Abbott, Hinojosa pitch dueling plans to address affordability

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott outlined his plans to address home and car insurance costs during a Wednesday campaign stop in Houston.

The policy proposals from the Republican governor come as he and his Nov. 3 general election opponent, Democratic State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, outline their proposals to save Texans money and address affordability while on the campaign trail.

During the Thursday stop, Abbott called for a roof fortification grant program, comparing the plan to roof-safeguarding programs that have been established in other states. An outline of the plan shared by Abbott's campaign proposes a $400 million program in which homeowners can receive up to $10,000 for roofs that can withstand wind and hail damage.

"Roofs that overwise would have been taken off or that would have been damaged are no longer damaged," Abbott said.

He added: "Those are roofs that after wind or after hail, they will no longer have claims to the insurance company. The reduction in claims means a reduction in the amount that the insurers will be increasing insurance by."

In Texas, most insurers cannot consider traffic violations when setting insurance rates, Abbott's campaign said. Abbott's plan will allow all auto insurers to consider good driving habits when setting premiums, so safe drivers would be rewarded with lower insurance costs.

"There are people with no accidents, no tickets, great driving records," Abbott said.

Abbott has stumped on the promise of property tax relief and empowering taxpayers. His plan includes limiting local government spending, two-thirds voter approval for property tax increases, a process for voters to roll back local property rates, and home appraisal reforms.

It would also let Texans vote on a constitutional amendment to eliminate school district property taxes for homeowners.

On Wednesday, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced that they had directed state agencies and higher education institutions to cut their base budget requests by 3% when preparing their funding requests for the coming Texas legislative session. The session begins Jan. 12.

Earlier in July, Hinojosa announced her plan to get money back in Texans' pockets in the form of refund checks.

"On Day One as governor, I will sign a proclamation declaring the high cost crisis an emergency in the state of Texas, and I will call on the Legislature to put on my desk a bill to send $1,500 to every Texas family," Hinojosa said in a July 14 Substack post, recapping the proposal she had recently launched on the campaign trail.

The checks would be funded using $17 billion from the state's Economic Stabilization Fund, also called the Rainy Day Fund — a pot of money reserved for uncertain times. The fund had $28.45 billion on June 30.

"Texans have lost trust in our government, and for good reason — Greg Abbott has hoarded our money while we struggle with the costs of healthcare, groceries, gas, and housing," Hinojosa said in a July 7 statement. "This proposal is about restoring that trust by putting money back in people's pockets, especially at a time when Texans are hurting."

Inflation and the economy are among the most important issues facing the state and the country for Texas voters, according to a June poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

More than half of Texas voters surveyed saw the national economy as being worse off than it was a year ago. Forty-six percent believe the state's economy is doing worse when compared to the year prior. Personally, 39% of respondents said they are worse off.

Those numbers changed considerably when broken down by political party, with Republicans having a more favorable view of the economy than Democrats.

The June poll put Abbott 7 points ahead of Hinojosa in the race for governor.