April 23, 2003
Report & Analysis · Data · Other Poll Releases
A recent Peach State Poll finds that 78 percent of Georgia adults either strongly support (62 percent) or somewhat support (16 percent) an increase in the tax on alcohol, and 74 percent support an increase in the tax on tobacco-with 62 percent indicating strong support. The question of whether or not they would support or oppose an increase in specific taxes was prefaced with the condition, "If tax increases are necessary." Only 32 percent of the public support increasing the state's income tax and less than 25 percent of the public support increasing the tax on gas, groceries, or property.
The Peach State Poll is a statewide quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
While only 7 percent of Georgians characterize the current budget situation as a crisis, a plurality (48 percent) says it has major problems. When asked what they thought was the best way to address the expected budget shortfall, a majority of the public (64 percent) favor using a combination of budget cuts and tax increases. Only 27 percent of respondents preferred addressing the shortfall through budget cuts alone, and less than 5 percent preferred to address the shortfall by tax increases alone. Overall, those who support using a combination of tax increases and budget cuts think that budget cuts should be used to address about half of the shortfall.
Other survey results:
* Seventy-eight percent of respondents either strongly oppose (59 percent) or somewhat oppose (19 percent) reducing state funding for K-12 education.
* Seventy-seven percent of Georgians oppose eliminating the HOPE scholarship program in light of current budget problems. Of that 77 percent, 82 percent (or 62 percent of the total sample) oppose even reducing the level of funding for HOPE.
* A majority of respondents (61 percent) favor reducing the overall number of state employees to help address the budget shortfall; of those who oppose a reduction of state employees (30 percent), more than half (57 percent) would oppose such a reduction even if it could be done solely through retirements and attrition.
These data are taken from a Peach State Poll survey conducted between March 31 and April 6, 2003. The poll included 800 telephone interviews of randomly selected adults in Georgia. For a sample of this size, the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/- 3.5 percent.
