Publication date: April 1st, 2024
Written by: Travis Taylor
The Center for Excellence in Polling recently surveyed likely voters in a nationwide poll on several issues facing the federal government currently. Results indicate that voters support measures that protect taxpayer resources and promote health insurance competition.
Voters oppose using Child Tax Credit payments as political incentives
72%
… of likely voters oppose allowing individuals who entered the United States illegally to receive the Child Tax Credit (CTC) payment.1 Opposition to sending CTC payments to individuals who entered the U.S. illegally comes from overwhelming numbers of Republican (85%) and Independent (81%) voters. Despite their party’s open-border policies, half of Democratic voters (50%) oppose sending taxpayer money to individuals who entered the county illegally.
Opposition remains high (56%) to doling out taxpayer money to individuals who entered the country illegally, even when those individuals have children who were born in the U.S., and opposition to the policy rises sharply (77%) when it involves sending CTC payments to individuals whose children no longer live in the United States.
61%
… of likely voters oppose sending CTC payments to individuals who pay no income tax. Three-quarters (74%) of Republicans and nearly two-thirds (62%) of Independents oppose the policy of sending CTC payments to individuals with zero tax liability. Even a strong plurality (49%) of Democrats opposes such a policy.
Voters support a more competitive health insurance marketplace
As the failures of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion have become more abundantly clear, a strong majority of likely voters say they support more competition in the health insurance market. Nearly eight in ten (78%) of voters say they support Congress setting up a new marketplace that allows individuals to purchase private health insurance at an affordable price. Support for a more affordable private health insurance market comes from across the political spectrum with three-quarters of Republicans (76%) and Independents (73%) along with 83% of Democrats expressing support.
Seven in ten voters want to REIN in government bureaucracy
69%
… of likely voters support requiring federal bureaucratic agencies to get congressional approval before costly regulations are allowed to go into effect. Reasserting Congress’s authority as appropriators is not a partisan issue. Support for congressional oversight of costly regulations comes from large majorities across the political spectrum, including eight in ten (80%) Republicans, seven in ten (69%) Independents, and six in ten (60%) Democrats.
The bottom line
As Congress considers a range of issues—including reforms to the border, the tax code, the insurance marketplace, and the regulatory environment—it is clear that Americans want Congress to focus on policies that put American taxpayers first. Members of Congress have an opportunity to act on reforms that enjoy broad bipartisan support, such as meaningful health insurance competition and reasserting their authority over spending, while rejecting policies that are opposed by large majorities of American voters—such as sending Child Tax Credit payments to individuals who bear no income tax liability or who broke our immigration laws to enter the country illegally.
1 Support and oppose results reported throughout are calculated by combining “strongly support/oppose” with “somewhat support/oppose” responses.
Methodology
Results for this poll were collected using a sampling frame from an online panel collected by the Center for Excellence in Polling. The national sample is of 1,019 likely voters.
The survey was conducted February 2, 2024. The margin of sampling error is ± 3.07 percentage points. The margin of sampling error may be higher for subgroups. Results presented may not always appear to total 100 percent due to rounding.
Data were post-stratified using weighted demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and the state election authorities. Demographic information for actual voters in past elections was used to construct sample target weights.