LANSING – Most Michigan voters currently favor a ballot proposal to boost the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, including for tipped workers, and oppose the idea that a legislative initiative could make that initiative likely meaningless, a poll released Tuesday found.
The poll by the Lansing-firm of EPIC/MRA was released several hours before lawmakers approved a boost in the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour with a new statute that could make the initiative meaningless, although supporters of the proposal said they would continue with their effort.
The poll also found that most voters supported raising more money for Michigan’s roads, though they opposed the idea of basing taxes on the number of miles driven or creating toll roads in the state.
The poll showed that 56 percent of those asked favored the initiated proposal that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, while 39 percent were opposed.
In terms of a legislative proposal (the poll asked about the proposal when it would raise the minimum wage to $9.20 an hour, the measure passed raises it to $9.25 an hour) showed that 49 percent of those asked supported the proposal, while 42 percent opposed it.
Asked which of the two proposals they would prefer, 39 percent said the proposal raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, while 38 percent said they favored the legislative proposal.
But 54 percent of those asked also said they disapproved of the legislative proposal effectively nullifying the initiated proposal.
The survey was taken of 600 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll was taken from May 17-20, and 20 percent of the respondents were from cell phones.
The poll also showed that the largest number of respondents, 22 percent, thought the main issue facing the state was improving the roads, while 17 percent said improving schools and increasing funding was the most important and 16 percent said improving the economy.
The poll also found that 52 percent of those asked favored raising the sales tax by a penny to help pay for road repairs, while 44 percent opposed it.
A plurality, 48 percent, favored a proposal to replace the current fuels tax with a 6 percent wholesale tax. Another 30 percent opposed the proposal.
But 77 percent opposed the idea of financing road repairs through a proposal to base revenues on miles driven, and just 18 percent thought it was a good idea. And 55 percent opposed the idea of making state roads toll roads, while 38 percent supported it.
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