Gov. Greg Abbott addressed lawmakers and Texans during his State of the State address Monday night, acknowledging the hardships and losses brought on Texas cities by the coronavirus pandemic. 

"Texans are returning to work," Abbott said. "Students are returning to school. Families are re-establishing routines. With each passing day of more vaccinations and increased immunity, normalcy is returning to Texas."

Hidalgo County Democratic Chair Norma Ramirez says the reopening was too soon. 

READ ALSO: Governor in state address: Texas on 'comeback' from pandemic  

"He proposed to open the schools in the midst of the highest of the pandemic, leaving our teachers, our administrators, our bus drivers, our security people, our meal prep people at risk," Ramirez said. 

As vaccines continue to roll out, Abbott pointed to success over the last eight weeks, pointing to the fact that Texas was the first state to vaccinate more than one million residents. 

Ramirez says more needs to be done to target minority groups who are disproportionately affected. 

"It's very important that he looks at the geographic and hit the spots that have the highest mortality rates," Ramirez said. 

READ ALSO: New law introduced to help identify remains of migrants  

Abbott also targeted the Biden administration, saying due to the government's open border policies, Texas must fortify its efforts to secure the border.

"The issue of borders is a little bit more difficult and needs to be addressed differently and more honestly," said Ramirez. 

Abbott also brought up several emergency items for the legislature to debate including broadband access, stopping police defunding, bail reform, protecting churches from closures, election integrity and civil liability for businesses during the pandemic.