ALBANY – Legalizing gay marriage and extending rent laws trail capping property taxes and tightening ethics oversight as voter priorities as lawmakers return to Albany for what’s poised to be a historic final legislative push for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a new poll finds.
The Siena College survey released this morning shows 37 percent rank passage of Cuomo’s agreed-upon two percent cap on local property tax hikes as lawmakers’ top concern, compared to 14 percent each for same-sex marriage and a renewal of current rent regulations. Some 22 percent believe approval of the ethics overhaul announced earlier this month by Cuomo and legislative leaders should be their chief issue.
“The tax cap and ethics are the top two issues for voters of every party, every age group and every region,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said. “Although for New York City voters the tax cap, ethics and extending rent regulation laws are all virtually tied for first place.”
DICKER: GOP SWINGS BOTH WAYS ON GAY-MARRIAGE BILL
The Siena survey found a majority (55 percent to 40 percent) support same-sex marriage, up slightly from 54 percent to 42 percent last month. Voters by similar numbers – 58 percent to 31 percent – back an extension of rent regulations, although support had slipped slightly to its lowest level this year.
New Yorkers oppose – 55 percent to 39 percent – a proposal to allow mixed martial arts bouts in the state. The tax cap and ethics overhaul both enjoy support from overwhelming majorities of voters.
Not surprising, more voters in the heavily Democratic state would lay blame on the Republican-led Senate than the Democratic-controlled Assembly if lawmakers leave town without passing top bills. The popular Democratic governor also appears in the clear.
The results come as legislators arrive in Albany for what could be a historic week, with handshake deals already secured on the first-ever tax cap and a long-awaited ethics changes requiring lawmakers to fully detail their outside income. Cuomo listed both as his top agenda items going into the session’s final weeks.
The Post also reported this morning that as many as six Senate Republicans are ready to support gay nuptials, putting New York on the verge of making New York the sixth and largest state to do so.
Such a vote – plus passage of the tax cap and ethics reform – could give Cuomo one of the most productive legislative sessions in years in a state Capitol that has lately been beset by scandal and inaction.
Meanwhile, the clock will soon run out on current rent regulations on more than one million Big Apple apartments. The “emergency” regulations – whose fate has been tied to the tax cap by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) – expire Wednesday without action by the Legislature.
Cuomo remains popular six months into his first term, with 67 percent giving a favorable rating to the governor, down slightly from 71 percent last month. The number of voters who would rate Cuomo’s job performance as excellent or good, however, ticked upward to 55 percent from 52 percent in May.
brendan.scott@nypost.com