When the failed Republican American Health Care Act was pulled from the House on Friday, there was a collective sigh of relief among Obamacare supporters and participants. Lack of popular support for the measure is reflected in a new Siena College poll.
67 percent of New York voters believe that the Affordable Care Act should be improved but not replaced. Pollster Steve Greenberg says Siena survey respondents feel that Obamacare gave the masses greater access to health care. "So what happened in Washington on Friday is good news for the majority of New York voters."
Observers speculate that any GOP "regrouping" efforts will likely lead to piecemeal restructuring of the Affordable Care Act, upgrades Capital Region Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko says could be accomplished if both sides of the aisle worked together. "We could do this in open with hearings that we could hold with different groups that understand full well what dynamics would improve that effort."
Greenberg says for the third consecutive month, President Trump has taken a hit among New York voters. "Right now, only 33 percent, one-third of New York voters, have a favorable view of Donald Trump. 63 percent, nearly two-thirds, view him unfavorably, his job performance even worse: barely a quarter, 26 percent of New Yorkers give him a positive job performance rating. 71 percent of New Yorkers give him a negative job performance rating."
New York U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer's performance numbers are nearly the exact opposite of Trump's: 60 percent of New Yorkers have a favorable view while 33 percent view the Senate Minority Leader unfavorably.
Meantime, Governor Andrew Cuomo's ratings have dipped: "54 percent of New Yorkers view Andrew Cuomo favorably, compared to 40 percent who view him unfavorably, down from last month when he was at 60 percent favorable, 34 percent unfavorable. So a net 12-point loss in his favorability rating. Job performance rating for the governor also down, 47 percent give him a positive job performance rating compared to 52 percent who give him a negative job performance rating, that too is down from last month when it was 50 positive, 48 negative. But there is still very strong support for a number of the governor's budget initiatives. Extending the millionaire's tax. Overwhelming support. 80 to 18 percent. Supported overwhelmingly by Democrats, Republicans, independents, upstate, downstate. Similarly, allowing ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to operate across New York. Right now they're only in New York City, that has the support of more than three-quarters of voters and again, overwhelming bipartisan upstate/downstate support."
Democrats, New York City voters, independents and downstate suburbanites strongly support free SUNY/CUNY tuition, a Cuomo proposal that is narrowly opposed by upstaters; strongly opposed by Republicans.
Greenberg notes there is one area where nearly everyone disagrees with the governor: Cuomo's proposal to allow himself to make mid-year budget cuts. "87 percent say any mid-year cuts should be approved jointly by the governor and the legislature. Only 11 percent of voters wanna see the governor have that power unilaterally."
In the final days of state budget talks, the state Senate appears opposed to two hotly debated issues: "The DREAM Act has the support of 53 percent of voters, compared to 42 percent who oppose it. And raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, New York being one of only two states that treats 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in criminal matters, that has the support of 51 percent, a bare majority of New York voters, compared to 44 percent who oppose it."
A spokesman for the governor says his office doesn't comment on polls, "good, great or otherwise."
The Siena College Poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points. It was conducted March 19-23 by telephone calls conducted in English to 791 New York state registered voters. Respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest male in the household.
