Most in Blue States Say Their State Finances Are Worsening; Democrats Favor Bailouts

Voters in so-called Blue Democratic-run states are more likely than those in Red GOP-led states to say their state finances are worsening. No wonder Democrats are much bigger fans of federal bailouts of financially troubled states than other voters are.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 26% of all Likely U.S. Voters say their state is in better financial shape than it was five years ago. Forty-five percent (45%) say their state is in worse financial shape. Twenty-five percent (25%) report that the finances of their home state are about the same. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters living in a Blue state say their state’s finances have gotten worse, compared to 40% of those living in Red states. Thirty-three percent (33%) of Red state voters say their state is in better financial shape, a view shared by just 20% of those living in Blue states.

In late 2017, 40% of voters in both Red and Blue states said their states’ finances had gotten worse over the previous five years. Thirty-four percent (34%) of those in Red states said things were better financially, compared to 22% of voters in Blue states.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of all voters now believe the federal government should provide bailout funding for states with serious financial problems. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree, with 16% undecided.

But while 65% of Democrats favor taxpayer bailouts for financially troubled states, just 33% of Republicans and 42% of voters not affiliated with either major party agree.

(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 26-27, 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.

Several cities, most notably Detroit and Hartford, have faced bankruptcy in recent years, but just 28% of Americans think the federal government should provide bailout funding for cities.

Women are bigger fans of state bailouts than men are. Voters of all ages are in general agreement on the idea.

Blacks (63%) are much bigger supporters of bailing out financially troubled states than whites (44%) and other minority voters (50%).

Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters who report that their state is in worse financial shape favor a federal bailout. Among those who say their states are in better shape, just as many (52%) are opposed.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters who Strongly Disapprove of the job President Trump is doing support federal bailouts for troubled states, compared to only 22% of those who Strongly Approve of the president’s job performance.

Enthusiasm about the economy started to grow immediately following Trump's election as president in November 2016. The Rasmussen Reports Consumer Spending Update clocked economic confidence at a high of 147.8 this past January, but that finding has since tumbled to a low of 93.7 in May following the coronavirus lockdown. The index was at 108.1 the final month President Obama and Vice President Biden were in office.

Voters agree government money isn’t enough to counter the coronavirus economic crash, but most Democrats think $2,000 monthly payments to Americans who earn less than $120,000 a year are necessary even as the lockdown begins to break down.

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.