Commentary roundup: What newspapers around the state are saying

San Antonio Express-News

Jan. 18 editorial, "A new term, but all-too familiar talking points."

Using lyrics from “Texas, Our Texas” as a guide, Abbott, who won decisively over Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke in November, spoke of Texas exceptionalism and laid out his vision for the state in comments that lasted nearly 25 minutes.

Beginning with business, he called Texas “America’s undisputed economic leader” and the nation’s “headquarters of headquarters” when it comes to Fortune 500 companies.

After praising the state’s job growth, small businesses, economic development, opportunity and innovation, Abbott said he’ll return much of a record $33 billion budget surplus to property owners, pledging “the largest property tax cut in the history of the state.”

“But make no mistake, that money does not belong to the government,” Abbott said. “It belongs to the taxpayers. We will use that budget surplus to provide the largest property tax cut in the history of the state of Texas.”

We agree that some of the surplus should be dedicated to property tax relief. But let’s also remember that property taxes have skyrocketed under this administration. In this regard, Abbott, Paxton and others have failed to provide permanent education funding or bring transparency to commercial property values. Beyond this, some of the surplus should be dedicated to fund education, rural broadband, roads and other pressing state needs.

— San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board

Houston Chronicle

Jan. 20 editorial, "Why would Texas lawmakers give indicted AG Paxton more power?"

On this January day in the year 2023, we can confidently report that the city council of Inverness, Scotland, is not launching a flotilla of sonar-equipped boats on nearby Loch Ness, despite a timeless rumor that a mysterious long-necked “monster” has made its home for eons in the lake’s 800-foot depths.

Closer to home, we also can report that the Hardin County Commissioners Court is not launching an investigation into whether the occasional sighting of massive footprints, hair fibers and scat in the deep, dark woods between Sour Lake and Beaumont is proof that “Big Foot” – aka “the raggedy man of Sour Lake” – is actually an indigenous East Texan. Both county commissioners and Inverness city council members have better things to do.

To call his quest quixotic is an insult to Don Quixote. Unlike Cervantes’ misguided hero, (Texas Attorney General Ken) Paxton surely knows the truth. He keeps up the pretense, though, in pathetic imitation of another Don, a former president whose incessant blatherings about stolen elections keep the MAGA faithful in high dudgeon more than two years after their hero was soundly defeated in a fair election. In Texas and in other fervid red states, the groundless election-fraud claim, as Jonathan Lemire puts it in his recent book “The Big Lie,” has “metastasized” from a campaign cris de coeur into the “cold, methodical process of legislation.”

In Paxton’s case, the foolish quest also diverts attention from another type of fraud. Almost since the day he took office eight years ago, our state’s top law enforcement officer has been under indictment for felony securities fraud, so far without having to face a judge and jury. He’s also under FBI investigation for alleged shenanigans in his office and is being sued by the State Bar of Texas for professional misconduct for filing a ridiculous lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 2020 presidential election. This is the man who would presume to monitor how his fellow Texans carry out the basic work of democracy?

As the Texas Legislature gets down to work this session, a couple of North Texas Sancho Panzas (again, apologies to Sancho Panza) are sponsoring bills that would endow Paxton with more power to prosecute election crimes. House Bill 678, sponsored by state Rep. Keith Bell, R-Forney, would allow the AG to appoint a county or district attorney from an adjacent county to come in and serve as a special prosecutor in an alleged election-crime case. House Bill 125, sponsored by state Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, would allow the AG to seek a court-ordered injunction to prevent a local prosecutor from “limiting election law enforcement.”

— Houston Chronicle Editorial Board

Dallas Morning News

Jan. 18 editorial, "Abbott’s disaster declaration threatens civil liberties."

Going on for three years now, even as he has declared Texas “open for business,” the governor has been issuing executive orders saying that “COVID-19 poses an imminent threat of disaster for all counties in the state of Texas.” He did it again last month and announced that he intends to keep doing so.

“I intend to keep these executive orders and suspensions in place until the Legislature can enact laws this session to prohibit local governments from imposing restrictions like mask mandates and vaccine mandates,” the proclamation read.

Let’s hope the Legislature doesn’t. One of the disaster declarations (Gov. Greg) Abbott keeps renewing has nothing to do with masks or immunizations and directly conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial. And it’s because of that amendment that Texas has a law guaranteeing arrestees that the state will drop their bail if prosecutors are not ready to try their cases within a certain number of days or months, depending on the offense. In the height of the pandemic, with courts and law offices shuttered, Abbott issued GA-13 to suspend that law and ensure “that alleged violent criminals are not released en masse.”

It was an understandable precaution in 2020. But the threat of counties throwing open the jail doors is long gone now. The more imminent threat is permanently surrendering civil liberties that were temporarily seized by the governor during an emergency.

In a telling phrase, Abbott’s declaration proclaims: “Renewing the disaster declaration in no way infringes on the rights or liberties of any law-abiding Texans.” That assumes that every Texan sitting in jail right now is guilty, and the record shows that this is not always the case.

— Dallas Morning News Editorial Board

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Jan. 19 editorial, "Lt. Gov. Patrick leaps to support Trump. He should focus on Texas and governing instead."

A day before he stood beside Gov. Greg Abbott and swore an oath to Texas for the next four years, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted his political obedience and full endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

With the Legislature getting its session under way, thinking ahead a year or more to presidential politics seems like a distraction, unless your goal is to appear adoring to the 45th president. Otherwise, the timing and tone seem way off.

This full-throated endorsement is out of line with the rest of Patrick’s party — a new poll shows Texas Republicans prefer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Trump for the 2024 presidential run. It’s also disconnected from what seems politically astute and definitely way out of line when it comes to what’s the next, right step for the GOP nomination.

Trump accomplished a few good things while in office, but when he lost the 2020 election, that’s when things went off the rails, as we’ve detailed in these pages several times. Trump refused to participate in the peaceful transfer of power, refused to reprimand rioters acting in his name and, some would argue, encouraged radical right-wing factions to storm the Capitol in a bizarre attempt to overtake it, or at least, create chaos.

Since then, Trump has refused to concede the 2020 election, and for the last two years, has communicated lengthy rants from his PAC website and Truth Social platform. His diatribes made a 12-year-old boy sound articulate and mature, and many now appear to be deleted.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin American-Statesman Commentary Roundup: Jan. 22, 2023