2012.02.09
Poll shows support for McDonnell, GOP legislative initiatives
Most Virginia voters approve of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s job performance and some of the legislation that Republican lawmakers are trying to push through the General Assembly, according to a new statewide poll released this morning.
A majority of Virginia voters support drug testing of welfare recipients and allowing schools to open before Labor Day, according to the survey conducted by Quinnipiac University. But both proposals already have been stalled in at least one house of the General Assembly.
Half of the voters who participated n the survey – and a majority of women – favor repealing a mandate to vaccinate school-age girls against a virus linked to cervical cancer. The House of Delegates has passed legislation (HB 1112) to remove the human papillomavirus vaccine from a list of mandated vaccinations, even though the current law contains a liberal opt-out clause.
The survey results come from telephone interviews of 1,544 voters conducted between Feb. 1 and Monday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
McDonnell has an approval rating of 58 percent, up one point from a Quinnipiac poll conducted in December. And 66 percent said they are satisfied with the way things are going in Virginia.
“For many politicians – especially his gubernatorial colleagues around the country – no change in their popularity would be a bad thing, but for Gov. Bob McDonnell the status quo is pretty good,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner remains Virginia’s most popular statewide elected official, with an approval rating of 64 percent.
On legislative issues, voters voiced support for some high-profile measures that already have been sidetracked in at least one house of the General Assembly.
The poll reveals widespread support for drug testing of welfare recipients, a proposal that has stirred heated debate in the state Capitol. In the survey, 76 percent said they considered the drug testing proposal a good idea.
But budget-writers in the House of Delegates consider it too costly to implement this year. A House Appropriations subcommittee voted earlier this week to carry over a House-sponsored version (HB 73) of the bill to next year. An identical Senate bill (SB 6) has been sent to the Senate Finance Committee.
A majority of voters – 57 percent – also support legislation that would allow local school divisions to start classes before Labor Day. The House of Delegates has passed a bill (HB 1063) that would give local school divisions control over their calendars and allow them to start before Labor Day without getting permision from the state. A Senate committee has defeated an identical bill (SB 457).
Voters were more divided over the idea of making it easier to fire public school teachers, with 49 percent in support and 41 percent in opposition. A House committee on Wednesday advanced a watered-down version of McDonnell’s proposal (HB 576) that was originally designed to replace open-ended “continuing contracts” with with an annual contract and evaluation process. The legislation now would allow current teachers with continuing contracts to keep them.
By a margin of 48 percent to 40 percent, the poll’s participants favor allowing Sunday hunting on private lands in Virginia. The Senate has passed a Sunday hunting bill (SB 464) but a House subcommittee has tabled similar legislation.
– Michael Sluss
