New Statewide
Poll Shows Support for House Approach on
Road Funding
June
10, 2015 (Lansing) – A new statewide
poll conducted by Mitchell Research and Communications shows that a wide
majority of voters want the legislature to cut spending before considering any
tax increases when it comes to road funding.
The
phone poll was commissioned by the National Federation of Independent Business
(NFIB) and was conducted between June 1 and June 4. The poll asked 600 likely
2016 general election voters the following question: “I’m going to read you two
statements. Of the following, which one do you prefer most? A. Some lawmakers
say that the state should look to budget cuts and spending priorities in order
increase funding for roads, or B. Others say that we should raise taxes to fund
roads.” 69 percent of those polled chose to cut spending while only 24 percent
picked raising taxes as a preference. 8 percent were “don’t know” or refused to
answer the question (due to rounding the total is 101%).
“This
polling makes it clear that House Republicans are on the right path when it
comes to resolving the road funding issue,” said NFIB State Director Charlie
Owens. “It also confirms our skepticism of suggestions that business supported tax increases as a first step to fix roads based on some narrowly targeted polling of corporations in the metro Detroit area.”
The
National Federation of Independent Business has already expressed support for
the concept behind a new road funding proposal offered up by House Republicans.
The House proposal comes on the heels of a record defeat at the polls of
Proposal 1 – the road funding plan put before voters that was cobbled together
during last year’s lame duck legislative session.
“This
new poll shows that Speaker Cotter and House Republicans deserve credit for
listening to what the voters said with the Proposal 1 vote – more
prioritization of spending before asking for more money in the form of higher
taxes,” said NFIB State Director Charlie Owens. “The House plan attempts to
look at existing resources first and this is what the general public and small
business supports”.
