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Siena Poll: Ethics And The Budget

WAMC image by Dave Lucas

A new Siena College poll finds that while New York voters support efforts to rein in state government corruption, they're more concerned about whether lawmakers pass the budget on time.  Governor Andrew Cuomo has tied one to the other…   

51 percent of voters told Siena ethics reform would reduce government corruption. 44 percent think it will have little or no impact. The poll was released the same day former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was being arraigned on federal corruption charges; Silver’s arrest has prompted a new round of ethics debate in Albany.

Steve Greenberg is spokesman for the Siena poll: n"When it comes to how the voters feel about the governor threatening to not enact a state budget by the deadline of April 1st, unless ethics reform, his ethics reform package is included in the budget, voters are not thrilled by that. 53 percent of voters say it’s more important to have an on-time budget, compared to 37 percent who say the ethics reform package of the governor is more important even if it means a late state budget."

Cuomo has insisted his proposal must be in the budget, raising the specter of a standoff that, for the first time in four years, could delay the spending plan and disrupt state government. "When voters were asked do they think Governor Cuomo's ethics plan is a serious effort at trying to reform corruption in Albany or is it just an idle threat designed to make him look good, 50 percent of voters - half - say the governor is putting forward an idle threat designed to make him good. 42 percent of voters think that the governor is putting forth a serious effort to try and combat corruption in Albany."

Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director for the New York State League of Women Voters, thinks it's unfortunate voters have become so cynical.  "Certainly I think they are somewhat justified in their cynicism, since we have had ethics reform, most recently in 2011, which did not amount to much considering that we've had since 2011 we've had at least 3, 4, 5 people that have been indicted including the former speaker of the Assembly."

Since Silver’s arrest, which forced him from the leadership position he held for two decades, his unfavorable ratings have skyrocketed to 58 percent from 37 percent last month.

When asked about making the legislature full-time and if lawmakers should disclose outside income, a majority of respondents said the it should remain part-time but with full disclosure. "Only 35 percent of voters think we should stick with the current part-time legislature, versus 59 percent who think  it would be better to have a full-time legislature with outside employment banned."

When it comes to education issues, voters tended to side with teachers unions rather than with the governor. Cuomo and the unions have been on opposite sides of most issues impacting educators, especially evaluations.

The poll found Cuomo's job performance rating has dropped slightly, from 47 percent last month to 44 percent.  "59 percent of voters have a favorable view of Andrew Cuomo, 37 percent view him unfavorably, down a couple of points from last month's Siena poll. But in terms of his job performance, we've seen a little bit more of a dip there. Only 44 percent of voters think Andrew Cuomo's doing an excellent or good job as governor, compared to 55 percent who say he's only doing a fair or poor job as governor."

The survey of 810 registered voters was conducted Feb. 15-18.

A request for comment from Cuomo’s office was not returned.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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