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Majority For Slots In Md. Increases
Support for Gov. Martin O'Malley, shown with Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, left, was lackluster in a poll, with 53 percent approving of the job he has done.
(By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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The poll also suggested that part of O'Malley's sales pitch -- that most Marylanders would pay less in taxes under his plan -- has fallen short.
O'Malley has said the additional costs in sales tax would be offset in a majority of cases by savings in income taxes and a proposed cut in property taxes. But only 14 percent said they think the taxes paid by their immediate families would decrease. Far more, 45 percent, said they think their taxes would go up. And 37 percent think they would pay the same amount.
The state budget picture is clearly a drag on how O'Malley's performance is judged. Forty percent of those polled approve of his handling of the state budget and taxes, and 49 percent disapprove.
There is also a sense that O'Malley's accomplishments have been limited despite his successes in the first session of the legislature, in which the Democratic-controlled General Assembly heeded the new governor's call to approve a record level of school construction funding, adopt tighter emissions standards for automobiles and pass the country's first statewide law requiring government contractors to pay their employees a "living wage."
Only 31 percent said they think O'Malley has accomplished "a lot" or "a fair amount" in his first year. By contrast, 50 percent had said they thought Ehrlich had accomplished "a lot" or "a fair amount" in his first year as governor.
A majority of those polled said they were wary about what the state would do if the special session ends without a deficit-reduction agreement.
Two-thirds are "very concerned" that the state will suspend plans to spend additional money on public schools, as it is required to do under the Thornton law. That's particularly true among women with children in public schools: 80 percent are deeply worried.
About two-thirds are "very concerned" that the state will make cuts in other programs, and nearly as many are that anxious that the state would raise taxes significantly if the governor and the legislature do not agree on a plan.
The poll was conducted by telephone from Oct. 18 to 22 among a random sample of 1,103 Maryland adults. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is larger for subgroups.
Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta and staff writer Lisa Rein contributed to this report.
