July 2008
We asked our Texas respondents a range of public policy questions about issues and problems the state faces. When given an open-ended question asking them to identify [feature]183|the most important issue facing Texas[/feature], 27% cited the economy 25% cited immigration. Seventeen percent gave gas prices and/or energy related responses.
Higher Education Funding
Recent tuition increases following tuition deregulation and the steady decline in legislative appropriations for public universities in Texas have caused considerable discussion among the public as well as the state's political leadership. Until now, little information has been gathered about what ordinary Texans think the government should do on this issue. Should the government increase the amount of state revenue devoted to making higher education affordable for Texas students? If so, should it do so for all students, or for only the most financially needy ones?
In order to gather data on higher education funding, respondents were asked: "What is your opinion concerning the amount of state revenue that should be used to make education at state colleges and universities more affordable for Texans?" [feature]178|As this chart illustrates[/feature], 57% of respondents, the largest number by far, called for increased funding "to make college education more affordable for all Texans." Fourteen percent supported increases targeting "only the most needy Texans," while 15% thought state funding should stay the same and 7% thought state funding should be decreased.
K-12 Education
Public education has been one of the enduring issues in Texas politics for decades. Though its importance declined in the open-ended responses, public school funding looms yet again as the legislature prepares to convene in January, 2009. When asked about [feature]177|the quality of K-12 public education in Texas[/feature], only 5% of respondents called it "excellent", though 42% said "good". Thirty-eight percent responded "not very good", with 11% judging quality terrible.
Voter Identification
In the 2007 legislative session, Republican legislators pushed for passage of a law requiring photo identification to vote in Texas. The legislation failed to pass but sparked tremendous controversy and media coverage. Numerous Democratic legislators argued that it would discourage minorities and the elderly from voting. Moreover, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has made fighting voter fraud a cornerstone of his tenure, thus attracting additional attention to the issue. In light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that laws requiring photo identification are constitutional, this issue will likely remain a hot topic in Texas politics.
This survey found strong positive responses to the question, "[feature]180|Do you support or oppose changing current state law to require registered voters to present government-issued photo identification before they are permitted to vote?[/feature]" Seventy percent of this weighted sample supported a voter ID requirement, with 52% strongly supporting the proposal. Only 19% expressed opposition, 13% strong opposition.
Redistricting
It has now been five years since the partisan redistricting battles of 2003 shook the Texas political system. Our survey asked respondents:
[feature]179|"As you may know, redistricting is the process in which the physical boundaries of voting districts are changed based on current Census figures. Would you favor or oppose a redistricting reform that requires an independent commission of citizens to set boundaries for voting districts, instead of the state legislature and governor drawing and enacting a new redistricting plan?"[/feature]
Given these choices, 45.5% of our sample favored an independent redistricting commission. and 19.5% opposed. Thirty-five percent, however, replied that they didn't know, suggesting a lack of familiarity with or attention to the issue.
