On a brisk, cloudy morning, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick were sworn in Tuesday to second terms leading the nation’s second-largest state. Amid the pomp and circumstance — the crowd flanked by bands from the state’s two flagship universities; an enormous Texas flag strewn over the north side of the Capitol building; a sea of onlookers, some in Stetson hats, turbans or baseball caps — leaders promised a stern, unified focus on bread-and-butter policy questions.
How can the state better fund an education system for its millions of public school students — while upping pay for hundreds of thousands of teachers? And will this be the year that Texas taxpayers get meaningful relief from a crushing property tax burden?