Poll Shows Wisconsinites Support Reform but Evenly Divided on Budget Fight

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Most Wisconsinites support budget reform but are split evenly when it comes to the highly contested budget battle raging in Madison, according to a new poll sponsored by WisconsinReporter.com.

The poll which was conducted on February 21, 2011 of 500 likely voters in Wisconsin also showed a perceived discrepancy between benefits for public and private sector employees, with 69% believing that government workers in their community have better benefits than private sector workers.

 "This poll shows that a majority of the people in Wisconsin are standing behind aspects of Governor Walker's budget reform proposal," said Jason Stverak, President of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a national nonprofit journalism organization which operates WisconsinReporter.com. "Wisconsin Reporter has been on the ground floor of this story reporting from the Capitol since the budget battle began. This poll reiterates the opinions and comments that the reporting team at Wisconsin Reporter are hearing while capturing the breaking news from Madison."

The poll showed that 71% of Wisconsinites believe that Governor Walker's proposed budget changes that include unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6% are "fair". Also given the choice to reduce teacher pensions and salaries or cut sports and extra-curricular programs for students, 44% would reduce the pensions and only 34% would cut sports and extra-curricular programs. Full poll details are available here.

WisconsinReporter.com is a new statehouse news organization covering all of the legislative action in Wisconsin. It is a product of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a national nonprofit journalism organization. As this issue continues to develop, Wisconsin Reporter will be on the scene reporting the news as it breaks. For more information on Wisconsin Reporter including  full analysis of this poll visit WisconsinReporter.com.

For more information, please visit FranklinCenterHQ.org

SOURCE Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity