http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/151513.php


Poll: Arizonans support Prop. 300
By Howard Fischer


Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.17.2006
advertisementPHOENIX -- Arizonans appear ready to deny even more services to those not here legally.
A new statewide poll shows that 52 percent of those asked say they strongly support Proposition 300. That measure would deny adult education classes and subsidized child care to illegal immigrants.
It would not deny them admission to state-run universities and community colleges. But it would require that they pay the higher tuition charged to out-of-state students, even if they otherwise qualify as Arizona residents.
Another 18 percent told pollster Fred Solop of the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University they were leaning in support of the measure.
By contrast, opposition -- both strong and weak -- totaled only 22 percent.
"There is a frustration that it's tapping into," said Solop. "People aren't necessarily paying attention to details but they want something done."
Approval of the measure would be a victory for those who pushed what had been Proposition 200 two years ago.
That measure was advertised as denying public benefits to people in this country illegally. But an official opinion by state Attorney General Terry Goddard after it was approved narrowed its scope to just a handful of programs.
State lawmakers approved an identical measure earlier this year only to have it vetoed by Gov. Janet Napolitano. She complained specifically about the tuition measure, saying it was not fair to students who had been brought to this country as young children.
Yet Solop's poll conducted in the last week found that 58 percent of the 403 likely voters questioned want to keep Napolitano around for another four years.
Republican challenger Len Munsil is supported by 25 percent, with another 3 percent for Libertarian Barry Hess and the balance either undecided or saying they support someone else. Those numbers are in line with earlier surveys conducted by other organizations.
Solop also found Arizonans evenly divided between the two competing measures dealing with where people can smoke.
Proposition 206, the more comprehensive, is backed by 55 percent of those asked; an alternative that would continue to allow smoking in bars, Proposition 201, has the support of 56 percent.
But Solop noted that Proposition 201 tallied more voters who say they strongly support the measure than Proposition 206, suggesting that backing for that plan, which also would overrule local ordinances which now ban smoking in bars, is not as deep.
If both pass, the one that gets more votes takes precedence to the extent they conflict, primarily on smoking in bars. But it is possible that even if Proposition 201 gets more votes, the 2-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes in Proposition 206 to pay for enforcement also would kick in. That's because nothing in Proposition 201 specifically precludes the levy.
The new survey also shows that 51 percent of those questioned said they want to amend the state constitution to define marriage as being solely between one man and one woman.
That is a setback for foes who have been trying to convince voters that the effect of Proposition 107 is far broader, specifically prohibiting governments from offering insurance coverage and other benefits to the domestic partners of their unmarried employees, whether of the same or opposite sex.
Solop's poll also finds continued strong support for Proposition 204 to prohibit pregnant pigs from being housed in stalls where they cannot turn around, and Proposition 202 to require employers in Arizona to pay workers at least $6.75 an hour.
Voters also back Proposition 207 which would restrict the ability of government to take property for private purposes and require compensation of landowners when a government action reduced the value of their property.
Of the ballot measures Solop surveyed, only one appears headed for defeat: Proposition 200, with 59 percent opposed. That measure would provide a $1 million reward for a voter every two years, a move that author Mark Osterloh said would encourage people to go to the polls.
The survey has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
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