It's a peculiar mix.
But the Fort Worth Star-Telegram thinks there's little reason to expect the legislature to focus much on poverty this session.
State leaders like to brag about Texas' fast-growing economy and low unemployment, but rarely do they mention the high poverty rate and so far they don't appear inclined to pass any new laws to deal with it.
The unemployment rate and the creation of jobs are the statistics most often cited by Gov. Rick Perry to brag on Texas, and unemployment is among the lowest in the country at 6.2 percent. That's well below the national average of 7.7 percent.
Perry also uses the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Funds to encourage employers to relocate to Texas and create jobs in the state, adding hundreds of jobs every year.
Employment, though, is not the only measure of economic prosperity. There is the question of quality of life.
The number of Texans living in poverty rose for a third consecutive year in 2011, adding more than 214,000 people to total 4.6 million. That's 18.5 percent of the population, 3 percent higher than the nation as a whole, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By comparison, New Hampshire had the lowest proportion of people living in poverty, with 8.8 percent, and Mississippi the highest, 22.6 percent.
If anything, Governor Perry wants to make it harder for the poor to collect benefits. He's supporting legislation that requires drug testing for welfare recipients and intends to retain the cuts in education spending enacted in the 82nd session of the legislature.
