While just 22% of New Yorkers are head over heels about the state’s new budget, a much higher percentage back big-ticket items like clean water infrastructure, increasing aid to local schools and making state colleges tuition free, according to a new poll.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers continue to have largely negative views of President Trump, with their opinions about Gov. Cuomo considerably better.
A Siena College poll released Monday found that just over one in five citizens of the state believe that the Cuomo administration’s latest budget is either “excellent” or “good,” while 23% said it is a “poor” budget, according to Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
Meanwhile, at least 71% of people back a $2.5 billion clean water infrastructure fund, a $1.1 billion increase in school funding across the state, expanding ride sharing and making state colleges tuition free for families making less than $125,000.
“Although Republicans are closely divided, 82% of Democrats, 70% of independents and at least 63% 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.
In another hot topic addressed by the budget, 56% of New Yorkers favor increasing the age at which criminal suspects can be treated as adults from 16 to 18, the poll found.
Just over 60% of New Yorkers have negative views about President Trump – about the same number as in March, the poll concluded.
Seven in 10 New Yorkers believe Trump is doing a bad job, the poll said.
“Likewise, Trump’s job performance rating – underwater by 41 points overall – remains abysmal with Democrats and independents, although it nudged up a little this month,” Greenberg said.
“Among Republicans, however, he fell from a plus 29-point positive rating to a plus 22-point rating today,” Greenberg said.
Half of the state’s voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. That percentage is actually down from 61% in March.
At the same time, just over half of voters think the state is headed on the right track – a slight uptick from the March numbers.
New Yorkers gave Gov. Cuomo a 54% favorability rating, but just 47% approved of his job performance. Just over half said they are prepared to re-elect him, a slight uptick from March.
The telephone poll questioned 714 registered voters across the state between April 17 and April 20.
