February 19, 2004 - 'Tax-Free' Environmental Bond Backed 2 - 1, Pennsylvania Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Voters Support Income Tax Hike For Education Pennsylvania voters support 59 - 26 percent a proposal by Gov. Ed Rendell to borrow $800 million to clean up the environment, but only if the money is paid off by trash-haulers and polluters, not by taxpayers, according to a Quinnipiac poll released today. When the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN uh-pe-ack) University poll first asked voters if they supported the $800 million environmental bond act, without pointing out the "tax-free" payoff formula, voters opposed it 58 - 31 percent. When the pay-off formula was added to the question, the results switched. As tax season approaches, voters approve 52 - 43 percent of the deal struck in Harrisburg last year to increase state income taxes, with the additional money used to pay for education. Republican voters disapprove 52 - 44 percent, as Democrats approve 60 - 35 percent and independent voters approve 54 - 40 percent. "The Governor's conservation bond issue is clearly a winner with the voters - as long as they don't have to pay for it. Almost 60 percent back the $800 million borrowing plan when you explain that it will be paid for by garbage haulers and those who dump pollutants," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Gov. Rendell remains in pretty good shape with Pennsylvania voters after a year in office, his approval rating has increased slightly and he still gets significantly better marks than the state legislature," Richards added. Pennsylvania voters give Gov. Rendell a 48 - 36 percent approval rating, compared to 46 - 34 percent December 16. Looking at Rendell, Pennsylvania voters say: 61 - 29 percent that he has strong leadership qualities; 54 - 30 percent that he is honest and trustworthy; 52 - 37 percent that he cares about their needs and problems. Voters support 65 - 31 percent legalizing slot machines at race tracks, if the money is used for property tax reform. And voters support 57 - 39 percent legalizing slot machines at locations other than race tracks, also if the money is used for property tax reform. But voters split 48 - 47 percent on whether it's a good idea to depend on gambling for $3 billion a year in state revenue. "At first glance, voters love gambling as a painless way to pay for government services. But when they start thinking about gambling as a major pillar holding up the state budget, voters have some second thoughts," Richards said. From February 10 - 16, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,356 Pennsylvania registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percent. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and the nation as a public service and for research. For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu and quicklinks TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling his job as Governor? App Dis DK/NA Feb 19,2004 48% 36% 16% Dec 16, 2003 46 34 19 Oct 16, 2003 50 28 22 Aug 6, 2003 51 29 21 May 23, 2003 49 27 24 Apr 10, 2003 51 19 30 Feb 20, 2003 54 12 33 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? App Dis DK/NA Feb 19,2004 40% 39% 21% Dec 16, 2003 38 44 18 Oct 16, 2003 43 37 19 Aug 6, 2003 41 39 20 May 23, 2003 45 33 22 Apr 10, 2003 49 24 27 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Pennsylvania today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Very Smwht Smwht Very sat sat dis dis DK/NA Feb 19,2004 4% 45% 33% 17% 1% Dec 16, 2003 4 50 28 17 1 Oct 16, 2003 5 51 30 13 1 Aug 6, 2003 4 53 30 12 1 May 23, 2003 5 53 28 13 2 Apr 10, 2003 7 59 25 8 2 Feb 20, 2003 7 56 25 9 2 Jun 5, 2002 8 60 22 8 3 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ed Rendell is handling his job as Governor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 48% 34% 62% 48% 47% 49% 51% Disapprove 36 50 23 34 38 34 35 DK/NA 16 16 15 18 15 17 14 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 49% 69% 43% 57% 41% 32% 41% Disapprove 36 16 32 28 41 52 45 DK/NA 14 15 25 15 18 16 15 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 40% 43% 40% 39% 41% 40% 37% Disapprove 39 35 43 38 40 38 43 DK/NA 21 21 17 24 19 23 20 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 32% 45% 43% 46% 48% 34% 35% Disapprove 50 34 34 35 35 49 39 DK/NA 17 21 23 19 17 17 25 13. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Pennsylvania today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Very satisfied 4% 5% 4% 1% 5% 3% 6% Smwht satisfied 45 51 44 41 44 46 42 Smwht dissatisfied 33 30 36 36 32 35 31 Very dissatisfied 17 13 15 21 18 15 21 DK/NA 1 - 1 - 1 1 - Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Very satisfied - 2% 5% 7% 3% 1% 5% Smwht satisfied 28 49 48 54 39 36 48 Smwht dissatisfied 41 35 29 28 37 39 33 Very dissatisfied 29 14 16 11 20 24 14 DK/NA 1 - 2 - - - 1 15. Would you say that Ed Rendell has strong leadership qualities or not? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Yes 61% 53% 70% 61% 63% 59% 67% No 29 37 23 26 30 28 28 DK/NA 10 9 8 13 7 12 5 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Yes 57% 81% 51% 83% 49% 43% 52% No 33 14 31 14 41 45 35 DK/NA 10 5 18 3 10 12 13 16. Would you say that Ed Rendell is honest and trustworthy or not? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Yes 54% 42% 68% 50% 55% 53% 59% No 30 41 19 31 32 28 33 DK/NA 16 18 13 19 13 19 8 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Yes 51% 72% 56% 68% 45% 37% 45% No 35 17 26 19 36 47 35 DK/NA 14 11 18 13 19 16 20 17. Would you say that Ed Rendell cares about the needs and problems of people like you or not? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Yes 52% 41% 66% 48% 53% 51% 53% No 37 49 26 36 38 37 40 DK/NA 11 10 8 16 10 11 7 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Yes 50% 77% 48% 63% 43% 43% 41% No 39 19 38 29 48 47 45 DK/NA 11 4 15 8 9 10 14 21. To resolve the budget stalemate last year the governor and the legislature agreed to raise the state income tax in Pennsylvania with the increased revenue going to pay for education. Do you approve or disapprove of raising the income tax to help pay for education? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 52% 44% 60% 54% 51% 52% 55% Disapprove 43 52 35 40 45 41 41 DK/NA 6 4 6 6 4 7 4 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 39% 61% 58% 53% 48% 44% 53% Disapprove 55 32 37 43 44 49 43 DK/NA 6 7 5 5 8 7 4 23. Do you approve or disapprove of Gov. Rendell's proposal to borrow 800 million dollars for environmental programs in Pennsylvania? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 31% 23% 35% 39% 34% 27% 36% Disapprove 58 67 52 51 56 59 52 DK/NA 12 10 14 10 10 14 12 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 17% 43% 36% 36% 21% 25% 30% Disapprove 68 43 52 50 72 64 61 DK/NA 15 15 12 14 7 11 9 23a. (If "Disapprove" q23) Suppose the 800 million dollars would be paid off by user fees on companies that haul garbage and cause pollution and not with taxpayer dollars. Would you approve or disapprove of Gov. Rendell's proposal to borrow 800 million dollars for environmental programs in Pennsylvania? (* NOTE: Number of respondents in Philly subgroup is 75 or less. Additional caution should be taken when interpreting the findings of this subgroup because of the larger margin of error.) "DISAPPROVE" Q23..................................... Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 50% 44% 60% 48% 45% 54% 56% Disapprove 45 51 36 46 50 40 41 DK/NA 5 6 4 6 4 6 4 Algny *Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 47% 61% 56% 60% 42% 45% 43% Disapprove 51 35 35 38 54 49 49 DK/NA 2 4 8 2 4 6 9 23b. (COMBINED RESULTS of 23 & 23a) Do you approve or disapprove of Gov. Rendell's proposal to borrow 800 million dollars for environmental programs in Pennsylvania? IF DISAPPROVE: Suppose the 800 million dollars would be paid off by user fees on companies that haul garbage and cause pollution and not with taxpayer dollars. Would you approve or disapprove of Gov. Rendell's proposal to borrow 800 million dollars for environmental programs in Pennsylvania? COMBINED RESULTS FROM Q23 & Q23a...................... Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Approve 59% 52% 66% 63% 60% 59% 65% Disapprove 26 34 19 24 28 24 21 DK/NA 15 14 16 13 12 17 14 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Approve 49% 69% 65% 66% 51% 54% 56% Disapprove 35 15 18 19 39 31 30 DK/NA 16 16 17 15 9 15 15 24. Do you support or oppose legalizing slot machines at race tracks, if the money is used for property tax reform? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 65% 56% 73% 66% 68% 62% 77% Oppose 31 40 24 30 28 34 21 DK/NA 4 4 3 4 4 4 2 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 69% 68% 73% 64% 66% 70% 56% Oppose 27 29 23 32 30 25 39 DK/NA 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 25. Would you support or oppose legalizing slot machines at other sites like sports arenas and resorts, in addition to race tracks, if the money goes for property tax reform? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Support 57% 48% 64% 59% 60% 55% 66% Oppose 39 47 32 37 36 41 32 DK/NA 4 4 4 3 4 4 2 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Support 60% 62% 66% 54% 66% 60% 48% Oppose 36 33 31 41 32 35 47 DK/NA 3 5 2 4 2 5 5 26. Supporters of legislation to legalize slot machines in Pennsylvania say the proposal could raise as much as 3 billion dollars a year in state revenues. Do you think it is a good idea or a bad idea to depend on gambling to raise 3 billion dollars a year in state revenues? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom HsHlds Good idea 48% 41% 52% 51% 51% 45% 59% Bad idea 47 55 42 45 44 50 38 DK/NA 5 4 6 4 5 5 2 Algny Philly NthEst SthEst NthWst SthWst Cntrl Good idea 52% 52% 54% 47% 51% 46% 40% Bad idea 43 42 40 46 45 52 54 DK/NA 5 5 6 6 4 2 5
