It’s the Economy, Budget, Education, and Health Care That Matter to Californians About Their State Government

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

PPIC Survey: “California Screaming: Economic Angst Hits Record High”

By Frank D. Russo

The Public Policy Institute of California has released today a massive survey of 2,000 Californians with 35 pages of data that is richly textured and shows the mosaic of opinions on issues of importance to residents and voters in our state.

We’ve already written articles on the findings here from PPIC on the February 5 primary election: the presidential race and on Prop 93, the term limits reform measure, but the rest from this offering from the PPIC has information that will have longer influences than these other fleeting poll numbers of fascination to politicos and horserace handicappers.

I’d recommend taking some time to peruse what the PPIC finds from this very large sample which has a low 2% margin of error. In the conflicting or seemingly inconsistent responses of Californians lies a clue as to the direction we should move forward in as a state and the difficulties of governing with a divided government and voting population.

Most Important Issue Facing the State

The most noticeable change is that “jobs, the economy” has surged to the forefront—or near the top of issues facing the state that voters consider the most important for the Governor and the Legislature to work on in 2008. 19% of all California adults as well as likely voters in the state cite this as the single most important issue compared with 7% a year ago. A year ago, immigration was the leading issue, now it is #4 at 14%. [N.B. Lou Dobbs!] The voters are gloomy about the economy and the future of the state and there are other findings about this.

The state budget, deficit, and taxes is another issue competing for the top spot, identified by 15% of all California adults and is first with 21% of likely voters. A year ago, the budget was mentioned by 5% of respondents.

Education and the schools is also near the top of the list, at 15% of all adults—and when it comes to budget cuts, K-12 education, the largest part of the California budget is one that the public wants protected—by a large margin—and that also by a large margin they would support tax increases to maintain.