Keyword: Greg Abbott

Second Reading Podcast: Why Abbott is buoyed by his border policies + Texas GOP responses to the latest Trump indictment

| By: Texas Politics Project

In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson and Josh Blank discuss the politics of Greg Abbott’s latest testing of the boundaries of support for his border policies, and look at the impact in Texas, or lack thereof, of the latest Trump indictments.

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Second Reading Podcast: The Paxton impeachment & assessments of the Texas Legislature in the June 2023 UT/Texas Politics Project Poll

| By: Texas Politics Project

In a new Second Reading Podcast, Jim Henson talks with fellow members of the Texas Politics Project Poll Daron Shaw and Joshua Blank about Texanss' attitudes toward the impeachment of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and how the Texas legislature has handled major issues, including grid reliabillity, school safety, property taxes, and more.

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New University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll finds little confidence in the legislature’s efforts to address key issues

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

After a regular legislative session that found lawmakers attempting to use a historic budget surplus to address major fiscal issues and infrastructure needs while also pushing some cultural hot buttons, the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll found Texas voters with low expectations of the impact of their actions, and dim views of the legislature’s responsiveness.

When asked in general terms about their confidence in legislative efforts to address areas deemed critical by voters in Texas Politics Project polling conducted earlier in the session, most Texas voters lacked confidence in lawmakers’ efforts. Fewer than one in five voters was willing to say they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ confident that the legislature had increased the reliability of the electric grid or the water supply, improved the safety of Texas’ public schools, or improved security along the Texas-Mexico border.

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Second Reading Podcast: Split-screen bill signings and the politics of the Trump indictment in Texas

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading Podcast, a look at the impact (or lack of it) of the Trump indictment and the Paxton impeachment on public opinion and politics in Texas.

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Second Reading Podcast: Patrick vs Abbott & Phelan...for now

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading Podcast, a look at how the failure to reach a consensus on a property tax plan during the regular session of the legislature has resulted in open conflict between Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Governor Greg Abbott.

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Second Reading Podcast: A brief sine die in the wake of the Paxton impeachment

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading Podcast, a conversation about the end of the regular session and the impeachment and pending trial of Ken Paxton.

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Second Reading Podcast: Vouchers, property taxes, and other things dividing Republicans in the Texas Legislature

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading Podcast: a look at what the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about the suprising movement of a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing some firearms from 18- to 21 years of age, and Gov. Abbott's latest actions on the US-Mexico border.

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A review of Texas immigration and border security attitudes as Title 42 ends and Republicans in the Texas Legislature hold the line on border security

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

With the flare-up of heated hostilities in the House over their version of a state border police proposal (which eventually passed in diluted form after the Speaker-endorsed HB 20 went down onto a point of order), and the renewed crisis underway at the border, we have compiled an updated set of results from the Texas Politics Project archive to illustrate patterns of public opinion on the subject in Texas – and how aggressive enforcement policies on the border align with the attitudes of Republican voters in Texas. 

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Second Reading Podcast: Guns & the border take center stage as the Texas Legislature enters its final weeks

| By: Texas Politics Project

In the latest Second Reading Podcast: a look at what the latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll tells us about the suprising movement of a bill that would raise the legal age for purchasing some firearms from 18- to 21 years of age, and Gov. Abbott's latest actions on the US-Mexico border.

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The needs of a growing Texas collide with reelection pressures as the Republican-led Legislature struggles to reach consensus

| By: Jim Henson and Joshua Blank

The latest University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll found a striking degree of aggregate, bi-partisan support for the more fundamental policy proposals that are currently mired in various parts of the legislative process. Texas voters expressed their strongest and most widespread support for legislative action in response to problems that have affected many Texans’ daily lives in recent years: reliable power in their homes and businesses, access to clean water, the safety of students and teachers in Texas schools, and relief from property taxes driven up by steep, consistent growth in real estate values.

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