LANSING – If the Supreme Court allows it on the November ballot, supporters of enshrining the right to collective bargaining in the Constitution have a tough road ahead, a new poll by Public Policy Polling shows.
It was among three ballot issues polled, the others being the emergency manager law and the proposal to amend the Constitution to require utilities to generate 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025.
The automated poll, conducted from Friday to Sunday and released on Tuesday, of 815 respondents, has as error rate of plus-or-minus 3.4 percentage points.
The collective bargaining rights proposal is up by seven points, 44 percent to 37 percent. The energy mandate, which forces 25 percent of the state’s energy to be provided by renewable sources by 2025, is up 49 percent to 31 percent.
And 40 percent of voters say they would keep the controversial emergency financial manager law in place, compared to 31 percent who would get rid of it.
The three proposals all have a large number of undecided voters, with 19 percent unsure of how to vote on the collective bargaining proposal, 20 percent unsure over the energy proposal and 20 percent unsure regarding the emergency manager law.
All three proposals, based on the polling data, have tough fights to pass. At this stage of the campaign, before the opposition has hammered away with negative ads, supporters of a proposal should ideally be at about 60 percent support.
Of those polled, 33 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 34 percent as Republicans and 33 percent as Independent or other. Eighty-four percent of respondents were white, 11 percent black and 6 percent other.
The poll also looked at the favorability rating of Governor Rick Snyder, who, for the first time since taking office, has positive numbers in that regard in a PPP poll. It showed 45 percent of voters approve of how he is doing and 42 percent who disapprove. Three months ago, Mr. Snyder had a 37 percent approval rating, with 52 percent disapproving of him.
It also showed he would defeat a generic Democrat by five points, 46 percent to 41 percent.
It also seems the further removed a governor has been from his or her time in Lansing has an effect on favorability.
Former Governor Jennifer Granholm has a 50 percent unfavorable rating, with 38 percent favorable. The man she followed, Governor John Engler, has a 45 percent unfavorable rating, with 33 percent positive.
But former Governors James Blanchard and William Milliken both enjoy positive favorability numbers, although the number who remember them well enough to have a position was also much lower than with Granholm or Engler.
Blanchard is seen favorably by 37 percent of respondents, unfavorably by 25 percent with 38 percent not sure. Milliken is seen favorably by 37 percent of respondents, unfavorably by 11 percent, with 52 percent not sure.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com





