SPLC Action Fund Poll Shows Overwhelming Public Support for Congress to Pass Additional COVID-19 Relief

WASHINGTON — Today, SPLC Action Fund released a poll showing that eight out of every 10 voters — across party lines — in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana strongly support Congress  providing additional coronavirus relief and financial aid for individuals, families, small businesses and essential public services.

More than two months after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Solutions (HEROES) Act, the Senate’s proposed relief bill won’t  go far enough. Based on news reports, the Republican proposal doesn’t provide any money for states and cities struggling with the crisis, even as COVID-19 cases are surging and unemployment numbers are back on the rise.

The poll, conducted July 3-8 by Tulchin Research on behalf of the SPLC Action Fund, finds support for additional COVID-19 relief is robust across all three states and attracts support across partisan and racial lines. Specifically, the poll shows that more than eight-in-10 voters (81%) across Florida, Georgia and Louisiana say that they support Congress passing additional coronavirus relief for individuals, families, small businesses and essential public services.

“Critical COVID-19 measures enacted by Congress in March are about to expire and we need to act immediately,” said SPLC Action Fund President and CEO Margaret Huang. “Our polling shows overwhelming support for continuing federal support for families, small businesses and essential workers, especially teachers and those who rely on the government for their own health. Now is not the time to play political games with their health. We urge the Senate to recognize this need and support additional funding to these sectors.”

The poll also reveals solid majorities of voters in these states favor a variety of specific relief proposals. They include:

• Ensuring basic health and safety protections for workers, with 85% total support in Florida, 83% in Georgia and 86% in Louisiana.
• Providing federal funding for public education so teachers and schools can safely meet their students’ needs, with 80% support in Florida, 84% in Georgia and 83% in Louisiana.
• Providing federal funding to state and municipal governments to help maintain essential services like health care and public safety, with 82% support in Florida, 82% in Georgia and 80% in Louisiana.
• Ensuring that state and federal prisons have the resources they need to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within their facilities, with 76% support in Florida, 78% in Georgia, and 77% in Louisiana.
• Requiring ICE to provide access to free testing and basic hygiene products to all individuals that are currently being held in immigration detention centers in order to prevent the spread of the virus, with 82% support in Florida, 80% in Georgia and 79% in Louisiana.

Additionally, the poll found solid majorities of voters across these three states supporting Congress providing additional funds to states in order to help them expand opportunities for Americans to exercise their right to vote without risking their health, including expanding opportunities to vote by mail (63% Florida, 65% Georgia, 53% Louisiana).

Survey Methodology: From July 3-8, 2020, Tulchin Research conducted an online survey among 1,500 registered voters in Florida (n600), Georgia (n500), and Louisiana (n400). The margin of error for the survey is +/- 2.53%, including, +/- 4% among respondents in Florida, +/- 4.38% among respondents in Georgia, and +/- 4.9% among respondents in Louisiana.

Read the full survey findings.

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