May 21, 2010 - City Budget Woes Push Bloomberg Approval Down, Quinnipiac University New York City Poll Finds; Voters Want Term Limits 3-1, Oppose Non-Party Elections Word format New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets a 47 - 44 percent approval rating for the way he is handling the city budget, pulling his overall approval rating down to 57 - 29 percent, his lowest grade in five years, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a 61 - 27 percent approval for Mayor Bloomberg in a March 23 survey and is still higher than the approval rating for most governors in states polled by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. New York City voters favor term limits for elected officials 71 - 23 percent. Asked another way, 57 percent of voters say officials should be limited to two terms; 16 percent set the limit at three terms; 5 percent at four terms and 19 percent for no term limits. If Bloomberg were to seek a fourth term, New York City voters say 59 - 30 percent that they would not vote for him. Republicans would vote for Bloomberg 52 - 38 percent, but a fourth term is opposed 63 - 26 percent by Democrats and 59 - 31 percent by independent voters. "Term limits still win 3-1 approval from city voters. Except for Republicans, New Yorkers turn thumbs down on a fourth term for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but the depth of their opposition has shrunk a trifle since we last asked in March," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Bloomberg's job-approval is over 50 percent, at a level most politicians would wallow in during this anti-incumbent storm, but it's way down from the heady 70-plus heights the Mayor enjoyed before he ran for a third term." Voters oppose 51 - 41 percent a proposal to eliminate political party labels for candidates in New York City elections. Democrats and Republicans oppose the no-label idea, but independent voters support it 61 - 33 percent. "Political party power has shriveled over the years, but New Yorkers still prefer seeing party lines on the ballot. They reject Mayor Bloomberg's idea - which could turn up in the next charter-change referendum - of having non-partisan elections," Carroll said. New York City Budget A total of 90 percent of New York City voters say the city's budget problems are "very serious" or "somewhat serious." Voters prefer raising taxes over cutting city services 45 - 40 percent, with 42 percent preferring a sales tax hike, followed by 24 percent for hiking the income tax and 21 percent for hiking property taxes. No layoffs for city workers, voters say 63 - 32 percent, but they do support furloughs for city workers 50 - 41 percent. New York City voters support 60 - 35 percent a wage freeze for city workers, with strong support across the political spectrum and among black and white voters. By large margins, voters oppose every suggested city service cut: 88 - 10 percent against closing some firehouses; 80 - 17 percent against closing some senior centers; 69 - 30 percent against reducing garbage collection; 71 - 26 percent against increasing public school class size; 55 - 43 percent against reducing library hours; 53 - 45 percent against reducing street cleaning. "Hardly anyone doubts that the city is in tough fiscal shape. But New Yorkers don't like any of the budget-balancing cuts that have been talked about," Carroll said. "The exception: A squeeze on city workers. Voters accept the idea of a wage freeze, or even furloughs." From May 17 - 19, Quinnipiac University surveyed 797 New York City registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling his job as Mayor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 57% 73% 56% 58% 68% 51% 50% Disapprove 29 22 29 28 24 37 28 DK/NA 14 4 15 14 9 12 23 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 57% 59% 58% 55% 56% 61% 54% Disapprove 26 26 28 31 38 27 30 DK/NA 18 15 13 14 6 12 16 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling his job as Mayor? (*High also 75% Oct 2008, Mar 2008, Jan 2007 & Nov 2005) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High May 21 Mar 23 Feb 17 Sep 24 Oct 21 Jul 2 Jul 2 2010 2010 2010 2009 2008* 2003 2003 Approve 57 61 61 67 75 31 31 Disapprove 29 27 30 26 20 60 60 DK/NA 14 12 9 7 6 8 8 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joel Klein is handling his job as New York City Schools Chancellor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 30% 29% 31% 35% 33% 30% 27% Disapprove 48 54 49 42 42 55 49 DK/NA 22 17 20 23 25 16 24 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 29% 30% 29% 33% 28% 37% 25% Disapprove 47 45 46 51 55 41 53 DK/NA 24 25 24 16 17 22 22 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joel Klein is handling his job as New York City Schools Chancellor? APPROVE....... High Low May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 24 Jan 27 Feb 26 May 21 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2003 2010 Approve 30 39 37 44 43 46 30 Disapprove 48 40 35 36 36 27 48 DK/NA 22 21 28 20 21 28 22 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 34% 19% 40% 34% 31% 49% 34% Disapprove 16 26 13 17 13 15 22 DK/NA 50 55 47 49 56 36 44 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 42% 33% 31% 31% 50% 30% 38% Disapprove 12 17 17 17 8 18 13 DK/NA 46 50 53 53 42 52 49 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Approve 34 37 Disapprove 16 13 DK/NA 50 50 5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 44% 32% 52% 40% 43% 55% 44% Disapprove 26 40 20 31 28 23 19 DK/NA 30 28 29 29 29 21 37 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 50% 38% 45% 46% 50% 42% 47% Disapprove 22 31 27 20 26 29 23 DK/NA 28 31 28 34 23 29 30 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? APPROVE....... High Low May 21 Feb 17 Feb 24 Jan 27 Nov 25 Mar 14 Nov 25 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2007 2008 Approve 44 44 42 43 40 51 40 Disapprove 26 28 25 23 29 12 29 DK/NA 30 27 33 34 31 37 31 6. Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 49% 47% 54% 42% 45% 60% 51% Disapprove 13 24 10 15 12 15 12 DK/NA 38 29 36 42 44 26 38 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 55% 47% 48% 49% 45% 50% 48% Disapprove 6 13 15 15 17 14 12 DK/NA 40 40 37 35 39 36 40 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Approve 49 44 Disapprove 13 11 DK/NA 38 45 7. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Very satisfied 7% 8% 6% 10% 9% 4% 7% Smwht satisfied 44 42 47 40 49 42 36 Smwht dissatisfied 32 32 31 34 31 26 42 Very dissatisfied 16 19 15 15 11 27 13 DK/NA 1 - 1 1 - 1 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Very satisfied 4% 4% 13% 6% 12% 11% 4% Smwht satisfied 43 47 48 39 33 49 40 Smwht dissatisfied 34 34 24 34 37 26 36 Very dissatisfied 16 14 14 20 18 14 18 DK/NA 3 1 - 2 - - 2 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? VERY+SMWHT... High Low May 21 Feb 17 Jul 28 Jun 16 Mar 24 Feb 11 Jul 2 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 1998 2003 Very satisfied 7 8 8 8 8 18 7 Smwht satisfied 44 51 51 51 45 58 23 Smwht dissatisfied 32 26 26 27 31 18 32 Very dissatisfied 16 14 14 13 14 5 38 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8. Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose setting limits on the number of years elected officials can hold office? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Favor 71% 79% 69% 72% 71% 71% 69% Oppose 23 21 26 21 25 21 24 DK/NA 5 1 5 7 4 7 7 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Favor 65% 77% 70% 70% 70% 75% 68% Oppose 28 19 26 25 22 21 25 DK/NA 7 5 5 5 8 4 7 TREND: Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose setting limits on the number of years elected officials can hold office? (*High also 71% Jul 2008) FAVOR......... High Low May 21 Mar 23 Mar 24 Feb 24 Jan 27 May 21 Oct 21 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2010 2008 Favor 71 70 68 70 69 71 62 Oppose 23 22 25 25 25 23 29 DK/NA 5 8 6 5 6 5 9 9. Do you think New York City elected officials should be allowed to serve 2 terms, 3 terms, 4 terms or should there be no term limits for New York City elected officials? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp 2 terms 57% 57% 60% 49% 48% 63% 59% 3 terms 16 22 14 18 21 16 12 4 terms 5 1 5 6 4 4 6 No term limits 19 16 19 23 23 13 19 DK/NA 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom 2 terms 64% 60% 51% 55% 60% 53% 60% 3 terms 14 19 19 12 9 21 11 4 terms 6 5 5 6 2 3 6 No term limits 14 14 21 26 23 21 17 DK/NA 3 4 5 2 5 2 5 TREND: Do you think New York City elected officials should be allowed to serve two terms, three terms, four terms or should there be no term limits for New York City elected officials? May 21 Mar 23 2010 2010 2 terms 57 55 3 terms 16 17 4 terms 5 5 No Term Limits 19 18 DK/NA 3 5 10. If Michael Bloomberg ran for a fourth term as Mayor, would you vote for him or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Yes 30% 52% 26% 31% 36% 26% 26% No 59 38 63 59 48 66 64 Depends on cand(VOL) 8 5 9 7 11 6 9 DK/NA 3 5 2 4 5 2 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Yes 25% 31% 32% 28% 33% 33% 27% No 66 57 54 60 61 57 60 Depends on cand(VOL) 5 7 11 9 5 7 9 DK/NA 3 5 2 3 2 3 3 TREND: If Michael Bloomberg ran for a fourth term as Mayor, would you vote for him or not? May 21 Mar 23 2010 2010 Yes 30 22 No 59 58 Depends on cand(VOL) 8 13 DK/NA 3 7 11. There is a proposal to eliminate the political party label, such as Democrat or Republican, from the ballot in elections for city officials, such as Mayor or Council member. Do you think that is a good idea or bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Good idea 41% 31% 33% 61% 40% 43% 39% Bad idea 51 63 59 33 50 49 54 DK/NA 8 6 8 7 10 8 7 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Good idea 32% 41% 42% 43% 47% 43% 39% Bad idea 62 48 51 50 48 51 52 DK/NA 6 11 7 7 6 6 9 TREND: There is a proposal to eliminate the political party label, such as Democrat or Republican, from the ballot in elections for city officials, such as Mayor or Council member. Do you think that is a good idea or bad idea? May 21 Mar 24 Feb 24 Jul 2 2010 2009 2009 2003 Good idea 41 30 36 37 Bad idea 51 58 55 55 DK/NA 8 12 9 7 12. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling the city budget? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Approve 47% 60% 46% 49% 58% 36% 44% Disapprove 44 33 46 42 32 59 46 DK/NA 9 7 8 9 10 5 9 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 40% 53% 51% 43% 43% 54% 42% Disapprove 49 39 41 47 47 38 48 DK/NA 12 8 8 9 9 8 9 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling the city budget? (*High also 55% Jan 2009) APPROVE....... High Low May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Jan 28 Feb 17 May 7 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2010 2003 Approve 47 55 54 54 55 55 28 Disapprove 44 35 34 38 38 35 63 DK/NA 9 10 12 9 7 10 9 13. To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer - raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Raising taxes 45% 16% 56% 33% 42% 58% 42% Cutting services 40 74 28 55 47 28 44 DK/NA 14 9 16 12 11 14 14 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Raising taxes 49% 42% 54% 44% 23% 40% 49% Cutting services 34 44 36 41 52 48 34 DK/NA 16 14 10 15 25 12 16 TREND: To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Jan 28 Nov 25 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008 Raising taxes 45 43 52 53 46 48 Cutting services 40 45 37 39 39 37 DK/NA 14 13 11 8 15 15 14. To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, which city tax do you think should be increased - personal income tax, sales tax or property tax? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Income tax 24% 10% 29% 25% 27% 20% 26% Sales tax 42 52 42 38 36 52 39 Property tax 21 18 22 20 23 20 22 DK/NA 13 20 7 17 14 8 12 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Income tax 21% 29% 25% 22% 16% 27% 22% Sales tax 35 43 39 45 48 39 44 Property tax 30 18 24 19 13 21 21 DK/NA 13 10 11 15 23 13 13 TREND: To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, which city tax do you think should be increased - personal income tax, sales tax or property tax? (Data available upon request back to Jul 2002) May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Jan 28 Nov 25 May 7 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008 2003 Income tax 24 22 28 21 22 21 23 Sales tax 42 43 39 49 43 44 40 Property tax 21 24 24 22 24 24 23 DK/NA 13 11 9 7 10 11 14 15. How serious do you think New York City's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Very serious 60% 59% 57% 67% 58% 64% 60% Smwht serious 30 34 34 26 36 28 24 Not too serious 6 7 6 6 5 5 12 Not at all serious 1 - 2 1 - 2 1 DK/NA 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Very serious 60% 59% 63% 59% 57% 53% 66% Smwht serious 32 31 31 29 27 36 26 Not too serious 5 7 5 6 15 8 5 Not at all serious 2 - - 4 - 2 1 DK/NA 2 3 1 1 1 2 2 TREND: How serious do you think New York City's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious? (*High also 95% Jan 2009) VERY+SMWHT.... High Low May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Jan 28 Feb 25 Jul 17 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2009* 2002 Very serious 60 53 65 61 64 61 46 Smwht serious 30 39 29 34 31 34 41 Not too serious 6 5 3 3 3 3 9 Not at all serious 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 DK/NA 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 16. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - closing some senior centers? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 17% 28% 12% 21% 21% 10% 15% Oppose 80 69 86 73 74 86 83 DK/NA 4 3 3 6 4 3 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 11% 19% 17% 18% 17% 17% 16% Oppose 86 78 79 78 78 80 79 DK/NA 3 3 5 4 5 2 5 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose closing some senior centers? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 17 12 Oppose 80 84 DK/NA 4 3 17. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - closing some firehouses? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 10% 8% 10% 14% 11% 11% 9% Oppose 88 92 88 83 86 89 88 DK/NA 2 - 2 3 3 - 3 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 8% 10% 14% 9% 7% 14% 8% Oppose 92 88 82 88 93 84 90 DK/NA - 2 4 2 - 2 2 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose closing some firehouses? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 10 12 Oppose 88 85 DK/NA 2 3 18. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - reducing garbage collections? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 30% 20% 30% 34% 29% 34% 29% Oppose 69 79 69 65 69 65 71 DK/NA 1 2 2 1 2 2 - Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 28% 33% 22% 31% 43% 30% 29% Oppose 70 66 77 68 55 69 69 DK/NA 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose reducing garbage collections? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 30 24 Oppose 69 74 DK/NA 1 2 19. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - increasing class sizes in the public schools? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 26% 50% 21% 26% 28% 26% 23% Oppose 71 48 76 69 67 72 75 DK/NA 4 2 3 6 5 3 2 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 21% 28% 29% 23% 24% 34% 19% Oppose 77 67 70 72 74 63 77 DK/NA 2 5 2 5 3 3 4 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose increasing class sizes in the public schools? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 26 22 Oppose 71 75 DK/NA 4 3 20. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - reducing library hours? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 43% 57% 39% 44% 49% 34% 39% Oppose 55 40 60 52 49 64 58 DK/NA 2 3 1 4 2 2 3 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 35% 50% 44% 35% 46% 44% 41% Oppose 62 48 55 62 45 53 57 DK/NA 3 2 1 3 9 3 2 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose reducing library hours? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 43 41 Oppose 55 57 DK/NA 2 2 21. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - reducing street cleaning? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 45% 49% 41% 48% 50% 44% 35% Oppose 53 47 57 49 47 55 65 DK/NA 2 4 2 3 3 2 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 38% 49% 45% 42% 49% 49% 41% Oppose 62 49 54 54 42 49 56 DK/NA - 2 - 3 9 2 2 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose reducing street cleaning? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 45 44 Oppose 53 54 DK/NA 2 3 22. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - layoffs for city employees? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 32% 52% 22% 45% 42% 17% 26% Oppose 63 40 74 48 50 80 69 DK/NA 6 8 4 7 8 3 5 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 20% 31% 41% 31% 34% 35% 29% Oppose 75 62 53 64 63 60 65 DK/NA 5 7 6 5 3 5 6 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose layoffs for city employees? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 32 32 Oppose 63 63 DK/NA 6 5 23. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - furloughs for city employees? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 50% 65% 47% 53% 56% 47% 44% Oppose 41 30 44 41 33 46 49 DK/NA 9 5 9 7 11 7 6 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 45% 54% 62% 38% 46% 54% 47% Oppose 44 39 31 51 44 40 42 DK/NA 11 8 7 11 10 6 11 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose furloughs for city employees? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 50 50 Oppose 41 34 DK/NA 9 16 24. To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose - a wage freeze for city workers? Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp Support 60% 70% 60% 61% 64% 62% 47% Oppose 35 29 36 34 29 34 50 DK/NA 5 1 5 5 7 5 4 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 58% 60% 65% 56% 57% 64% 56% Oppose 38 32 31 40 40 30 39 DK/NA 3 8 4 4 3 5 5 TREND: To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose a wage freeze for city workers? May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 Support 60 63 Oppose 35 31 DK/NA 5 6
