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FOR RELEASE: JUNE 22, 2009
NEW YORK GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN, VOTERS SAY 4 - 1,QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS;3 – 1 DISAPPROVAL IS WORST EVER FOR STATE LEGISLATURE
State government is dysfunctional, New York State voters say 78 – 18 percent, with agreementamong all parties and races and in every area of the state, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.Blame for this dysfunction is evenly divided, with 25 percent blaming Republicans in theLegislature, 21 percent blaming Democrats and 23 percent blaming Gov. David Paterson. The biggest group, 31 percent, is undecided.Voters disapprove 69 – 18 percent of the job the New York State Legislature is doing, thelowest grade ever by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll. Thisfeeling also is consistent among most groups. Separately, voters disapprove 67 – 20 percent of the job the State Senate is doing.But voters say 48 – 27 percent that their state senator deserves to be reelected in 2010.Democrats back their individual state senator 56 – 19 percent, while Republicans are lesssupportive, 41 – 36 percent. Independent voters back their incumbent 47 – 31 percent.The Democrats should control the State Senate, voters say 50 – 30 percent, a decision thatfollows strict party lines with independent voters tipping Democratic 37 – 31 percent.“Dysfunctional? That could be the automatic adjective for Albany. Maybe we shouldfind a more vivid word. Three quarters of New York State voters say their state governmentdoesn’t work,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.“Gov. David Paterson just can’t win. He’s not even in the Senate anymore, but asubstantial minority blames him for the nonsense there.“And while almost nobody likes the ‘legislature,’ that big impersonal word, many votersstill back their own State Senator, a person with a name and face they know.”
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Maurice Carroll, DirectorQuinnipiac University Polling InstituteRubenstein Associates, Inc.,Public RelationsPat Smith (212) 843-8026
 
Quinnipiac University Poll/June 22, 2009 – page 2
The stalemate in the State Senate makes them embarrassed to be New Yorkers, 42 percentof voters say, but 55 percent are not embarrassed.A total of 80 percent of voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that thisstalemate could prevent passage of important legislation.And 71 percent of New York State voters, one of the highest numbers ever measured in aQuinnipiac University poll, are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way thingsare going in the Empire State today. A total of 80 percent of upstate voters are dissatisfied,including 48 percent who are “very dissatisfied.”“Truth remains goofier than fiction. We’re only sort of embarrassed – but we’re reallyworried – about the Senate standoff. Overwhelmingly, voters fear that it imperils the chances of  passing important legislation,” Carroll said.
Legislative Redistricting
Looking at one possible reform measure, New York State voters say 66 – 22 percent thatthe district lines by which state legislators and members of Congress are elected should be drawn by a commission with no connection to the State Legislature, rather than by the State Legislature,as is the current practice. Support for a commission separate from the legislature is strong amongall groups.District lines drawn by a commission independent of the legislature would make for morecompetitive elections, voters say 65 – 14 percent.“Letting legislators draw their own district lines would tempt a saint into self- protection,and no one thinks there are many saints in Albany,” Carroll said.“Voters want a commission independent of the Legislature to create the legislativedistricts. Normally, voters don’t focus on an issue such as this. But given their feelings aboutstate government, there could be more pressure for reform.”From June 16 – 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 2,477 New York State registeredvoters, with a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts publicopinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio andnationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed –http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml,or call (203) 582-5201.
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17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk HisApprove 18% 11% 27% 15% 15% 21% 13% 33% 44%Disapprove 69 73 60 75 77 62 74 55 40DK/NA 13 16 13 10 8 17 13 13 16UpState..... UpStateUrban Othr Total NYC SubApprove 11% 15% 14% 25% 16%Disapprove 72 74 74 61 71DK/NA 17 11 12 14 13TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?APPROVE...... DIS...High Low HighJun 22 Apr 06 Feb 17 Jan 15 Apr 4 Jun 22 Jun 222009 2009 2009 2009 2007 2009 2009Approve 18 26 32 28 34 18 18Disapprove 69 58 50 54 43 69 69DK/NA 13 16 18 18 23 13 1318. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state Senate is handling its job?Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk HisApprove 20% 16% 26% 16% 17% 23% 16% 31% 37%Disapprove 67 70 61 73 76 59 71 56 45DK/NA 13 14 12 11 7 18 13 13 18UpState..... UpStateUrban Othr Total NYC SubApprove 11% 18% 18% 25% 18%Disapprove 76 68 69 63 69DK/NA 13 13 13 12 1320. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York Statetoday? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or verydissatisfied?Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk HisVery satisfied 2% 2% 3% 1% 2% 2% 1% 5% 5%Smwht satisfied 26 17 36 21 23 29 23 38 32Smwht dissatisfied 34 36 35 35 33 35 35 27 45Very dissatisfied 37 44 25 42 41 33 40 30 16DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1UpState..... UpStateUrban Othr Total NYC SubVery satisfied 2% 2% 2% 3% -Smwht satisfied 15 18 18 34 31Smwht dissatisfied 35 32 32 33 40Very dissatisfied 47 48 48 28 28DK/NA - - - 2 1
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