La Follette Policy Poll

La Follette School Director Susan Webb Yackee explains, “Wisconsin elections are becoming increasingly nationalized—they affect outcomes in the country at large. The La Follette Policy Poll points to some reasons why that is true. Wisconsinites—and I mean all Wisconsinites, Democrats, Republicans and Independents—view public policy issues as more problematic in the U.S. overall than in our state.  This suggests that a national lens on public policy issues like healthcare, climate change, the budget deficit and government regulation might get folks more engaged and make them more likely to vote.”

Breaking down the data by political identification, age and gender provides some interesting comparisons. For example, Democrats are more concerned about climate change and income and wealth distribution, while Republicans are more concerned about the federal deficit and government regulation. Younger respondents consistently rank climate change, healthcare and income and wealth distribution as bigger problems than older respondents.

The widest differences in opinions on climate change, healthcare, race issues and income and wealth distribution are apparent when the poll responses are broken down by gender. Respondents identifying as female are more likely to call climate change, healthcare, race relations and income and wealth distribution extremely big national problems than males.

“The poll results regarding confidence in government echoed the responses on policy issues, in that Wisconsinites expressed greater concerns at the national level,” says La Follette School Director Susan Webb Yackee.

Associate Professor Manuel Teodoro notes that “Partisanship strongly correlates with confidence in government at all levels, with Democrats generally more confident than Republicans at all levels. It’s also clear that confidence in state and federal government varies considerably by race, with white respondents expressing significantly greater confidence than racial/ethnic minority respondents.”

La Follette School Professor Gregory Nemet says, “These poll results are insightful because they indicate that there is more bipartisan agreement on the need to do something on climate than political rhetoric would suggest.”

Assistant Professor Morgan Edwards, also of the La Follette School, explains, “More Wisconsinites support than oppose almost every climate change policy we polled (with the exception of building new nuclear power plants), from including the cost of carbon when approving new energy infrastructure to helping pay for new technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Policies to invest in renewable energy and reduce pollution are particularly popular. Seventy percent of Wisconsinites support doubling the amount of electricity coming from renewables, and 76% support taxing industries to remove industrial pollution. These policies create benefits beyond climate change, including creating renewable-energy jobs and reducing emissions of air pollutants that harm human health.”

Some equity-focused measures generate strong opposition, including paying cash reparations (57% strongly oppose, 12% somewhat oppose) and taking race into account for college admissions (46% strongly oppose, and 15% somewhat oppose). Funding training on diversity generates lower resistance (24% strongly oppose), but the number of people who strongly oppose it is similar to the number of people who strongly support it, suggesting polarization around the topic.

The poll also captured residents’ concerns about retirement finances. Thirty-three percent of Wisconsin respondents say they are very or extremely concerned about not having enough money for retirement. Forty-nine percent of people with income below $40,000 are very or extremely concerned about running out of retirement funds.

According to La Follette School Professor J. Michael Collins, “Some workers have the ability to save through their employer, but many smaller businesses cannot afford to offer retirement plans. Wider access to retirement savings would improve the financial well-being of Wisconsin’s workers. In general, these patterns are predictable. As highlighted by the report issued by the Governor’s Retirement Security Task Force, Wisconsin doesn’t match states like Illinois in supporting retirement benefits.” Collins, a member of the task force, helped write the report.

La Follette School Associate Professor Manuel Teodoro points out that “On average, Wisconsinite’s favor addressing water quality challenges according to a polluter pays principle. When asked about measures to address water quality:

• Seventy-five percent strongly supported or somewhat supported rules requiring farms to maintain a 15-foot buffer between cropland and rivers or lakes.
• Fifty-five percent strongly supported or somewhat supported taxing fertilizers to reduce runoff from farms.
• Forty-two percent strongly supported or somewhat supported limits on construction of new high-capacity wells.
• Thirty-five percent strongly supported or somewhat supported raising water utility rates to pay for removal of industrial chemicals.