tax increase.
• Allow rollback elections if 15% of registered voters petition.
• Limit appraisals to once every five years.
• Propose a constitutional amendment to eliminate school property taxes.
But on the ground, in a small town like the one we live in, this plan represents slow starvation. An arbitrary spending cap makes it nearly impossible for local leaders to cover annual costs driven not by overspending, but by inflation, insurance hikes, and the rising price of everything from asphalt to ambulance tires.
Our smaller and rural governments already don’t have “fat to cut.” Under Abbott’s plan, they’ll choose between fixing potholes and keeping police, between maintaining water systems and replacing fire gear. That’s not “cutting waste.” That’s cutting into the bone.
They’ve spent decades practicing conservative governing and fiscal responsibility. Cities and counties already operate under one of the most restrictive revenue caps in the nation. Abbott’s proposal goes even further — handcuffing every city council, school board, and county commission. It would take decisions away from the local level and consolidate them in Austin — the opposite of what real conservatives believe.
That’s why rural and smalltown voters have long supported local control — we prefer local decision-making over dictates from Austin. Abbott claims he’s protecting taxpayers, but what he’s really doing is stripping voters of their right to decide: to raise rates for schools, fix roads and bridges, or invest in community projects that make our towns livable.
In big cities, you can hide bad policy behind skyline photo-ops and talking points. In rural communities, you feel it the first time the streetlights stay broken, the volunteer fire truck won’t start, or the school can’t fill a teaching spot because funding was gutted for a campaign slogan.
Abbott said he’s “not bought by billionaires.” Yet billionaire money fueled his attacks on rural Republican lawmakers who opposed vouchers — the same plan that would funnel public money to private schools while rural districts struggle to stay open. You don’t amass a $100 million war chest without donors expecting something in return.
This fourth-term campaign is an audition for higher office, financed by people who see Texas as their testing ground.
Texas deserves a governor focused on Texas — not Fox News segments or presidential polls. Rural Texans aren’t asking for handouts or headlines. We’re asking for a government that trusts local people to make local decisions and funds the services that keep our communities safe and strong.
Abbott may be ready to “roll,” but rural Texas is the one getting rolled over.
— Suzanne Bellsnyder is the writer of Texas Rural Reporter and the editor of Hansford County Reporter-Statesman and Sherman County Gazette. She can be reached via email at texasruralreporter@substack.com.