AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Abbott is closing out the 88th legislative session with a flurry of vetoes as his battle against the Senate and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over property tax continues.
The Texas State Constitution grants the Governor 20 days after the end of a regular legislative session to veto bills passed by Congress. If not vetoed, those bills become laws.
As of Saturday night, Abbott has vetoed 47 bills.
According to the Texas Legislative Research Library, Abbott's personal record for most vetoes came in 2019 with 58 vetoes. But the statewide record is still held by former Gov. Rick Perry, who issued 83 vetoes during the 2001 legislative session. In fact, Perry vetoed 78 bills in a single day during that session.
Abbott vetoed two bills prior to the legislative session's end: SB 1615, which would have entered Texas into an interstate compact for cosmetology licensure, and HB 279, which he said was “largely duplicative” of a Senate bill that he signed.
The other vetoes began on Tuesday. A full list can be read below.
Abbott praised some legislative efforts that he vetoed, such as SB 2275, but disagreed with how the bill attempted its solution to a problem. That bill would have repealed what the Governor called "a sloppy subsection" of the Government Code. Abbott said in his proclamation that he hopes all three branches of government can work on a rewrite of the section in 2025.
Some bills, such as SB 813 and SB 1399, added "unneccessary" bureaucracy, Abbott said.
The property tax fight was directly cited by Abbott in more than half of his vetoes.
"While Senate Bill No. is important, it is simply not as important as cutting property taxes. At this time, the legislature must concentrate on delivering property tax cuts to Texans. This bill can be reconsidered at a future special session only after property tax relief is passed," said Abbott in his veto proclamations.
Patrick responded to the vetoes on Twitter Thursday:
"Gov. Abbott can’t have it both ways. He is telling the House and Senate to work together on property taxes while vetoing legislation that the House and Senate worked on together," Patrick tweeted.
