75 percent back key parts of coronavirus package: poll

Seventy-five percent of voters support key parts of the coronavirus stimulus package, according to a new poll released as the House is set vote Wednesday to approve the measure, sending the $1.9 trillion bill to President Biden’s desk.

The Politico-Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that 51 percent of registered voters said they’d “strongly support” a package that included the main components of the Biden bill. 

Respondents were asked if they’d back a bill that “provides up to $1,400 in direct payments to Americans making less than $75,000 a year, $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments, funding to support K-12 and higher education to re-open, and extends increased unemployment benefits until October 2021.”

Another 24 percent said they’d “somewhat support” such legislation, while just 18 percent opposed it. Ten percent said they opposed “strongly.”

The question did not specifically mention that the stimulus checks, funding for state and local governments, support for public education and increased unemployment benefits are key parts of Biden’s specific relief package. However, the poll tracks with others that have shown the president’s proposal to be popular across the country.

The measures enjoy support across party lines, with 90 percent of Democrats either “strongly” or “somewhat” supporting the package, along with 71 percent of independents and 59 percent of Republicans.

The bill was approved by the Senate without a single GOP vote, and all GOP House members are also expected to vote against it, despite the popularity in polls. 

The GOP has railed against the bill as too expensive and filled with measures that do not specifically relate to the coronavirus pandemic or its financial fallout.

The Politico-Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,990 registered voters March 6-8 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.