Voters Strongly Say Permanent Property Tax Cap & Plastic Bag Ban Are Good for NY; Banning Release of Mug Shots Is Bad

Overwhelming Opposition to Increased Salary for Governor and the Public Campaign Finance Plan Included in the Budget

Over Last 5 Years, Voters Say NYS’s Fiscal Condition Has Worsened (38-19%) & It’s Harder for Businesses to Succeed in NYS (51-11%)

Press Release Crosstabs

Loudonville, NY. Looking at several proposals included in the recently enacted state budget, a strong majority of New Yorkers think the permanent property tax cap (64-22 percent), the ban on plastic bags (62-33 percent) and the elimination of cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies (55-38 percent) will be good for New York. A strong majority think the banning of the release of mug shots (58-31 percent) will be bad for New York. Congestion pricing and requiring all online retailers to collect sales tax got mixed reviews, according to a new Siena College poll of New York State registered voters released today.

By a nearly two-to-one margin (32-62 percent), voters oppose the Legislature increasing the Governor’s salary and by nearly three-to-one (23-63 percent), they oppose the public campaign finance plan included in the budget. There was little change in voters’ attitude toward Governor Andrew Cuomo this month compared to last month.

“When it comes to the recently passed budget, voters give it mixed reviews. Overall, 39 percent think the budget will be good for New York and 35 percent think it will be bad for the state. Democrats think it will be good by a two-to-one margin and Republicans think it will be bad by more than two-to-one, with independents closely divided,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

“By strong bi-partisan margins, New Yorkers say making the property tax cap permanent and banning plastic bags will be good for New York. Both proposals also have strong support from voters in every region of the state,” Greenberg said. “Eliminating bail for the vast majority of those arrested is seen as good for the state, with two-to-one support among Democrats and New York City voters. It has strong support with independents and majority support from voters upstate and in the downstate suburbs. A majority of Republicans think it will be bad for the state. About two-thirds of black and Latino voters say it will be good, as do a majority of white voters.”

“Two new laws included in the budget get mixed reviews. A narrow plurality of voters thinks both congestion pricing and requiring all online retailers to collect sales tax will be bad for New York. Democrats think both will be good for the state, while Republicans and independents think both will be bad,” Greenberg said.

“Voters from every party and every region – as well as 58 percent of whites, 63 percent of blacks and 65 percent of Latinos – agree that banning the release of mugshots will be bad for New York,” Greenberg said.

Strong Opposition to Pay Raise for Gov & For New Public Campaign Finance Plan

“Three-quarters of Republicans, two-thirds of independents and a clear majority of Democrats oppose the recent action by the Legislature to increase the salary for the Governor. It is opposed by 55 percent from New York City, 64 percent from the downstate suburbs and 69 percent of upstaters,” Greenberg said.

“The public campaign finance scheme in the budget gets a strong thumbs down from the voters,” Greenberg said. “A majority of Democrats, more than two-thirds of independents and more than three-quarters of Republicans are opposed. While self-identified liberals are closely divided, moderates and conservatives are overwhelmingly opposed, as are big majorities of men and women, young and old, and black, white and Latino voters.”

Dems Strongly Support Single-Payer Health Insurance; Independents Oppose; Reps Strongly Oppose

“There is little change in voters’ attitudes on vaccinations and recreational marijuana in the last month. Voters still oppose licenses for undocumented immigrants, although opposition is down from 61 percent to 55 percent,” Greenberg said. “On single-payer health care, New Yorkers are divided. Two-thirds of Democrats support it, a majority of independents oppose it, and more than two-thirds of Republicans are opposed.”

Voters Say State’s Fiscal Condition Worsened Over Last Five Years; Harder for Businesses to Succeed



“About one-quarter of New Yorkers think the fiscal condition of the state is excellent or good, while more than one-third think it’s fair and 30 percent say it’s poor,” Greenberg said. “Only 19 percent think it has gotten better over the last five years, while twice that number, 38 percent, say it’s gotten worse, and 37 percent say it’s about the same. Voters under 35 are the only demographic that has more voters saying it’s gotten better, not worse.

“When it comes to the ability of businesses to succeed in New York, only 11 percent say it’s gotten easier in the last five years, while 51 percent say it’s gotten harder and 29 percent say it’s stayed about the same,” Greenberg said. “A majority or plurality of voters from every party and every region say it’s gotten harder.”

Cuomo’s Ratings Little Changed; Trump Ratings Up a Little

Cuomo has a negative 47-48 percent favorability rating, virtually unchanged from negative 46-48 percent in March. His job performance rating is negative 37-62 percent, little changed from last month’s 38-61 percent.

“Voters’ attitude about Cuomo is essentially the same today as it was a month ago, even with the passage of a timely budget for the ninth straight year, and a budget that included many provisions touted by the Governor and the Legislature,” Greenberg said. “Interestingly, the Senate saw no movement in its favorability rating, while the Assembly improved with voters and is now tied for its best favorability rating ever.”

President Trump has a negative 38-59 percent favorability rating, up slightly from 36-60 percent last month. His job performance rating climbed to negative 35-65 percent, up from 31-68 percent in March.

“Trump remains unpopular with his home state voters largely because of how ‘blue’ New York is. More than three-quarters of Democrats and a majority of independents both view him unfavorably and give him a negative job performance rating,” Greenberg said. “However, Republicans are bullish on the President, with 74 percent viewing him favorably and 70 percent giving him a positive job performance rating.”

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This Siena College Poll was conducted April 8-11, 2019 by telephone calls conducted in English to 735 New York State registered voters. Respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest male in the household. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. Sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline and cell phone telephone numbers (both from Survey Sampling International) from within New York State. Data was statistically adjusted by age, party by region, and gender to ensure representativeness. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, call Steve Greenberg at (518) 469-9858. For survey crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/SNY.