Abbott delivers ‘State of the State,’ prohibits press

Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave his State of the State Address in Hays County on Thursday. No Hays County news outlets — nor any press — were allowed inside the building.

In Texas, the State of the State Address is traditionally given every other year by the state’s governor, coinciding with the beginning of the state’s biennial legislative session. Governor Abbott continued that tradition on Thursday, Feb. 16, outlining his priorities for the 88th legislative session. However, this year’s event differed from the norm in two ways: it was not delivered in Austin and it did not allow journalists inside. It also initially requested that attendees sign a non-disclosure agreement, but that request was later rescinded.

The address took place at Noveon Magnetics, Inc., a manufacturing facility in San Marcos. Only invited guests and a Nexstar television news camera were allowed in the building, according to a spokesman from the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce. In addition to an online livestream, the event was broadcast on Nexstar’s news channels in larger cities across Texas and in Shreveport, LA. All other news outlets were told to gather at a staging area in downtown San Marcos for post-speech interviews, according to the chamber.

Additional information and pictures were distributed to news outlets after the event via a series of nine press releases, which included separate releases on each of Abbott’s seven “emergency items”: cutting property taxes, ending COVID-19 restrictions, establishing education freedom, improving school safety, ending “revolving door” bail, securing the border and fighting the fentanyl crisis.

According to the Texas Constitution, the House and Senate cannot pass legislation during the first 60 days of a regular session, which began this year on Jan. 10. However, if the governor declares the matter an emergency, lawmakers can immediately vote on bills related to those topics. This means that any of those seven emergency items can be voted on now, rather than waiting until mid-March.

Notably, this is not the first time Abbott strayed from the norm for his State of the State. In 2021, he delivered a televised address from a fiber technology business in Lockhart because of the concerns about large gatherings during the pandemic. Photographers were allowed access to the studio during the 2021 address.