A new poll from the University of Houston indicates that more than two-thirds of Texans support legislation enacting Education Savings Accounts for students.

The UH poll was conducted between January 13-21 and surveyed 1,200 Texas adults. The poll asked participants about multiple legislative issues including school choice, tax exemptions, and border security.

According to the results, 67 percent of Texans said they support ESA legislation that would benefit all parents, while 31 percent strongly supported the legislative proposal. 

Additionally, 72 percent of Texans said they would support ESA legislation that would only benefit low-income parents, with 41 percent saying they would strongly support the proposal.

Furthermore, 70 percent of Latino Republicans said they support ESA’s benefiting all parents, along with 70 percent of white Republicans, 61 percent of Latino Democrats, and 66 percent of black Democrats supporting it. The demographic with the lowest level of support for ESA’s was white Democrats at 52 percent. 

Passing a school choice program, such as ESAs, is a top legislative priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

For border security legislation, 40 percent of Texans want the Texas government to spend more money in the next two years on border security than the state has spent during the previous four years. Meanwhile, 25 percent want the state to spend less, and 35 percent want to spend the same amount. 

Texas is expected to have a $24 billion budget surplus. Respondents were asked what they would like to see the money being used for, and 50 percent asked for property tax relief for homeowners. Other Texans said they would like to see the surplus used on government school teacher pay raises (40 percent) and expanded access to Medicaid (34 percent). 

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percent.

The 89th Legislative Session began this month and ends June 2.

Emily Medeiros

Emily graduated from the University of Oklahoma majoring in Journalism. She is excited to use her research and writing skills to report on important issues around Texas.

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