Legislative Report 3/12/2015 - Doyle Poll Results

The 50^th annual Doyle Poll attracted 179 respondents on Town Meeting day this year. I am grateful to those who took the time to fill out the survey this year. To Senator Doyle's selection of 15 questions I added a 16^th on an issue that I wanted to know your opinions about. Since it was printed on the back of the survey, however, only 140 people responded to it. Here for your consideration is a tally of the responses.

Q#	Question	Yes	No	Not Sure
1	Do you believe water quality is a major issue in Vermont?	80%	14%	6%
2	Should Vermont legalize marijuana?	42%	45%	13%
3	Should Vermont have a payroll tax to reduce the cost of Medicaid?	23%	51%	26%
4	Would a carbon tax benefit Vermont's environment?	44%	34%	22%
5	Should sugary drinks be taxed in order to reduce obesity?	53%	39%	8%
6	Should Vermont have a one-day sales tax holiday?	61%	24%	15%
7	Are you concerned about the increased use of opiates in Vermont?	91%	7%	2%
8	Is Lake Champlain as clear as you would like it to be?	6%	82%	12%
9	Should natural gas be an important part of Vermont's economy?	44%	37%	19%
10	Do you believe Vermont's health care is better than 5 years ago?	33%	35%	32%
11	Are statewide cell service and broadband important to the future of Vermont’s economy?	84%	8%	7%
12	Does Vermont have too many school districts?	60%	20%	20%
13	Should Vermont's Presidential Primary be on the same date as New Hampshire's?	30%	41%	28%
14	Do you believe that our state is doing a good job at attracting jobs to Vermont?	17%	60%	23%
15	Do you believe Governor Shumlin is doing a good job?	26%	51%	22%
16	Do you support requiring background checks for sales of guns between private parties and at gun shows?	76%	18%	6%

There were two questions that appeared in last year's survey (2. marijuana and 9. natural gas) and four that appeared two years ago (5. sugary drinks, 9. natural gas, 11. cell & broadband, and 15. Shumlin). The opinion on marijuana legalization shifted from positive to slightly negative, but otherwise opinion is evenly divided. The opinion on taxing sugar-sweetened beverages remained unchanged from two years ago with 53% in favor. While opinions of the importance of natural gas has diminished somewhat from the previous surveys, it is still seen as important. Overwhelmingly, respondents continue to consider cell service and broadband internet to be essential to Vermont's economic growth. The big switch is in Governor Shumlin's numbers. He went from a 48% approval vs. 30% disapproval in 2013 to a 26% approval and 51% disapproval this year.

Interestingly, Shumlin's Doyle Poll numbers in Charlotte were slightly worse than those of an independent VTDigger-Castleton Polling Institute survey released this week where 47% disapproved of the job he's doing compared to 41% approving. The Charlotte Doyle Poll results for other questions also lined up with those from the VTDigger-Castleton survey within a few percentage points, including support for taxing sugar-sweetened beverages, taxing carbon, and requiring background checks on private sales of firearms. (The VTDigger polling results can be found at http://vtdigger.org/majorprojects/complete-vtdiggercastleton-polling-institute-results/.)

Charlotters also support a sales-tax holiday and reducing the number of school districts and oppose a payroll tax to address the cost-shift in insurace premiums. There remains a lot of concern about opiate addiction and a strong recognition of the problem we face with pollution in Lake Champlain and state waters.

As your representative in Montpelier, I appreciate your input on these and other issues. Your comments help me look at issues from several perspectives, and that is a valuable opportunity for me. You can always contact me by phone at 802-233-5238 or email me at myantachka.dfa@gmail.com.