Alaskans support 'massive' increases in education funding, child care legislation and ban on federal trawling, according to new poll

A new poll from the progressive group Data for Progress shows that a majority of Alaskans support a significant increase in state education funding.

In a survey of 1,120 Alaskans planning to vote this November, 52% said they supported a “substantial” increase in the base student allocation, or per-student funding the state gives school districts. Almost 40% of respondents have little or no support for the increase.

The poll digs deeper to see how much support among Alaskans would increase. Half support an increase of at least $680 per student, the same amount the House and Senate passed with broad bipartisan support in recent weeks.

“While $680 is a typical amount, many people wanted more,” said Jason Katz Brown, senior advisor at Anchorage-based Data for Progress, which worked on the study. ” he said. “What our results consistently show is that Matzu is the only constituency that wants a smaller increase.”

The group released the poll results at a crucial time. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is threatening to veto the education bill unless lawmakers pass additional legislation that would add new retention benefits for teachers and other priorities. He has until March 14 to sign the bill or veto it.

Although Data for Progress often works with candidates and campaigns, this research was not conducted on behalf of any of its clients, Katzbroun said.

“No one was paying us for this poll. I think we just wanted to make this data public so that legislators, the governor and the administration could make good decisions,” he said. .

The investigation also touched on other issues in the Alaska Legislature. Katz-Brown said two-thirds of respondents support the House-passed bill that expands subsidies and provides new tax credits for child care assistance.

“Overall, I really thought the bipartisan, consensus-building nature of the Alaska Legislature was reflected in this outcome,” Katz-Brown said.

Another proposal that would require insurers to cover a full year of contraception with a single prescription, rather than a three-month supply, also had wide support among poll respondents, with approximately 76% of respondents said they supported this proposal; 69% of them said they supported this proposal. People who identify as Republicans. The bill that would make this change, House Bill 17, is pending in the House Rules Committee but has not yet been brought to the floor this Congress.

The survey also asked respondents about the 12 executive orders Dunleavy issued at the beginning of Congress. Do you think this order will make state government more efficient and effective and improve decision-making, or will it worsen decision-making by reducing public input and community representation? Nearly 40 Alaskans opposed the order. -Point margin.

Katzbroun said his questions sought to frame the issues on both sides.

“I would have liked to have included more convincing arguments from the governor and his administration, but they have consistently stuck to their message that this will make state government more efficient and effective,” he said. “I think this shows that we have a lot of work to do to convince Alaskans that this will improve government and make decision-making more effective.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a number of orders on March 12th.

The poll also asked about the 2024 presidential election. This means Donald Trump has a 12 point lead in the state. And about 60% of respondents disapprove of Joe Biden's performance as president.

By a roughly 2-to-1 margin, Alaskans told pollsters they don't want a merger between grocery store giants Albertsons and Kroger. And in what Katzbroun called an unexpected finding, about two-thirds of respondents support a federal ban on trawling off Alaska.

The poll was conducted from late February to early March and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.