Poll finds Tennesseans skeptical of Senate Republican tax plan

Excerpt from a Hart Research Associates polling memo on a Nov. 17-9, 2017 survey of 400 registered voters in Tennessee, with a margin of error of ±five percentage points, asking their sentiments on the tax plan now pending in the U.S. Senate.  It was apparently commissioned by Americans for Fair Taxation, a non-profit organization of multiple groups – including labor unions and others generally oriented toward Democrats.

-Just 30% of Tennessee voters currently approve of the Republican tax plan, while nearly half (47%) disapprove. Significantly, strong sentiment on the issue is even more lopsided, with more than twice as many voters strongly disapproving (28%) as strongly approving (13%).

-In partisan terms, Democrats are much more unified in opposition to the plan (7% approve, 80% disapprove) than are Republicans in support (58% approve, 19% disapprove). And voters in the center are sharply negative, with independents disapproving by 52% to 18%.

-Opposition to the plan is especially widespread among voters younger than 40 (61% disapprove), women (50%), and those in the western part of the state (55%).

-Among those most familiar with the plan (57% of voters), a solid 55% disapprove, including 39% who strongly disapprove.

…A 54% majority say the tax plan mostly will benefit the wealthy, while far fewer expect it to help middle-class (24%) or low-income (6%) Americans. This runs directly counter to voters’ own preference, which is that wealthy families pay more rather than less in federal taxes (48% to 15%).

-Just 18% expect that the Republican plan will lower their own taxes, while almost twice that proportion believe that it will increase their taxes (33%) and a 39% plurality anticipate no impact either way.

-Only 20% of Tennessee voters believe that the plan’s corporate tax cuts will be used to raise wages for employees, while 72% reject this claim.

-By a 19-point margin, making sure that the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share in taxes is considered a higher priority than across-the-board tax cuts (58% to 39%).

Note: The whole memo is HERE.  The question text with response results on each question is HERE.