Most Important Problem for Legislature to Address (February 2019)

Most Important Problem for Legislature to Address (February 2019)

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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" 
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categoryTotal
Property taxes23%
Public school funding21%
Increasing teacher salaries13%
Mental health services11%
Emergency preparedness11%
School safety12%
Don't know/No opinion8%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Property taxes10%20%36%
Public school funding30%18%15%
Increasing teacher salaries17%7%11%
Mental health services16%12%7%
Emergency preparedness7%12%13%
School safety12%17%11%
Don't know/No opinion7%14%8%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
Property taxes9%12%9%
Public school funding37%17%32%
Increasing teacher salaries16%16%18%
Mental health services14%15%18%
Emergency preparedness7%15%4%
School safety13%15%11%
Don't know/No opinion4%10%7%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
Property taxes39%31%36%
Public school funding18%17%12%
Increasing teacher salaries11%14%9%
Mental health services5%9%7%
Emergency preparedness13%13%13%
School safety9%6%13%
Don't know/No opinion5%10%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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categoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
Property taxes9%19%36%
Public school funding32%20%15%
Increasing teacher salaries19%11%10%
Mental health services16%15%7%
Emergency preparedness5%12%13%
School safety13%10%12%
Don't know/No opinion6%12%8%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
Property taxes9%11%7%
Public school funding25%32%38%
Increasing teacher salaries20%21%16%
Mental health services5%15%24%
Emergency preparedness8%4%5%
School safety24%10%7%
Don't know/No opinion9%6%3%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Property taxes21%43%36%
Public school funding18%16%13%
Increasing teacher salaries15%9%9%
Mental health services9%6%6%
Emergency preparedness14%12%13%
School safety16%9%12%
Don't know/No opinion7%5%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Property taxes28%12%18%
Public school funding22%15%22%
Increasing teacher salaries13%10%17%
Mental health services10%22%9%
Emergency preparedness9%10%13%
School safety10%22%12%
Don't know/No opinion8%11%9%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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categoryMaleFemale
Property taxes29%18%
Public school funding21%22%
Increasing teacher salaries14%13%
Mental health services9%13%
Emergency preparedness10%11%
School safety12%13%
Don't know/No opinion6%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Community is based on the following question, "Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Property taxes17%27%23%
Public school funding21%23%18%
Increasing teacher salaries16%12%11%
Mental health services15%9%10%
Emergency preparedness9%9%16%
School safety13%12%11%
Don't know/No opinion8%8%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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category18-2930-4445-6465+
Property taxes10%19%27%33%
Public school funding25%19%21%22%
Increasing teacher salaries12%16%13%10%
Mental health services16%13%10%6%
Emergency preparedness17%6%11%9%
School safety13%17%8%13%
Don't know/No opinion6%9%9%8%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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categoryNo high schoolHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
Property taxes18%18%25%25%27%24%
Public school funding0%14%23%21%26%30%
Increasing teacher salaries12%15%12%14%11%15%
Mental health services27%11%10%10%12%8%
Emergency preparedness10%13%9%12%11%5%
School safety22%15%13%5%10%11%
Don't know/No opinion11%13%7%12%4%7%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Religiosity is calculated according to the IMPORT variable.
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categoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
Property taxes24%29%20%16%
Public school funding17%20%28%31%
Increasing teacher salaries12%12%13%18%
Mental health services11%10%14%13%
Emergency preparedness13%11%8%5%
School safety14%12%10%9%
Don't know/No opinion9%6%8%9%
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    Respondents were asked, "And which of the following is most important for the Legislature to address during the legislative session?" Fundamentalism is calculated according to the LITERAL variable.
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categoryThe Bible is the word of God, to be taken literallyThe Bible is the word of God, not to be taken literallyThe Bible is a book written by men
Property taxes25%27%18%
Public school funding13%20%34%
Increasing teacher salaries13%11%17%
Mental health services10%10%12%
Emergency preparedness15%11%4%
School safety14%14%7%
Don't know/No opinion9%7%7%

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