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LIU Hornstein Center Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Infrastructure Investment, Disagreement on How to Pay for It

BROOKVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new Long Island University Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling and Analysis poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly support a greater investment in infrastructure and believe that infrastructure spending stimulates the economy.  However, Americans are far more mixed on which level of government is primarily responsible for infrastructure and the role of public-private partnerships.

"The American people are saying loudly and clearly they want their elected leaders to spend more on infrastructure," said Dr. Edward Summers, Fellow at the Hornstein Center.  "They are not wedded to how that spending is done, and see a role at all levels of government as well as the private sector."

The national poll showed that 72 percent of Americans agree that more investment in infrastructure is needed.  This is not surprising given that just 16 percent describe the current state of infrastructure as "excellent or good" while 75 percent describe America's infrastructure as "fair or poor."  There is slight partisan disagreement with 27 percent of Republicans describing the state of infrastructure as poor, while 50 percent of Democrats feel that way.

As Congress prepares to debate infrastructure and the Trump Administration's proposal which calls for almost all of the proposed $1.5 Trillion investment to be funded by state and local government, there are stark differences on where Americans see the responsibility to fund infrastructure.

An almost equal 40 percent of Americans believe that the Federal government is primarily responsible for funding infrastructure versus 39 percent of Americans who believe that State or Local governments are primarily responsible with the remainder having no opinion or saying private investors.  Similarly, 42 percent of Americans say that projects should be funded through Public-Private Partnerships, while 35 percent believe they should be funded soley through government, with just 6 percent saying that projects should solely be funded through the private sector.

"Americans support government infrastructure spending and generally prefer a role for the private sector," said Dr. Edward Summers, Fellow at the Hornstein Center.  "As lawmakers debate this issue, there is clearly room for agreement. "

While 78 percent of Americans overwhelmingly agree that infrastructure spending can stimulate the economy, just 44 percent agree that infrastructure spending creates sustainable job growth while an equal number of respondents believe that the jobs created by infrastructure spending is not sustainable.

The findings are based on a published public opinion poll conducted from February 14-15, 2018 of 1037 Americans.

Dr. Summers, who obtained his Ph.D. in Public Policy, is a Fellow at the Hornstein Center. His career includes experience in public policy, higher education, and opinion research.

Long Island University
Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling, and Analysis
National Survey
February 14-15, 2018

 

SOURCE Long Island University

News published on 16 february 2018 at 14:49 and distributed by: