2013 Texas Lyceum Poll Executive Summary of Issue Priorities, Attitudes on Transportation, ater, Infrastructure, Education, and !

ealt" #are

It may be the economy for the country, but its education here in Texas. We want to do more on roads, water, education, and health care, but are skeptical about big government projects. A September 6-20, 2013 survey of adult Texans reveals that while the e onomy still tops the list of problems fa in! the nation, edu ation has rept to the head of the lass when it omes to issues fa in! the state" #ith respe t to spe ifi publi poli y attitudes, the poll shows substantial ambivalen e amon!st the state$s iti%ens" &one Star residents are split on the 'uality of roads, for example, but a ma(ority favors spendin! on transportation infrastru ture even if it means in reased taxes" Similarly, a sli!ht plurality favors the onstitutional amendment allowin! money from the )ainy *ay +und to be used for water infrastru ture" ,n the other side of the led!er, opposition to the Affordable -are A t remains substantial, and most Texans were happy to see the !overnment-mandated TA.S/STAA) tests si!nifi antly redu ed"

Summary of $indin%s
ost Important !roblem Amon! Texans, the e onomy remains the most important problem fa in! the ountry" +ully 301 of respondents indi ated that either the e onomy 22013 or unemployment/(obs 21013 were the bi!!est problem fa in! the 4"S" The se ond bi!!est problem a ordin! to Texans, Syria 21013, refle ts the urrent situation in the 5iddle 6ast and the broader dis ussion !oin! on in the ountry about the potential for intervention" The top 0 issues were rounded out by health are 2713 and politi al orruption/leadership 2613" At the state level, 6du ation topped the list as the most important problem at 131" 8mmi!ration was tied for se ond with the e onomy at 111, followed by unemployment/(obs 2713, and finally health are 2913" #hereas re ent Texas &y eum :olls have hi!hli!hted parti ular issues of the moment 2e"!", 331 of respondents said edu ation was the most important problem fa in! the state in 2011, while in 2010 immi!ration !ot the plurality of the responses, and in 2007, it was the e onomy3, the 2013 poll refle ts broad attention to these issues of years past, with parti ular attention to the plethora of issues in the
Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()

media; the e onomy, Syria, potential politi al orruption, and the rollout of the Affordable -are A t"

Transportation #hile mu h le!islative attention was paid to water this session, it is !enerally expe ted that the next ma(or infrastru ture issue to ta<e hold of Texas politi s will be transportation" &oo<in! ahead, we as<ed a battery of 'uestions meant to assess Texans$ attitudes towards the urrent transportation system and their willin!ness to fix it" ,verall, =21 of Texans said that they were satisfied with the 'uality of roads and hi!hways in Texas ompared with =01 who said that they were unsatisfied" #hile in !eneral, Texans appear to be somewhat ambivalent about the 'uality of the roads in the state, dissatisfa tion appears to lo!i ally de rease as one moves from an urban to a suburban, small town, and then rural environment > potentially refle tin! the possibility that dissatisfa tion is tied more to on!estion than to a ess"

?iven the li<elihood that transportation fundin! will be a ontinuin! issue in 201= and espe ially 2010, we as<ed respondents how willin! they would be to pay more in taxes or fees to fund a ran!e of transportation ideas" #e found that Texans would be most willin! to pay more in taxes and fees to repair and improve already existin! roads, hi!hways, and brid!es" The next most popular idea was to add lanes to existin! hi!hways and roads" To!ether, favorability toward these two ideas shows a mar<ed willin!ness to improve the already existin! road and hi!hway system" The next two ideas, buildin! li!ht or ommuter rail between ities and buildin! new roadways, also a hieved ma(ority support at 031 and 021 respe tively" The only idea that a ma(ority of Texans would not be willin! to pay more to fund was one that would add more bus routes or in rease servi e > a refle tion of Texas$ automobileentri ulture"

+inally, we as<ed our respondents what they per eived to be the bi!!est threat to their safety while drivin!" )esponse options in luded; other drivers textin!, drun< drivers, traffi on!estion, youn!er drivers, older drivers, ommer ial tru <s and trailers, the 'uality of the roads and hi!hways, bi y lists, and pedestrians" The overwhelmin! plurality, =21, hose other drivers textin! as the bi!!est threat to their safety, followed by drun< drivers 22913, traffi on!estion 21013, youn!er drivers and ommer ial tru <s and trailers 2both @13, 21 ea h for the 'uality of roads and hi!hways and older drivers, and 11 for bi y lists" Ao one per eived pedestrians as a threat to their safety"
Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()

Water

#ith the onstitutional ele tion approa hin!, we wanted to as< respondents whether they would vote in favor of or a!ainst the onstitutional amendment that would ta<e B2 billion from the )ainy *ay +und and put it toward water infrastru ture pro(e ts" Amon! re!istered voters, we found a sli!ht plurality in favor of the measure, ==1, with =21 in opposition" Cut results li<e this should be ta<en with aution, as onstitutional amendment ele tions are notorious for their low turnout 2in Aovember 2011, turnout amon! re!istered voters was below 613" .eepin! this in mind, when loo<in! at potential Dli<ely voters$ > still a lar!e !roup in the survey ontext > =71 said that they would vote in favor of the measure, while opposition dropped to 361" #ducation #hen it omes to edu ation in Texas, the ma(ority of respondents 20313 expressed the opinion that individual families are those most responsible for ensurin! the edu ation of their hildren" 6i!hteen per ent expressed the opinion that the responsibility should fall to the state !overnment, followed by 131 who felt it was the responsibility of lo al !overnment, and 121 who believed that the responsibility was that of the national !overnment" ?iven that in 2013 the Texas &e!islature restored some of the uts made to publi edu ation in 2011, we as<ed respondents where they felt that money should !o" A fo us on tea hers was learly evident, as 001 of respondents said that the restored funds should either !o toward in reased tea her pay 23113 or toward the hirin! of additional tea hers 22=13" Similar to last year$s poll, distri t administrators fared the worst, with less than one-half of 11 expressin! support for in reasin! their pay"

Another area that the &e!islature ta <led this session in luded redu in! the number of tests re'uired to !raduate from the Texas publi s hool system from 10 to 0" #e as<ed respondents how they felt about this han!e !ivin! them a ran!e of options" ,verall, 1=1 a!reed with the notion that Ethe le!islature should have left it aloneF standards matter and 10 tests was fineGF 191 felt that EThe le!islature did the ri!ht thin!F standards are fine but 10 was too manyGF 201 felt that EThe le!islature should have eliminated these tests be ause they for e the s hools to Dtea h to the test$GF and 311 thou!ht that EThe le!islature should have eliminated these tests and left evaluation to lo al (urisdi tions"G *ffordable +are *ct #ith the health insuran e ex han!es established under the Affordable -are A t openin! up this +ebruary, we wanted to assess Texans$ attitudes toward the law in the run up to implementation" ,verall, 361 of Texans have a favorable opinion of
Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()

the law ompared with =11 with an unfavorable opinion" *emo rats are overwhelmin!ly favorable to the law at 6=1, while 691 of )epubli ans have an unfavorable opinion of the law"

Another, mu h publi i%ed, aspe t of the Affordable -are A t is its provision to expand 5edi aid in the states" ?overnor )i < :erry is one of the few remainin! holdouts of the 5edi aid expansion" #hen as<ed whether Texas should ta<e the opportunity to expand 5edi aid or <eep it as it urrently is, =71 of Texans expressed a preferen e to <eep 5edi aid in its urrent form while =11 supported expandin! it" )epubli ans are most opposed, only 201 of whom thin< that 5edi aid should be expanded" *emo rats are most supportive of 5edi aid expansion 26213"

+inally, amon! those who indi ated on a previous 'uestion that they did not urrently have health insuran e, we as<ed them how li<ely they would be to pur hase insuran e in the insuran e ex han!es urrently bein! established" +iftyseven per ent said that they would be very or somewhat li<ely to pur hase insuran e throu!h the ex han!es while 361 said that they would be not very or not at all li<ely to do the same"

Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()

&et"odolo%y +rom September 6-20, 2013, The Texas &y eum ondu ted a statewide telephone survey of adult iti%ens" The survey utili%ed a stratified probability sample desi!n, with respondents bein! randomly sele ted at the level of the household" The survey also employed a randomi%ed ell phone supplement, with approximately 371 of ompleted interviews bein! ondu ted amon! ell phone only or ell phone dominant households" A Spanish-lan!ua!e instrument was developed and bilin!ual interviewers offered respondents a han e to parti ipate in 6n!lish or Spanish" ,n avera!e, respondents ompleted the interview in 17 minutes" Approximately 6,100 re ords were drawn to yield 1,000 ompleted interviews" The final data set is wei!hted by ra e/ethni ity, a!e and !ender to a hieve representativeness as defined by the Texas spe ifi ations from the 2010 -urrent :opulation Study" The overall mar!in of error for the poll is H/- 3"1 per enta!e points" The !eneral ele tion ballot 'uestions were as<ed of the survey$s 97@ re!istered voters 2mar!in of error is H/- 3"=9 per enta!e points3" The )epubli an primary ballot 'uestions were as<ed of the 297 re!istered voters who said that they intended to vote in next 5ar h$s ?,: primary ele tion 2mar!in of error is 0"@9 per enta!e points3"

Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()

T"e Texas Lyceum The Texas &y eum has ommitted to annual probability samples of the state of Texas to bolster its understandin! of publi opinion on ru ial poli y issues" The professional rationale for the Texas &y eum :oll is strai!htforward; a non-partisan, hi!h 'uality, s ientifi survey desi!ned to provide 213 spe ifi data points on issues of interest, and 223 a time series of <ey demo!raphi s, attitudes, and opinions" Towards this end, the trademar< of the Texas &y eum :oll is transparen y" Top-line and detailed ross-tabular results of ea h poll will be made available on the Texas &y eum website at '''(texaslyceum(or%( The Texas &y eum, now 33 years stron!, is a non-profit, non-partisan statewide leadership or!ani%ation fo used on identifyin! the next !eneration of Texas leaders" The Texas &y eum onsists of 76 men and women from throu!hout the state" *ire tors be!in their servi e while under the a!e of =6 and have demonstrated leadership in their ommunity and profession, to!ether with a deep ommitment to Texas" The Texas &y eum a ts as a atalyst to brin! to!ether diverse opinions and expertise to fo us on national and state issues, and see<s to emphasi%e onstru tive private se tor, publi se tor, and individual responses to the issues" To a omplish these purposes, the &y eum ondu ts periodi publi forums, publishes the &y eum Journal, ommissions The Texas &y eum :oll, and onvenes pro!rams for the *ire tors to explore and dis uss <ey e onomi and so ial issues of the state and nation"

Texas "yceum !oll #xecutive $ummary %ctober &'()