ARKANSANS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO GOVERNOR, POLICE, LIBRARIES, HIGHER EDUCATION, AND PARKS AND RECREATION IN FIRST STATE-WDE POLL

FAYETTEVILLE and LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —Two-thirds of Arkansas’ citizens (66.3 percent) approve of the way Mike Huckabee is handling his job as governor. Overwhelming majorities are satisfied with their community’s police protection (82 percent), public libraries (76.2 percent), health care and hospital services (67.9 percent), as well as their state’s colleges and universities (83.5 percent) and parks and recreation facilities (80.9 percent).

That’s the good news, according to the first statewide survey of adult men and women by the new Arkansas Poll, conducted by researchers at the University of Arkansas.

Hillary and Bill Clinton didn’t do badly either. She got an approval rating of 58.6 percent in handling her job as first lady, while Bill’s approval rating was 54.9 percent for handling his job as president.

The less-than-good news, the poll reports, is that half the respondents (50.3 percent) are unsatisfied with the opportunity for good jobs in their community. Large majorities are unsatisfied with the condition of the roads and highways across the state (68.2 percent) and also say that property taxes in Arkansas are too high (73.2 percent).

And when asked to name the biggest problem facing the state today, Arkansans cited the need for quality education more than any other issue.

"We’ve unearthed the mother lode of opinion data with this poll, and we are grateful to the 885 men and women who took the time to express their views and give us a scientifically representative cross-section of what Arkansans think," said Dr. Janine Parry, assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas and the poll’s founder.

"These data give us a baseline of opinion on a variety of topics, and we’ll be able to measure how opinion changes over time when we ask people the same questions during future polls," Parry added. "We hope these findings will give government officials, legislators, policy-makers, planners, the news media and citizens of every stripe a firm knowledge base for discussion and action."

The Arkansas Poll consisted of 68 questions asked via a telephone survey that took place between Sept. 15 and Oct. 2. The phone calls were conducted by the University’s Survey Research Center, directed by Dr. Molly Longstreth.

In other findings, the State’s two U.S. senators, Republican Tim Hutchinson and Democrat Blanche Lincoln received approval ratings of 47.6 percent and 45.5 percent, respectively, for the way they were handling their jobs.

Politically, the Arkansas Poll’s findings may suggest a continuing trend toward Republicanism in a state that remained a Democratic stronghold longer than most other Southern states.

When asked whether they thought of themselves as a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or whatever, 22.8 percent of the respondents aligned themselves as Republicans, 35.1 percent as Democrats, and 31 percent with neither of the two major political parties.

But when the Independents were asked whether they thought of themselves as "closer" to the Republican or Democratic Party, 32.8 percent identified the Republicans, 28.5 the Democrats, and 34.7 stuck to the "Independent" label.

"There has long been a pattern of more and more Arkansans identifying with the Republican Party," Parry said. "There are likely still registered Democrats out there who remain so out of tradition but who philosophically lie closer to the Republican Party’s ideology."

Parry pointed out that such a hypothesis is supported by the poll’s findings on the ideology of Arkansans: 14.2 percent of the respondents identified themselves as "liberal," 37.6 percent as "moderate" and 38.2 percent as "conservative."

Schools and community services:

Despite the fact that respondents identified the need for quality education as the state’s biggest problem, 61.6 percent expressed satisfaction with the kindergarten through 12^th grade public schools in their community.

--63.3 percent said they were satisfied with the services for the elderly in their community.

--Only 51 percent were satisfied with the cultural activities such as concerts, plays and art shows in their community, however.

State services:

Only 36.4 percent were satisfied with the public welfare system in the state; 38.8 percent were unsatisfied and 24.3 percent didn’t know.

Asked about the quality of state and local government services "considering the taxes you pay," 51.6 percent were unsatisfied, 42.7 percent were satisfied and 5.5 percent didn’t know.

As for the effect of having a large number of new state legislators on the quality of the past legislative session, nearly half-48.1 percent-said they hadn’t thought much about the matter. 29.5 percent said it improved the quality, 15.7 said it reduced the quality, and 6.7 percent said they didn’t know.

State and national issues:

A large majority-71.3 percent-approved of taking the state sales tax off food purchased at a grocery store.

A smaller majority-53.2 percent-opposed legalizing casino gambling in Arkansas; 38.2 percent favored the move while 5.4 percent hadn’t thought much about it and 2.8 percent didn’t know.

On abortion, 45.4 percent said they favored laws making it more difficult for a woman to get an abortion; 32.2 percent said no change should be made to existing laws, while 13.8 percent said they favored making it easier to get an abortion.

Nearly three-fourths of the respondents-73.6 percent--favored a Constitutional amendment making it illegal to burn the American flag.

On gun control, 49.4 percent said they favored stricter gun control; 31.3 percent said less strict, 15 percent said neither and 4 percent didn’t know.

As for the Y2K computer bug problem, 35.3 percent said they were not too concerned and 28.9 percent said they were not at all concerned; 22.4 said they were

somewhat concerned while only 8.2 percent said they were very concerned.

Taxes:

Nearly three-fourths of Arkansans (73.2 percent) believe that property taxes in Arkansas are too high.

A plurality-42.3 percent-believes property taxes should be reduced, while another 29.8 percent believe they should be abolished; 22.3 percent believe they should be kept the same, 3.8 percent don’t know much about the issue, while only 1.5 percent believe they should increased.

When asked if property tax reduction or abolition would mean fewer public services and/or services of lower quality, 47.1 percent agreed, 43.9 percent disagreed, and 7.7 percent didn’t know.

Asked about all taxes paid to state and local government, 52.8 percent said they were too high, 33.2 percent said they were about right, 11.4 percent said they hadn’t thought much on the matter, while 1.4 percent said they were too low.

Life in Arkansas:

By a wide margin, Arkansans consider their state a good place to live compared to other states; 36.8 percent rated Arkansas as a much better place to live compared with other states, 29.5 percent said it was slightly better, 19.9 said it was about the same, and 10.2 percent rated it worse.

What’s more, nearly three-fourths of the respondents (73.3 percent) felt that Arkansas is generally headed in the right direction; 14.7 percent said it was moving in the wrong direction and 11.3 percent said they didn’t know.

When asked to compare living in Arkansas now to five years ago, however, 38.5 percent said it was about the same; 33.6 percent rated it better; 19.9 percent rated it worse.

When asked how well they were doing financially at present and how well they expected to be doing a year from now, a paradox occurred.

Nearly half-46.2 percent-said they were worse off today than last year; 37.2 percent said they were better off and 16.2 percent said about the same.

But respondents waxed more optimistic about the future: 45.6 percent said they would be about the same financially a year from now, but 43.3 percent said they would be better off. Only 6.3 said they would be worse off; 4.6 percent said they didn’t know.

Described demographically, the 885 respondents to the Arkansas Poll were:

--46 percent male, 54 percent female;

--81.6 percent white, 11.3 percent black or African-American, 1.9 percent Hispanic, and 1.7 percent Native American; all other categories of ethnicity were less than one percent;

--73 percent Protestant, 7.9 percent Catholic, 0.8 percent Jewish, and 14.9 percent "something else."

--33.9 percent from small towns, 31.3 percent from rural areas, 29.5 percent from cities, and 5.2 percent from suburbs.

--33.7 percent with "some college" including business or trade schools, 26.2 percent high school graduates or equivalent, 14.9 percent college graduates, and 13.9 percent less than a high school graduate.

The poll cost $22,500 and was funded by the UA Graduate School.

In addition to the comprehensive findings released today, four special reports will be released to Arkansas news media weekly in November. The special reports will provide more in-depth analysis on the subjects of taxes, state and national policy issues, political party and ideology, and life in Arkansas.

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