The results from an AFSCME-commissioned Kentucky poll are in, and the Bluegrass State’s senior U.S. senator – Mitch McConnell – may want to pay close attention.
Nearly 8 in 10 Kentucky voters – 77% – want Congress to provide aid to states, cities and towns to prevent deep cuts to essential public services like health care, education and emergency response. More than half, 51%, “strongly” support such aid.
This proposal is popular across partisan lines, and includes support from 89% of Democrats, 70% of Republicans, and 54% of independents.
Yet, McConnell doesn’t believe such aid is needed.
The House-passed HEROES Act contains nearly $1 trillion in state and local aid. McConnell, the Senate’s majority leader, won’t let it come to a vote and hasn’t come up with an aid plan of his own. McConnell has even suggested that states should declare bankruptcy to cope with the financial devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic – an idea Kentuckians soundly reject.
When asked if Congress should allow states to go bankrupt or provide aid, 66% of Kentucky voters chose aid. Just 18% think letting Kentucky go bankrupt is the better way to deal with the state’s budget shortfall.
McConnell’s popularity remains low as he seeks his eighth term in office on Nov. 3. According to the poll, 51% of Kentucky voters disapprove of McConnell’s job performance, compared to 41% who approve.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,002 Kentucky voters from June 17-18. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%. A total of 58% of interviews for the survey were conducted by telephone and 42% by text message.
To read the full poll results, go here.
It’s not just Kentucky voters who want Congress to provide state and local aid. Kentucky mayors and public service workers have said the same thing. So have Republican and Democratic economists. A group of business executives and government and labor leaders advising California Gov. Gavin Newsom also agree. State leaders, led by the bipartisan National Governors Association, have also sought such aid.
What’s more, a national poll conducted in May for AFSCME and other public service labor unions found that 84% of voters support federal aid to states, cities and towns.