A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows broad support for an infrastructure bill, with the caveat that many Americans want to make sure it’s paid for.
Eighty percent of registered voters said “passing a comprehensive infrastructure bill to modernize roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the United States” should be a “top” or “important” priority. Northeastern voters — with their harsh winters and centuries-old infrastructure — were somewhat more enthusiastic about the idea than Westerners.
Voters weren’t so gung-ho about infrastructure that they were willing to increase the national debt to pay for it, though. Only 23 percent said they’d agree to that, while 49 percent said “the federal government should spend more on infrastructure such as roads, bridges and airports only if it reduces spending in other areas or raises new revenues or taxes.” Ten percent said not to spend more in any case.
The poll also broke down infrastructure spending by mode. Thirty-five percent of registered voters want to spend “much” more on roads, with 39 percent in favor of spending “somewhat” more.
Airports and rail got less support than roads, with just 21 percent in favor of “much” more spending for either mode and 34 percent in favor of “somewhat” more spending for airports and 36 percent in favor of “somewhat” more spending for rail.
The complete crosstabulation results can be found here.
