New Jersey (NJ) Poll * March 17, 2005 * Budget Pulls Down Codey Approv - Quinnipiac University

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March 17, 2005 - Budget Pulls Down Codey Approval, New Jersey Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Hike State Taxes, Not Local Taxes, Voters Say

New Jersey voters oppose 61 - 33 percent acting Gov. Richard Codey's proposal to eliminate or reduce property tax rebates, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Urban voters are split 46 - 47 percent on the proposal, while voters on the Jersey Shore oppose the rollback 70 - 27 percent.
Voters also say 70 - 16 percent that leaders should hike state taxes rather than local property taxes if tax hikes are needed to pay for local schools and government.
Gov. Codey has a 50 - 24 percent overall approval, down from 59 - 9 percent in a January 26 poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Codey gets a split 38 - 39 percent approval rating for his handling of the state budget.
New Jersey voters give the State Legislature a negative 17 - 63 percent approval for its handling of the budget and a negative 33 - 45 percent overall approval.
"Acting Governor Codey's job approval rating has come back down to earth following his proposed budget and its cut in property tax rebates. But voters still approve 2 -1 of the job he is doing," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Codey gets mixed marks in the budget battle, but voters clearly don't trust the Legislature which gets an almost 4 - 1 negative rating on handling a budget lawmakers haven't even voted on yet," Richards added.
"And in a clear message to Trenton, voters say it's better to raise state taxes than to force property tax hikes by freezing state aid to schools and local government."
Bush Approval
New Jersey voters disapprove 53 - 44 percent of the job President George W. Bush is doing.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets a 52 - 27 percent approval.
From March 9 - 14, Quinnipiac University surveyed 937 New Jersey registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida and nationally as a public service and for research. For additional data -- www.quinnipiac.edu and quicklinks or call (203) 582-5201.
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Richard Codey is handling his job as acting Governor?
App Dis DK/NA Mar 17, 2005 50 24 26 Jan 26, 2005 59 9 32
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?
App Dis DK/NA Mar 17, 2005 33 45 22 Jan 26, 2005 44 31 25 Nov 17, 2004 41 41 19 Sep 22, 2004 37 47 17 Aug 25, 2004 38 44 19 Aug 4, 2004 32 45 23 Jun 22, 2004 36 44 20 May 19, 2004 38 39 23 Mar 9, 2004 34 47 19 Nov 12, 2003 30 51 19 Sep 24, 2003 33 49 18 Jul 17, 2003 32 48 20 Jun 18, 2003 30 46 24 Apr 2, 2003 38 39 24
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator?
App Dis DK/NA Mar 17, 2005 52 27 21 Jan 26, 2005 53 28 20 Nov 17, 2004 52 28 20 Sep 22, 2004 49 32 19 Aug 25, 2004 50 28 22 Aug 4, 2004 48 31 22 Jun 22, 2004 47 31 22 May 19, 2004 48 33 19 Mar 9, 2004 44 33 23 Nov 12, 2003 45 33 23 Sep 24, 2003 48 34 18 Jul 17, 2003 43 33 24 Jun 18, 2003 41 34 25 Apr 2, 2003 44 32 24 Jan 29, 2003 42 27 32 Dec 6, 2000 52 20 27 Aug 24, 2000 51 21 28 Jul 27, 2000 55 22 23 Mar 29, 2000 53 22 25 Feb 23, 2000 52 23 25 Sep 23, 1999 55 25 20 Jul 22, 1999 55 25 20 Mar 31, 1999 54 25 21 Feb 12, 1999 52 29 19 Nov 12, 1998 52 26 22 Aug 10, 1998 50 24 26 Apr 23, 1998 51 25 23 Mar 4, 1998 52 23 25 Oct 22, 1997 51 26 23 Sep 16, 1997 53 26 22 Jul 29, 1997 50 25 26 Apr 10, 1997 52 25 23 Feb 8, 1996 43 32 26
TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as President?
App Dis DK/NA Mar 17, 2005 44 53 4 Jan 27, 2005 43 53 4 Nov 17, 2004 45 52 4 Sep 21, 2004 45 53 2 Aug 25, 2004 42 55 3 Aug 5, 2004 43 53 4 Jun 23, 2004 42 54 4 May 20, 2004 44 52 4 Mar 9, 2004 44 52 5 Nov 13, 2003 47 50 3 Sep 25, 2003 49 47 4 Jul 17, 2003 53 43 4 Jun 19, 2003 58 39 3 Apr 1, 2003 67 29 4 Jan 29, 2003 54 42 4 Dec 11, 2002 58 36 5 Oct 7, 2002 62 34 5 Sep 12, 2002 64 30 6 Aug 8, 2002 61 32 7 Jun 19, 2002 73 21 7 Apr 24, 2002 77 18 5 Mar 7, 2002 77 18 5 Jan 30, 2002 82 13 6 Oct 18, 2001 90 7 3 Sep 26, 2001 88 8 5 Aug 7, 2001 52 42 6 Jul 5, 2001 53 42 5 May 14, 2001 57 35 7 Apr 11, 2001 57 34 9 Mar 8, 2001 62 26 12 Feb 8, 2001 51 28 21
TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New Jersey today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied?
Very Smwht Smwht Very sat sat dis dis DK/NA Mar 17, 2005 3 39 31 27 1 Jan 27, 2005 6 47 30 16 1 Nov 17, 2004 4 48 30 16 1 Sep 22, 2004 6 41 32 21 - Aug 25, 2004 7 39 27 25 1 Aug 4, 2004 4 44 32 19 1 Jun 22, 2004 6 48 31 15 1 May 19, 2004 5 45 29 20 - Mar 9, 2004 4 40 36 19 1 Nov 12, 2003 3 37 35 23 1 Sep 24, 2003 4 41 33 22 1 Jul 17, 2003 4 42 35 18 1 Jun 18, 2003 5 39 34 21 2 Apr 2, 2003 4 42 37 16 2 Jan 29, 2003 3 42 33 20 1 Dec 11, 2002 4 47 31 17 1 Jun 20, 2002 5 48 31 15 1 Mar 7, 2002 4 50 30 14 2 Dec 26, 2000 10 61 21 7 1 Feb 12, 1999 11 60 21 7 - Oct 22, 1997 8 53 26 12 1 Sep 16, 1997 9 48 27 15 - Jun 25, 1997 9 50 28 13 1 Apr 10, 1997 7 52 29 11 1 Feb 20, 1997 11 56 23 10 1 Dec 11, 1996 8 49 31 12 1
1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Richard Codey is handling his job as acting Governor?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 50% 45% 56% 51% 53% 47% Disapprove 24 32 18 24 25 22 DK/NA 26 23 26 25 22 30
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 33% 28% 43% 29% 34% 33% Disapprove 45 53 37 48 48 42 DK/NA 22 20 20 23 18 25
4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 52% 32% 65% 54% 53% 51% Disapprove 27 51 13 26 33 22 DK/NA 21 17 22 20 14 26
5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as President?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 44% 83% 14% 46% 48% 40% Disapprove 53 14 84 51 48 57 DK/NA 4 4 2 3 4 3
14. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New Jersey today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Very satisfied 3% 5% 4% 1% 3% 3% Smwht satisfied 39 33 45 37 38 39 Smwht dissatisfied 31 26 33 32 29 33 Very dissatisfied 27 34 18 30 30 25 DK/NA 1 1 - - - 1
20. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Richard Codey is handling the state budget?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 38% 37% 40% 40% 42% 34% Disapprove 39 45 37 38 39 40 DK/NA 23 17 23 22 19 26
21. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling the state budget?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Approve 17% 13% 21% 16% 20% 14% Disapprove 63 70 58 62 63 63 DK/NA 20 17 21 22 17 22
22. In his budget proposal, acting Governor Codey calls for elimination of property tax rebates for homeowners except for seniors whose property tax rebates would be sharply reduced. Do you support or oppose acting Governor Codey's proposal?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Support 33% 27% 34% 40% 35% 32% Oppose 61 68 61 55 59 64 DK/NA 5 5 4 5 6 4
23. Acting Governor Codey's proposal to freeze aid to education and local government could result in property tax increases to help pay for local schools and local government. If you had to choose, would you prefer - increasing local property taxes or Increasing state taxes?
Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Property taxes 16% 14% 17% 13% 17% 15% State taxes 70 70 73 69 70 69 DK/NA 15 15 9 18 13 16