In his much-anticipated state of the state address before the legislature, Governor Abbott declared four emergency items. At the top of the list, as widely expected, he called the Legislature to work swiftly and comprehensively on addressing problems in child protective services and foster care. “Do it right!,” he exhorted them shortly before revealing it as his top emergency item. The Governor also declared banning Sanctuary cities, ethics reform, and a measure calling for a Convention of the states to consider constitutional amendments – one of his pet projects.
As is traditionally the case, the speech also included a shopping list of political declarations and policy positions on a wide range of subjects. Abbott called for measures to address the sexual assault of students by teachers, to classify violence against police as a hate crime, and criminalizing “the sale or donation of baby body parts.” He also defended the Texas Enterprise Fund, and in his only moment of direct criticism of the legislature, noted that both chambers’ budgets didn’t provide for sufficient accountability in pre-k funding. Other notable features of the speech included declaring a hiring freeze at all state agencies, calling for the elimination of the franchise tax, and expressing confidence that the budget could be balanced without using the rainy day fund. Abbott seemed to take both sides in the maneuvering between the House and the Senate on restructuring the state’s school finance system and creating a voucher system: he called both for action on school finance and lauded school choice, though without mentioning any specifics on the latter.
Below, find graphics for toplines and relevant crosstabs on many of the topics touched on in the Governor’s address, and here is a link to the Governor's just released budget proposal. We'll have more to write in drilling deeper into these issues in later posts.
Jump to: The General Context, The Emergency Items, The Other Themes. Full cross-tabs for all of the items can be accessed by clicking on the heading above the graphics.
Governor Abbott's Job Approval Numbers:
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 21% |
| Approve somewhat | 21% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 17% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 10% |
| Disapprove strongly | 23% |
| Don't know | 8% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 1% | 10% | 42% |
| Approve somewhat | 11% | 21% | 33% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 18% | 21% | 14% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 16% | 13% | 3% |
| Disapprove strongly | 46% | 26% | 2% |
| Don't know | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Right direction | 42% |
| Wrong track | 40% |
| Don't know | 17% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 26% | 26% | 61% |
| Wrong track | 58% | 49% | 23% |
| Don't know | 16% | 25% | 16% |
| category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right direction | 45% | 28% | 42% |
| Wrong track | 38% | 50% | 40% |
| Don't know | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| A lot better off | 5% |
| Somewhat better off | 22% |
| About the same | 44% |
| Somewhat worse off | 19% |
| A lot worse off | 8% |
| Don't know | 2% |
| category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| A lot better off | 4% | 10% | 5% |
| Somewhat better off | 18% | 37% | 25% |
| About the same | 44% | 37% | 47% |
| Somewhat worse off | 24% | 11% | 10% |
| A lot worse off | 9% | 4% | 9% |
| Don't know | 1% | 1% | 3% |
Child Protective Services (here, here):
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| A lot | 12% |
| Some | 33% |
| Not very much | 30% |
| Nothing at all | 25% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Favorable | 20% |
| Unfavorable | 36% |
| Don't know enough to have an opinion | 43% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Approve of sanctuary cities | 21% |
| Disapprove of sanctuary cities | 59% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 21% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve of sanctuary cities | 36% | 14% | 6% |
| Disapprove of sanctuary cities | 34% | 62% | 87% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 30% | 24% | 8% |
| category | Democrat | Republican | Tea Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve of sanctuary cities | 40% | 9% | 7% |
| Disapprove of sanctuary cities | 33% | 82% | 91% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 27% | 9% | 2% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Such a law is appropriate because it allows people to judge potential conflicts of interest | 58% |
| Such a law is an invasion of privacy that goes too far | 23% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 20% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Such a law is appropriate because it allows people to judge potential conflicts of interest | 65% | 48% | 52% |
| Such a law is an invasion of privacy that goes too far | 17% | 28% | 28% |
| Haven't thought about it enough to have an opinion | 18% | 24% | 20% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Held up well | 59% |
| Hold a new constitutional convention | 25% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 17% |
| category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Held up well | 59% | 43% | 72% |
| Hold a new constitutional convention | 29% | 30% | 18% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 12% | 27% | 9% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Immigration | 18% |
| Border security | 14% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 8% |
| Education | 7% |
| The economy | 6% |
| Unemployment/jobs | 4% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration | 4% | 19% | 31% |
| Border security | 3% | 13% | 25% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 16% | 7% | 1% |
| Education | 9% | 5% | 5% |
| The economy | 6% | 8% | 5% |
| Unemployment/jobs | 7% | 4% | 1% |
Hate Crime for Attacks on Police Officers:
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Very favorable | 27% |
| Somewhat favorable | 30% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 19% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 13% |
| Very unfavorable | 10% |
| Don't know/no opinion | 1% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 14% | 18% | 40% |
| Somewhat favorable | 26% | 33% | 33% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 23% | 21% | 14% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 19% | 10% | 9% |
| Very unfavorable | 16% | 16% | 3% |
| Don't know/no opinion | 1% | 2% | 0% |
Fetal Remains:
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro-life | 19% | 32% | 66% |
| Pro-choice | 63% | 40% | 23% |
| Neither | 10% | 25% | 8% |
| Don't know | 8% | 3% | 3% |
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 36% | 25% | 6% |
| Somewhat favorable | 26% | 19% | 7% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 19% | 14% | 10% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 8% | 6% | 12% |
| Very unfavorable | 6% | 26% | 63% |
| Don't know/no opinion | 5% | 10% | 2% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 34% |
| Somewhat support | 28% |
| Somewhat oppose | 16% |
| Strongly oppose | 14% |
| Don't know | 8% |
Public Education, Vouchers, School Choice:
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increasing the pay of public school teachers | 81% | 64% | 56% |
| Increasing opportunities for online learning | 69% | 68% | 65% |
| Reducing the number of standardized tests students must take | 69% | 51% | 61% |
| Allowing more localized control over curriculum and standards | 48% | 52% | 78% |
| Increasing funding for the public school system | 85% | 57% | 44% |
| Making it easier for charter schools to open and operate | 44% | 51% | 71% |
| Expanding state-funded, pre-kindergarten programs | 78% | 56% | 34% |
| Creating a school voucher program | 35% | 40% | 64% |
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Property tax dissatisfaction | 55% |
| Motor fuels tax dissatisfaction | 40% |
| Sales tax dissatisfaction | 34% |
| Sin taxes dissatisfaction | 34% |
| Business margins tax dissatisfaction | 32% |
| Democrat | Independent | Republican | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property tax dissatisfaction | 48% | 49% | 61% |
| Motor fuels tax dissatisfaction | 36% | 36% | 43% |
| Sales tax dissatisfaction | 31% | 36% | 35% |
| Sin taxes dissatisfaction | 28% | 40% | 35% |
| Business margins tax dissatisfaction | 30% | 29% | 32% |