AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday held a ceremonial signing of historic property tax cut legislation that was passed by lawmakers last month.

Abbott officially signed the $18 billion package in July, sending the proposals to voters for their approval later this year.

Before signing the bills, Abbott spoke to the audience about the legislation, the process of getting it passed, and why he and some lawmakers pushed for it.

“There really is only one reason why we even had the ability to pass the legislation that we did, and that’s because of the hard-working men and women across every corner of the entire State of Texas.”

He also posted on social media Wednesday ahead of the ceremony that he was “proud to sign into law the largest property tax cut in Texas history. Over $18 BILLION will go back to Texans, providing property tax relief to homeowners, seniors, and small businesses,” the post read.

In another post, he said, “Texas has the fastest growing economy in the nation. The money from our state’s historic budget surplus belongs to hardworking Texans. We are giving that money back with the LARGEST property tax cut in Texas history.”

During the ceremony, Abbott touted Texas’ economy, saying the state is No. 1 in the U.S. for the most new jobs, No. 1 for record economic growth, and talked about the record amount of revenue in the state, which led to a record budget surplus, which led to the property tax cut package.

The package puts $12.6 billion of the state’s historic budget surplus toward making cuts to school taxes for all property owners, dropping property taxes an average of more than 40% for some 5.7 million Texas homeowners and offering brand-new tax savings for smaller businesses and other commercial and nonhomesteaded properties, the Texas Tribune reported.

Last month, Abbott added his signature to Senate Bill 2, the property tax cuts bill, and Senate Bill 3, a franchise tax relief bill, which Texas lawmakers passed after months of negotiations between the state’s top Republicans.