If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

BUSINESS

Most Agree With Trump’s Temporary Cutback in Regulating Small Business

Voters come down strongly on the side of small businesses, with most in favor of President Trump’s plan to loosen government regulation on them while they recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey shows that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of Trump’s decision to temporarily limit government regulation of small businesses to help them bounce back. Just 26% are opposed, while 17% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

The president’s action has triggered criticism from some. While 70% of Republicans and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree with the decision to temporarily limit government regulation of small businesses, just 44% of Democrats share that view.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of all voters agree, though, that small businesses are hurt by government regulations more than big businesses are. Only nine percent (9%) think big businesses are hurt more. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) believe most big businesses take advantage of the political process to hurt smaller competitors. Just 13% disagree, with 19% undecided.

Findings for both these questions have changed little in surveys in recent years

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted May 20-21, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The number of Americans citing lost jobs in their immediate family thanks to the coronavirus has fallen back to the level seen earlier in the crisis.

Democrats are only slightly less likely than Republicans and unaffiliated voters to think small businesses are hurt more than big ones by government regulations. But they believe more strongly that big businesses take advantage of the political process to hurt smaller competitors.

Government workers (48%) are a lot less supportive of temporarily limiting regulation of small businesses than entrepreneurs (60%) and those who work in the private sector (63%) are.

Generally speaking, sizable majorities in nearly every demographic category believe government regulations hurt small businesses more than big businesses.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of self-designated conservative voters favor a temporary halt to government regulation of small businesses, compared to 51% of moderates and 37% of liberals.

Most voters in general support Trump’s temporary freeze on legal immigration to give Americans a better chance in the post-coronavirus job market. Most Democrats do not. 

The coronavirus has done little to dent voters’ optimism about America’s future, and most believe the country will be great again

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it's free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted May 20-21, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.