On the front side of the push to get businesses back open is Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), who insists Texas is an integral part of the economic recovery.

In an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” on Monday, Abbott made that case.

“[L]isten, we want to open,” he said. “Texans love to work. Texans are dying to get back to work, and we want them to get back to work, but we had to do so in a very safe way so that we don’t regenerate the spread of the coronavirus in the state of Texas. But we are working on strategies as we speak with medical experts, with business leaders to find the right strategy so that we can unleash our economy. Remember this, Sean — Texas was the number one state in the United States for job creation last year. We’re leading in gross domestic product. Texas is essential for the future of the United States of America economically. America needs Texas to get back to business.”

Part of that process, according to the Texas governor, would be contingent on employing strategies that limit the virus’ spread.

“Here’s the deal, what we’ve learned over the past two months is there are certain strategies that have worked, because there have been some businesses that have been open, while at the same time, we’ve been reducing the spread of the coronavirus. So we need to learn from these strategies about what worked and allow other businesses to deploy those strategies while we are ensuring that we continue to slow the spread of the coronavirus.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor