Poll reveals what Texans find important for session
Most Texas voters don’t think it’s important for the Texas Legislature to regulate transgender access to public restrooms or that it would be wise to reopen the U.S. Constitution for amending at a Convention of States, according to a new University of Texas/ Texas Tribune poll.
The results suggest that, on those issues, the public lacks the sense of urgency that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick brings to his crusade to enact Senate Bill 6, overturning local ordinances that allow transgender people to use the bathroom that conforms with their gender identity, or that led Gov. Greg Abbott to include a call for a Convention of States as one of the four emergency legislative items he named in his State of the State Address.
But the poll found support for a second and more high-profile Abbott emergency item — banning sanctuary cities — and strong support for President Donald Trump’s efforts to block the arrival of Syrian refugees and immigra-
tion from select Muslim-majority nations that the U.S. government considers dangerous or unstable regimes.
Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, which conducts the poll, said both the bathroom and constitutional convention issues are complicated for voters to sort out.
Many Texans might go their whole lives without encountering someone they know is transgender, and the issue as described by Patrick is really not about transgender people, but men using that cover to enter whatever restroom they choose for nefarious purposes.
The issue also raises questions of government regulation and at what level of government any sort of regulation might be most appropriate.
Transgender bathrooms
On bathrooms, the internet survey of 1,200 registered voters, conducted Feb. 3-10, found that 54 percent of Texans believe that transgender individuals should use the public restroom of their birth gender, and 31 percent think they should use the bathroom that fits their current gender identity. But 51 percent of Texans also did not think it is important that the Texas Legislature deal with the matter. Thirty-nine percent thought it was important.
Henson said that means it’s an issue on which Patrick and his allies can get credit from like-minded voters, even if they don’t ultimately succeed. The risk, he said, is if it appears to those voters who don’t think it is important that their representatives are neglecting more vital issues.
Convention of States
On the Convention of States, under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, twothirds of the state legislatures can call for a convention at which the Constitution could undergo some rewriting. Abbott wants Texas to join that call, with an eye to amending the Constitution to restore state power, impose a balanced budget requirement and put term limits on Congress.
But that requires opening the Constitution to surgery, and most Texans, according to the poll, prefer to leave well enough alone. Henson said the question was asked two different ways, and either way, between 18 percent and 27 percent of respondents wanted a constitutional convention.
Further complicating the issue for Abbott and his allies: The poll found that Democrats, who might have other ideas about how they want to amend the Constitution, are more favorably disposed to the idea of convening a convention than Republicans.
Sanctuary cities
The poll also found that half of all Texans oppose, and 37 percent support, so-called sanctuary cities — localities where police don’t necessarily turn over to federal immigration authorities all immigrants they arrest whose status as legal residents is in question.
Seventy-one percent of Republicans strongly oppose sanctuary cities, while 41 percent of Democrats strongly support them. Sixty-one percent of Anglo voters oppose them, and 53 percent of Hispanic Texans support them.
But nearly half of Texans continue to support the law that permits unauthorized immigrants who graduated from Texas high schools, have lived in the state for at least three years and have applied for U.S. citizenship to pay in-state tuition at state universities, though 57 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of tea party Republicans think otherwise.
Immigrant ban
On banning Syrian refugees, 54 percent of the respondents approve, including 82 percent of Republicans, while 69 percent of Democrats are opposed.
Fifty-six percent of those polled — including 88 percent of Republicans — back Trump’s effort to block entry into the country of people traveling from the seven nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — identified in an executive order by Trump that is now being held up by the courts. Thirty-eight percent are opposed to the travel ban, including 71 percent of Democrats.
By a narrow margin, Texans oppose an outright ban on Muslims entering the United States who are not citizens, but it is an idea that finds favor with 67 percent of Republicans. Only 19 percent of Democrats agree.
On Obamacare, 52 percent of Texans want to see it repealed. Of those who support repeal, two-thirds would like it to be replaced with something else, while 30 percent would simply repeal it and not replace it.
Meanwhile, most Texans think marijuana should be legal in some cases, and a majority of Texans think it should be legal in all cases, according to the survey.