Siena Poll: Amended bail law will not help crime
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (WTEN) - Recent amendments to the 2019 bail reform law garnered strong support from voters, including strong majorities from every party, region, race, and gender in New York State. However, 38% say the amended bail law will have no effect on the crime rate, compared to 32% who say it will decrease the rate and 16% who say it will increase it, according to a new Siena College poll released Monday morning.
Voters overwhelmingly support the state suspending its 16 cents per gallon gas tax through December, 73-16%. They disapprove, 63-24%, of the state contributing $600 million towards a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Voters approve the $4.2 billion environmental bond act being on the ballot, 52-24%, legalizing the sale of to-go alcohol, 50-38%, and moving forward on three New York City area casinos, 46-35%.
Gas Tax Suspension? Big Yes. Bills Stadium? Big No. Yes to Bond Act, To-Go Drinks, NYC Casinos
Governor Kathy Hochul's favorability rating, which came in at 44-24%, is virtually unchanged from 45-35% in March. Her overall job performance rating is negative 36-57%, down from 43-53% in March. On five specific job performance ratings, between 54% and 69% give her a negative rating, including 69% on crime and 63% on economic issues. These two issues were by far the top mentioned by voters as the most important to them in deciding which gubernatorial candidate to support in November.
Voters say the state is headed in the wrong direction overall, 52-36%, which is up from 49-40% in March. They say the country is also headed in the wrong direction, 57-34%.
Asked about expectations for their household finances when the pandemic is no longer a threat, a small plurality, 42%, expect to be in a similar financial position as before the pandemic, while 36% say the pandemic has seriously hurt their financial position. Just under one-fifth think they'll emerge from the pandemic financially stronger.
This Siena College Poll was conducted April 18-21, 2022, among 806 New York State registered voters with 506 voters contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode and 300 responses drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid) of New Yorkers. Respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest person in the household.
Telephone sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline (ASDE) and cell phone (Dynata) telephone numbers within New York State weighted to reflect known population patterns. Data from both collection modes (phone and web) was merged and statistically adjusted by age, party by region, race/ethnicity, education, and gender to ensure representativeness.