Texas Governor Greg Abbott has spent about $1.4 million in taxpayer dollars this term to pay for security during domestic and international trips, the Dallas Morning News reported on Monday.
As of the end of May, the second-term governor has spent around $1.36 million on security since his 2018 reelection, putting him roughly on pace with security spending recorded during his first term in office. Delays in reporting obscure whether or not Abbott will spend as much during his current term as he did during his first four years as governor ($1.36 million).
According to the Dallas Morning News' report, if the Republican governor continues his current security spending rate he likely will end up shelling out $1.59 million for the current term. Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson told the Morning News that he thinks Texas needs to reassess how much it sepnds on security details for the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
“It’s not that there are no examples of assassination attempts or assaults… but the idea of multi-person, dedicated security details is quite likely more than is actually needed," Jillson said. According to the Dallas Morning News, it's still unclear the amount of public funds that have been spent on security for Abbott's wife, Texas first lady Cecilia Abbott. In September Cecelia Abbott was joined by a security detail for a four-day business development trip with stops in England, France and Germany.
In terms of security, the most expensive journey on Abbott's second-term travel logs was a trip to Hawaii in 2019, which the Dallas Morning News reports as a "suspected" family vacation for the governor. The cost for the trip to Wailea, Hawaii amounted to $107,551 in payments for Abbott's detail.
“The Governor of Texas remains the Governor no matter where he is," a spokesperson for Abbott said in an email Monday. "The Texas Department of Public Safety, which provides security detail for the Governor of Texas and other Texas officials, determines the security requirements and protection detail for any officials’ events or travel, like previous Texas governors. Any non-emergency related travel by the Governor or First Lady are not paid for by Texas taxpayers, and all personal travel is paid for by the Abbotts themselves,” the spokesperson added.