Poll: State voters say Albany corruption is “serious” problem, support minimum-wage increase

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) surveyed voters in New York state say corruption in state government is a “serious” problem, including 53 percent who call it “very serious.”

At the same time, 65 percent of the state’s voters support gradually increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

That’s according to a new poll of New York state registered voters that the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI) released Monday.

Besides the finding on state-government corruption, the survey also found two-thirds of respondents believe corruption is a “serious” problem among legislators from their area.

Six in 10 say it’s time to make the job of state legislator full time and ban outside income, while 55 percent do not want state legislators to get a raise from their current base salary of $79,500, even if outside income is banned.

The survey found that 84 percent of New Yorkers support an effort to strip pension payments from state legislators convicted of crimes related to their public service, regardless of when that official was first elected.

Respondents’ confidence in state government in Albany “hovers at historic low levels,” Steven Greenberg, Siena College pollster, said in the Siena release.

“Nearly nine in 10 voters say corruption is a serious problem in Albany, with more than half saying it’s ‘very’ serious. Nearly two-thirds think corruption among state legislators from their area is a serious problem. The New York Senate and the Assembly are each viewed favorably by fewer than 40 percent of voters,” said Greenberg.

Approval of Cuomo’s proposal to boost the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2019 broke down as follows: 80 percent of Democrats support it, 62 percent of independents and others approve, while just 36 percent of Republicans support the move.

“The minimum wage increase is strongly supported downstate and by a much closer 52-46 percent margin among upstate voters,” said Greenberg.

The survey also found that 80 percent of New York state voters support enacting paid family leave for New Yorkers through an employee-funded program that provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected paid leave to bond with a new child or care for a sick relative.

Researchers conducted the Siena College poll Jan. 24 through Jan. 28 by telephone calls conducted in English to 805 New York registered voters.

It has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting.

SRI statistically adjusted data by age, party, region and gender to ensure representativeness, according to its news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com