From Siena College:
Loudonville, NY. While only 22 percent of New Yorkers think the recently enacted state budget is either excellent or good for the people of the state, at least 71 percent agree that creating a $2.5 billion clean water infrastructure fund, increasing aid to local school districts by $1.1 billion, allowing ride sharing services to operate across the state, and making SUNY/CUNY tuition free for families making less than $125,000 will make New York better, according to a new Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released Monday.
President Donald Trump, with a negative 34-61 percent favorability rating (from negative 33-63 percent last month) and a negative 28-69 percent job performance rating (from negative 26-71 percent last month) gets mostly ‘D’s and ‘F’s from voters on a series of eight issues. By a 52-33 percent margin, voters say the state is headed on the track (up from 49-39 percent last month), and by a 51-36 percent margin, they say the country is headed in the wrong direction (down from 61-31 percent wrong direction last month).
“More than half of New Yorkers say they have read or head a great deal or at least some about the recently enacted state budget, and only 22 percent say it is an excellent or good budget for the people of the state, while 23 percent say it’s a poor budget,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. “Still, 42 percent say Governor Andrew Cuomo deserves an ‘A’ or ‘B’ for his budget work, while only 22 percent give him a ‘D’ or ‘F.’ Overall, voters give the Governor a solid ‘C+,’ or 2.2 GPA for effectiveness on this year’s budget.”
“While New Yorkers might not be keen on the total budget package – the first in Governor Cuomo’s tenure to be late by more than a week – they do like many of the headline items included in the budget,” Greenberg said.
“At least two-thirds of voters from every party and region think the $2.5 billion clean water infrastructure fund will make New York better. At least 71 percent of voters from every party and region think the increase in school aid will make New York better. At least 72 percent of voters from every party and region think that allowing ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft to operate across the state will make New York better,” Greenberg said.
“Although Republicans are closely divided, 82 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and at least 63 percent of voters from every region think free tuition at SUNY and CUNY for families making less than $125,000 will make New York better,” Greenberg said. “Voters were told that a requirement for receiving this benefit was that students must live and work in New York for at least the number of years they received the award.
“About two-thirds of Democrats and New York City voters think raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 will make New York better, as do a small majority of independents, downstate suburbanites and upstaters. By a 53-43 percent margin, Republicans disagree,” Greenberg said.
- See more at: https://www.siena.edu/news-events/article/while-state-budget-gets-mixed-reviews-strong-support-for-big-ticket-items-i#sthash.0iyCunCx.dpuf
