Amarillo Globe-News - Schools, Border Security Top Abbott's List

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By Jim McBride

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said that keeping the state's economic engines chugging, making Texas No. 1 in education and securing the Lone Star State's borders would be his first priorities if elected governor.

During a Wednesday visit to Amarillo, Abbott said Texas leads the nation in job creation and that, as governor, he would continue to ensure the state maintains that status.

Abbott, a Republican, faces state Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 gubernatorial race.

"We need to recreate the school system for the next generation, and that means inserting genuine improvements that will improve the literacy and numeracy skills of our students beginning at the pre-K level all the way up to the senior year in high school," he said.

"What I will push for as governor is to provide more funding for schools, but we need to understand just throwing more money at it isn't going to solve the problem."

If elected governor, Abbott said he would add 500 permanent Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and increase funding for border security. According to Abbott's policy plan, he recommends increasing DPS appropriations for border security by more than $286 million for the next biennium, buying an additional high-altitude aircraft to monitor the borders and adding 20 Texas Rangers to the state's Public Corruption Unit, among other proposed border security measures.

"I have a solid border security plan that secures not only the border but secures people all the way up to the Panhandle," he said. "The people of Texas will know with me as governor I will do what the federal government refuses to do: I will secure our border."

The attorney general said he also would work to improve the state's road network by building more roads without raising taxes, fees or tolls. Voters, too, will have a say on transportation improvements. Proposition 1 on the November ballot, if passed, would take a portion of revenue from oil and gas severance taxes and place it into the state's Economic Stabilization Fund -- commonly known as the rainy day fund -- to bolster transportation projects.

During a Tuesday debate with Davis, Abbott sparred over an audit of the Texas Enterprise Fund, created in 2003 to help attract new jobs and investments to the state. The report determined about $172 million was given to private companies that never submitted applications for economic development funding.

Abbott has taken fire for open records rulings from his office that blocked the release of documents involving those companies. Abbott said auditors found no wrongdoing by his office, and after Davis accused him of failing as a watchdog, he accused her of profiting from one of the awards, The Associated Press reported.

Davis' title company in Fort Worth closed a deal involving Enterprise funds for the outdoor retailer Cabela's. Davis said she was salaried and didn't receive extra profits based on individual deals, AP reported.

Abbott said Wednesday he has been critical of the fund and said the state needs to re-evaluate whether government has a role in picking winners and losers in the economic arena.

"If we do think, after further analysis, that we do have a role, one, the process should be much more transparent, two, it needs to have much greater controls on it, and, three, the state should never ever spend a single penny of taxpayer money unless we are certain the state taxpayers are going to get a return on their investment," he said.

House Speaker Joe Straus, in an interview this week, said he favors more oversight for the fund.

Abbott also outlined the key differences he has with Davis.

"She has repeatedly voted to increase taxes, she has voted for more regulations, she has voted for more spending, she has voted for gun restrictions," he said. "She has come out and said that she wants Obamacare so bad she would even use Obama-style executive orders to impose Obamacare on this state."

The Davis campaign did not respond to a phone call and an email Wednesday seeking comment on Abbott's remarks.

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