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Voters disagree with Cuomo budget tactics

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A new poll finds voters disagree with most of Gov. Andrew’s Cuomo’s tactics during the current budget negotiations. Cuomo has tied ethics reform and education policy changes to the budget, and threatened to hold up the spending plan if the legislature does not agree.  

A Siena College poll finds that, while New Yorkers think ethics reform and school funding are important, they don’t want the issues linked to the budget, and they say an on-time spending plan is important to them, says Siena’s Steve Greenberg.

“Voters are not thrilled with many of the ways that the governor is dealing with this year’s budget,” Greenberg said.

On who should be involved in budget negotiations, poll respondents think Cuomo should not exclude minority party leaders -- including the only female, Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins -- from budget talks.

Voters who were polled also say they want to raise the minimum wage higher than the governor is proposing.

But Greenberg says Cuomo’s approval rating is relatively strong, at 57 percent, and if the governor gets the result he wants in his budget, the public is likely to support him.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau Chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 public radio stations in New York State. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.