More than half of the 1,200 people interviewed for the 1998 Nevada Poll would like to see the state's legislature meet every year, rather than every other year, as it does now, and 87 percent said a limit should be set on the amounts political candidates can spend on their campaigns.
The Nevada Poll, which was released today, is conducted every two years, prior to sessions of the Nevada Legislature, by UNLV's Cannon Center for Survey Research and the University of Nevada, Reno's Senator Allan Bible Center for Applied Research.
For the 1998 opinion survey, the two centers conducted telephone interviews in October, November, and December with 1,200 people in southern, northern, and rural Nevada, asking them 51 questions about selected legislative issues, such as taxes and governmental spending on education, crime, and welfare. Several questions asked for demographic information.
"Despite the diversity and geographical distribution of residents in Nevada, the opinions of residents in northern, southern, and rural counties are quite consistent on a variety of issues, such as spending for various programs and sources of tax revenues," according to Dr. Grace Woo, director of the Cannon Center at UNLV.
Woo noted several exceptions:
- A higher percentage of Clark County residents wanted more funding for environmental programs; construction of new highways, roads, and freeways; and construction of sewer systems.
- There was more support in Clark County than in the rest of the state for the introduction of a state tax on corporate profits and an increase in taxes on gaming.
Woo also remarked on an upward trend in the statewide opposition to the plan to store high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Southern Nevada. Over the last four surveys the percentages of those opposed were as follows: 59 percent in 1992; 64 percent, 1994; 73 percent, 1996; 75 percent, 1998.
In the 1998 poll, 73 percent of respondents in Southern Nevada said state taxes are "just about right," while 17 percent said they are too high. These figures are virtually identical to the statewide average of 72 percent and 18 percent.
Asked if they would support a sales tax increase, 45 percent of Southern Nevadan respondents opposed an increase and 36 percent favored it. Only 22 percent favored expanding the sales tax to include certain services, and even fewer (10 percent) favored applying the sales tax to groceries. Applying a state tax to corporate profits was a more popular option: 66 percent of respondents in the south were in favor, 62 percent statewide.
Respondents were about evenly split over government spending on parks and recreation areas: 49 percent favored more spending; 44 percent said spending should continue at current levels.
Several issues drew strong support from Southern Nevada respondents for increased funding, including programs to prevent juvenile crime (80 percent), assistance for low-income elderly (81 percent), training for police officers to deal with domestic violence (69 percent), programs for victims of domestic violence (73 percent), child abuse prevention (82 percent), K-12 (63 percent), and public school teachers' salaries (66 percent).
Southern Nevadans favored banning smoking in public, with 53 percent saying they supported the idea, 35 percent opposing it, and 12 percent neutral. These figures were very similar to those in northern Nevada and the state as a whole. Rural respondents were somewhat more inclined to oppose a ban, with 46 percent in support, 42 percent opposed, 10 percent neutral, and 2 percent responding "don't know."
For more information about Nevada Poll 1998, call Dr. Grace Woo at the Cannon Center for Survey Research at 895-0167. Results are available on UNLV's web site at http://surveys.unlv.edu/.
