INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll

for the week of 28 July 2017

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

WhataretheoddsofablowupbetweentheHouseandSenatethatwouldendangerthesunsetlegislation?

•"Rightnowit'slikeagameofJenga,someoneisgoingtopushthewrongpieceanditisallgoingtotumbledown."

•"Thisoneisashall,notamay."

•"Don'taskme.AskDanPatrick."

•"Ablowupneedstohappen,butnotonsunsetlegislation."

•"Sunsetisdone.ItisallthatHAStobepassed.Thereisnoreasonforthegovernornottosignitnow!"

•"NOONEWANTSTOBEHERE."

•"Therehastobeachancethatcommonsensewillbreakout."

•"Let'sgohome."

•"Isthisarealquestion?Thingsarealreadyblowingup!"

•"IthinkabetterquestionwouldbethelikelihoodthattheHouseleadershipwilllosecontroloversomeoftheagendaastheydidontheimmigrationbillandthefearoftheprimarywill

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

allowsomeoftheSenateagendatoprevail.Topreventthatpossibility(likelihood)itseemsthatStrauswillhavetokeepthesubjectsoffthefloor.Buthewillhavepropertytaxonthefloor,andprobablyteacherpayincreaseofsomekind.AnotherlikelihoodquestioniswhethertheHouseleadershipstrategyof'justdon'tdoit'willcomebacktohitStraus(inparticular)hardIFherunsagain."

•"Noway.Theothermemberswouldbeatsenselesssomeonewhojeopardizedtheironetickethome."

•"Sunset&SineDie—evenJoeStrauswantstopassthatbill."

WhataretheoddsofablowupbetweentheHouseandSenatethatwouldendangerpropertytaxreformlegislation?

•"Itsurewon'thelp."

•"Don'taskme.AskPaulBettencourt."

•"TMLneedstobeexposed."

•"REFORM?IsthatwhatthoseSenateyahoosclaimtobedoing?”

•"Arollbackbilldoesn'thavethevotesinWays&Means."

•"Isthisarealquestion?Thingsarealreadyblowingup!"

•"Whocares?—Everythingtheyhavefiledismeaningless."

•"Buckleyourchinstrapsforthisone!"

Evaluatethefollowing:Asapolicymatter,tyingteacherpayraisestolotteryfundingisasmartmove…

•"Thelieisouttherenow.We'lltalkaboutthisfor20yearsandhowthelotterywassupposedtosaveteacherpay."

•"Lotterymoneyfluctuateswiththeeconomy.Wheneducationfundingwasfirsttiedtolotteryfundsandtheydidn'tperform,lessmoneywasputintheschoolsystem.Additionally,allofthelotteryfundsarealreadybeingspentandtheyflowintothePSF.Thisislikewatchingabadmagicianperformingatrickrightwhenthe

smokeclears,sothemirrorreflectsallthesecrets."

•"Budgetflimflammery."

•"Thebait-and-switchprogramknownastheTexasLotteryisadvertisedassupportingoureducationsystem.Thatis,atbest,ahalf-truth.So,whythehecknot?"

•"Aren'tlotterysalesdown?Ifthesalestrendisdownyearoveryear,doesthatmeanteachers'salarieswillbecutaccordingly?"

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

•"Doyouthinkitwiseforteacherstobecomelobbyistsforthelottery?"

•"ForcingLOCALschooldistrictstoattempttofindanextra$1,000foreveryteacheriscrazy.Thestateneedstoreformeducationfunding;fullyfundschoolsandTHENtheycangivearaise.ThisSHAMofthe'state'givinga$1,000raiseiscrazy."

•"Lotteryfundingisalreadycommittedtotheschools.Thispolicyprovidesnonewfunds,justtiesschooldistricthandsandmakesuninformedvotersfeeltheyhavedonesomethinggoodfortheirschools(theyhavenot)."

•"Teacherpayraisesshouldbetiedtoperformance(i.e.teacher'sactivities,professionaldevelopment,andstudentperformance/progress)."

•"ItwasalwaysmeantforGR."

•"Educationandlegalizedgamblingshouldn'tgohand-in-hand."

•"TalkaboutEnronaccounting—let'stakelotterymoneythatgoestopublicedandspenditonpubliced."

•"Dumb."

•"Isthisarealquestion?Thingsarealreadyblowingup!"

•"It'sjustanotherattempttododgefixingpubliceducationinTexas."

•"Butnotforreasonsmanywillcite.Thekeyissueisn'tthesource.Ratheritisthatteacherpayshouldbemoredifferentiatedonthebasisofeffectiveness—criteriathatarenotbeingdiscussedbyeitherside."

•"Weweretoldthelotterywastheanswertoschoolfunding.Thatwasalie,now,wasn'tit?Liar,liar,pantsonfire.Whenapoliticianmoveshislips..."

•"Irecusemyselffromthisquestion.Conflictofinterest."

•"ThoughtlotterywasalreadydedicatedtoPublicEducation?"

•"Retirement,maybe."

•"Agreatidea,andproofthatthelieutenantgovernorwilltryanythingtogetthejobdone."

•"RobbingPetertopayPaul!"

•"Burtonisacompletehypocrite."

Asapoliticalmatter,tyingteacherpayraisestolotteryfundingisasmartmove…

•"Teacherpayisalotlikeplayingthelotteryanyway,alotparticipatebutveryfewactuallywin."

•"Yes—itsmacksofaccountability.BoththegeneralpublicandtheGOP

primaryvoterwillappreciatethat.Thiswasapotofmoneymostfolksalwaysthoughtwassupposedtogotoeducationanyway."

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

•"Ofcourse,teachersandparentsvote.We'vespentyearsberatingadministrators,butwestillloveteachers.Smartmovepolitically."

•"Justanothermovetoshirkresponsibilitybyso-calleddecisionmakers."

•"Surelythatshiphassailedbynow."

•"Thispolicywouldmakeitseemslikethestatepolicymakers'care'forteacherstothevoterthathastovoteontheconstitutionalamendment."

•"The3RvotersinTexasareTOLDwhatis'politicallysmart.'Theydon'tgettomaketheirowndeterminationaboutsuchthings."

•"Smokeandmirrors"

•"ItworkedforAnnRichardsandshewasre-elected—um,ornot!"

•"Sure.Nooneunderstandsstatefinances,soyoucanpitchasnewmoney."

•"Isthisarealquestion?Thingsarealreadyblowingup!"

•"Ah,isn'titsadthatthesubstantiveand'political'answerssooftendifferthesedays."

•"Shittypolicy"

•"Sameasabove."

•"Foolmeonce,shameonyou...foolmetwice..."

•"Agreatidea,andproofthatthelieutenantgovernorwilltryanythingtogetthejobdone."

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 28 July 2017

Ourthankstothisweek'sparticipants:GeneAcuna,CathieAdams,BrandonAghamalian,ClydeAlexander,JayArnold,CharlesBailey,AndrewBiar,AllenBlakemore,TomBlanton,ChrisBritton,RaifCalvert,KerryCammack,JanisCarter,HaroldCook,KevinCooper,RandyCubriel,DeniseDavis,JuneDeadrick,GlennDeshields,TomDuffy,DavidDunn,JeffEller,JackErskine,JonFisher,TomForbes,DominicGiarratani,StephanieGibson,EricGlenn,KinnanGolemon,DanielGonzalez,JackGullahorn,ClintHackney,WayneHamilton,JenniferHarris,SteveHolzheauser,DeborahIngersoll,RichieJackson,MarkJones,RobertKepple,RichardKhouri,TomKleinworth,SandyKress,PeteLaney,BillLauderback,DickLavine,RubenLongoria,VilmaLuna,MattMackowiak,JasonMcElvaney,VinnyMinchillo,SteveMinick,BeeMoorhead,MikeMoses,ToddOlsen,GardnerPate,RobertPeeler,JerryPhilips,TomPhillips,WaynePierce,AllenPlace,GaryPolland,JayPritchard,JayPropes,DavidReynolds,CarlRichie,GrantRuckel,AndySansom,BarbaraSchlief,StanSchlueter,RobertScott,BenSebree,BradfordShields,NancySims,EdSmall,DennisSpeight,TomSpilman,JimSuydam,SherrySylvester,VickiTruitt,CorbinVanArsdale,ChrisWallace,WareWendell,DavidWhite,DarrenWhitehurst,MichaelWilliams,PeckYoung,AngeloZottarelli.