ALBANY – New Yorkers like Gov. Cuomo’s new controversial gun bill – and most of the other proposals he unveiled in last week’s State of the State speech, a new poll out today found.
Support for the gun bill Cuomo signed Tuesday — which made New York the first state in the nation to act after last month’s Newtown elementary school massacre — was strongest (91-8 percent) for a provision toughening penalties for buying illegal guns or using guns on school grounds, the Siena College survey found.
That was followed by strengthening the state’s ban on assault weapons and limiting magazines to seven bullets (73-26).
New York voters opposed the National Rifle Association’s proposal — not in the Cuomo bill — to place armed guards in schools (52-46 percent) and more strongly opposed training and arming teachers (69-30).
The Jan. 10-15 telephone survey of 676 registered state voters found that while Cuomo’s favorability (71-24) and job approval (60-38) ratings remained strong, his support among fellow Democrats edged up while fewer Republicans backed the governor in the wake of what was widely viewed as a solidly Democratic 2013 agenda.
Voters supported numerous elements of the agenda, including increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 an hour (83-15), providing taxpayer money for state campaigns while limiting the size of contributions (59-36), allowing for early voting (67-30), providing state aid for schools to lengthen the school day or year (62-35) and decriminalizing up to 15 grams of pot in public (62-35 percent).
But by 53-44, voters oppose removing restrictions for college financial aid for undocumented immigrants — the “Dream Act.”
And they also backed a tough “bar exam” for teachers by 76-23 percent.
The poll also found New Yorkers narrowly turning against the controversial practice of fracking for natural gas upstate (44-40), a reversal from a Siena poll last month that found narrow support (42-36).
Support for legalizing casino gambling, another Cuomo priority, shrank a bit (52-43) from prior surveys — with city voters evenly divided and stronger support in the suburbs.
Voters continued to think the state is moving in the right direction by 57-33 percent, up slightly from last month.
But New Yorkers — after overwhelmingly voting to re-elect President Obama — said narrowly (49-46) that the nation is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.