Sixty-three percent of Connecticut residents fear raising taxes could reduce revenue
Nearly 70 percent of Connecticut voters say they’re less likely to support lawmakers who vote for tax increases this spring, according to a poll released by the Yankee Institute today.
Conducted late last week, the poll shows overwhelming support for Connecticut’s constitutionally enshrined spending cap and a strong opposition for new tax increases.
The poll comes as lawmakers in Hartford mull over a budget package that could increase Connecticut residents’ taxes by as much as $2.4 billion.
Connecticut already has among the worst tax burdens of any state in the country, according to the Tax Foundation, and lags behind a majority of states in economic recovery.
“The people of Connecticut clearly understand the problems facing our state. They know Connecticut can do better,” said Carol Platt Liebau, president of the Yankee Institute. “A broad majority of likely voters believes the right path forward is to stop increasing taxes and maintain the spending cap.”
In recent years, as ineffective tax and budget policies have become the norm in Connecticut, many fed up residents have fled the state, causing the tax burden on remaining residents to increase and leading many to fear Connecticut could become the next California.
The Yankee Institute is committed to advocating for more fiscally-sound tax and budget policies in Hartford.
Additional highlights from the Yankee Institute poll:
- The spending cap is more than twice as popular as the General Assembly.
- Breaking the spending cap is even less popular than raising taxes.
- The spending cap continues to have broad support. More than 81 percent of Connecticut voters support the idea of a spending cap, closely mirroring the percentage who voted for it two decades ago.
- More than 60 percent of voters agree that asking wealthy residents to pay more could result in wealthy residents leaving and paying nothing.
- Nearly seven out of 10 voters (69.8 percent) are less likely to support lawmakers who vote to raise taxes, while even more (73.1 percent) say they are less likely to support a lawmaker who votes to exceed the spending cap.
The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.09 percent, and was conducted by Cygnal, a national opinion research firm.
The Yankee Institute for Public Policy is a Connecticut think tank that develops and advances policy solutions to promote smart, limited government; fairness for taxpayers; and an open road to opportunity for all the people of our state.
Survey Documents
Memo
Results
Crosstabs
Related Yankee Institute policy briefs
Spending Cap
Sustainable Spending: Keep the Cap
Connecticut’s Spending Cap: A Legal Overview
Taxes
High Taxes Hurt
State Budget
Crowding Out What Matters
