Poll shows support for Step Up proposal

About 69 percent of likely Oklahoma voters support a plan to raise taxes and grant a $5,000 annual pay increase to teachers, according to the results of a new poll funded by the Step Up Oklahoma coalition.

The poll, taken from Jan. 30 through Feb. 5, shows 42 percent strongly support and 27 percent somewhat support the goals and some specific elements of the Step Up Oklahoma revenue and reform plan.

Of those polled, 24 percent opposed the propositions, including 13.6 percent in strong opposition.

The poll was paid for by the Step Up Oklahoma coalition of business and civic leaders and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.85 percent, said Bill Shapard, founder of SoonerPoll.

“I think had we polled this from six months to a year ago, I don’t think we would have found this type of broad-based support for such a plan,” Shapard said. “I think the voters are hungry for a solution to this budget impasse and giving teachers a $5,000 pay raise. I think we’ve been plagued with it far too long. I think voters are hungry for a solution and they see this as the solution that will get us there.”

Those polled were asked to “keep in mind that our state budget is still $100 million short, and teachers have not been given an increase in pay since 2008 and the state is losing teachers to other states because teacher pay is the lowest in the region.”

Poll participants were then provided with a summary of the revenueraising measures called for in the plan, including proposals to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 a pack, raise the initial gross production tax on oil and gas wells from 2 percent to 4 percent for the first 36 months and increase the tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by six cents a gallon.

Participants also were told increased revenue would be raised through state income taxes and were told how the proposed changes likely would affect people at various income levels.

Poll participants then were asked if they would support those changes if they were “assured by additional governmental reforms that the additional funding would go only to solve the current state budget deficit of $100 million, give teachers a $5,000 increase in pay and avoid future revenue shortfalls.”

The state Legislature is considering the tax-raising pieces of the Step Up Plan, with votes expected in the next few weeks.

The poll was taken of likely voters registered in Oklahoma and weighted by age, party, gender and congressional district. The complete poll results are available at NewsOK. com.