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.

The General Context

Governor Abbott's Job Approval Numbers:

Direction of Texas:

Personal Economic Conditions:

The Emergency Items

Child Protective Services (here, here):

Sanctuary Cities:

Ethics Reform:

Constitutional Revision:

The Other Themes

Immigration/Border Security:

Hate Crime for Attacks on Police Officers:

Fetal Remains:

Pre-K:

Public Education, Vouchers, School Choice:

Taxes: