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Maryland voters are so concerned about the quality of their public schools that a majority say they would pay higher taxes and allow slot machines in the state if the money would go toward improving education, a new poll shows.

As the 90-day General Assembly session gets under way today, most voters say lawmakers should cut government spending to close a state budget shortfall – but not at the expense of education.

By a 52-40 percent margin, state voters are willing to pay higher taxes for better schools, according to the Maryland Poll, a survey conducted for The Sun by Potomac Inc. And 54 percent favor amending the state constitution to allow slot machines if a portion of the proceeds is spent on education, with 39 percent opposing the idea.

“The fundamental concern of the quality of schools in Maryland is making slots more politically palatable, especially in a time of economic uncertainty,” said Keith Haller, president of Potomac Inc., a Bethesda polling firm.

“If there is a narrow window of opportunity for slots to be favorably considered, I think 2002 is that year.”

Marylanders answered questions on a variety of the most contentious issues that will come before the General Assembly in the coming weeks.

Their responses demonstrate that Maryland remains a strikingly liberal state, but that voters’ views on some issues – such as protecting the environment at the expense of job creation – have moderated somewhat during the current economic downturn.

  • A slim plurality of voters, 49 percent, say they would be willing to temporarily forgo the final year of a phased-in income-tax reduction to help balance the state budget. Forty-three percent say the cut – about $75 for an average family of four – should take effect as planned. Legislative leaders are divided on whether the money should be returned to taxpayers this year or spent on programs, and the debate is expected to dominate budget negotiations.
  • By a nearly 3-1 margin, voters say lawmakers should work hard to protect the environment, even at the cost of job creation. While the numbers dropped from a year ago, when 68 percent said the environment was more important than jobs, pollsters called the finding “extremely significant.”
  • Residents across the state say mass transit is a better solution than road-building for transportation problems. Fifty-three percent say they prefer investment in mass transit, compared with 31 percent who want new roads. The view is shared across geographic and party lines.
  • Voters’ willingness to spend more on classrooms – even in economic bad times – comes after perceiving no marked improvement in the quality of education, despite years of increased school funding backed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening. The poll shows that residents give schools the same grade they did four years ago, about a C+.

    Overall, more voters say they want their lawmakers to concentrate on education during the next three months than on any other issue, but concerns vary by region. Residents in the greater Baltimore area are most worried about crime, for instance, while Washington area voters care more about classrooms.

    Like most voters, Fran Rosen-blatt, 42, a part-time respiratory therapist from Owings Mills, is not especially eager to see slots come in or to see her tax bill rise. But she’s willing to endorse both if it means a better education for her two children.

    “On a very basic level, if schools could improve because of raising taxes, I’d be in favor of that,” she said. “If they are going to allow gambling, then the money raised from it should be used for something as basic as schools.”

    Slots supporters are expected to make their push anew during the legislative session. Del. Howard P. Rawlings, the Baltimore Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Committee, says he will sponsor a bill that would authorize a November referendum on a constitutional amendment to allow slots at racetracks and possibly other locations.

    While Glendening has adhered to a “no slots, no exceptions” position throughout his administration, many voters believe Maryland cash is flowing to neighboring states that allow the machines.

    “The money is going to Delaware. The money is going to New Jersey. You are not stopping it. You are just losing out on it,” said Daniel Byrd, 50, a computer-training instructor from Greenbelt. “If you go to a racetrack and they have off-track betting, how is that different from slots?”

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    Rawlings is skeptical that his proposal will pass the legislature.

    The nearly four of 10 voters who oppose the idea could prove too daunting a bloc to overcome, he said. Opponents are most numerous in Montgomery County, the state’s largest jurisdiction, where 50 percent rejected the idea.

    “That, to most elected officials, who prefer not having controversial elections, would be considered a significant opposition,” Rawlings said, adding that the same is true of the 40 percent who oppose a tax increase to pay for schools.

    But there is some hope for his plan, the Baltimore Democrat said. Pennsylvania could allow slots at tracks, making Maryland the last regional holdout.

    And a blue-ribbon panel has recommended that Maryland spend an additional $1.1 billion yearly on public schools; the money might not be available anywhere else.

    “I think these pressures, along with the fiscal climate that we’re in, could change some minds,” Rawlings said.

    Despite their support for schools, voters say they would prefer that lawmakers cut programs rather than raise taxes to balance the coming year’s budget.

    Recently, analysts predicted that the state would collect $520 million less in taxes than first thought for the budget year that begins July 1. The current state budget is $22 billion.

    Statewide, 48 percent of voters say spending should be cut to fill the gap, compared with 29 percent who favor higher taxes. But in Baltimore and Prince George’s County, voters are more evenly split on the possibility of raising taxes.

    The Maryland Poll of 800 registered voters was conducted by telephone from Jan. 2 to Jan. 4 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Although the results reveal that Maryland residents are still decidedly progressive compared with voters nationally, the slumping economy is beginning to color their views on a variety of issues.

    “Maryland at its core remains a unique, progressive state, especially in its strong belief for education and environmental protection and support for those in special need,” Haller said.

    Since early last year, however, “clearly some of those strong progressive leanings have ebbed,” he said, “largely because of some economic uncertainty, some personal financial impacts, and the overall budget shortfall facing the state.”

    Sixty percent of poll respondents say they favor environmental protections even at the expense of jobs.

    “We say we’re going to do it, but we don’t,” said Barbara Raley, 74, a Reisterstown retiree. “Otherwise, the Chesapeake Bay would be pristine. I don’t have much to do with the Chesapeake, but it’s part of Maryland. They should work overtime to do whatever it takes to make it clean, so fish don’t die.”

    But views such as Raley’s have become slightly less common. A year ago, 68 percent of poll respondents said saving the environment should trump the economy.

    Fewer state residents say they support using tax dollars to provide health coverage to the uninsured than a year ago, with those in favor dropping from 58 percent to 51 percent. Still, the finding does only a little to erode Maryland’s reputation as a breeding ground for left-leaning ideas.

    Asked whether he noticed a change in voters’ views, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. said, “I do sense that out there.”

    The trend, Taylor said, could help moderate the sometimes stark differences between the state’s traditionally liberal urban areas and its more conservative rural counties.

    One split seen in the poll runs along racial lines. Far more blacks than whites support insuring the uninsured, banning handguns and sending more money to Baltimore schools.

    And although Marylanders as a whole remain deadlocked on whether the state should halt executions pending the completion of a study on whether the death penalty is fairly imposed across races, support among African-Americans for the temporary ban is 65 percent, vs. 40 percent among whites.

    A moratorium bill passed the House last year, but it died during a Senate filibuster.

    Del. Salima S. Marriott, the Baltimore Democrat who sponsored last year’s bill, said the bill will be back this year but that she’d rather the governor enacted a moratorium by executive order.

    “This is an issue of racial disparity,” she said. “And [African-Americans] are his base.”

    Like many people who back a moratorium, Willie “Sonny” Leggett, 59, of West Baltimore said he is uncomfortable with the death penalty in general.

    As a corrections officer for 27 years, he said, he has seen long-term prisoners change for the better, even earn college degrees.

    “I really don’t believe that the death penalty serves a purpose,” he said. “Why take a life? I just don’t think it’s right. Plus, you might get innocent people killed.”

    In other poll results:

  • Transportation and traffic congestion is the top concern of voters in the Washington suburbs, but is less of an issue in the Baltimore area. Seventy-one percent of D.C.-area voters say traffic is either a “major problem” or a “crisis.” In the Baltimore region, only 46 percent hold the same view.
  • By a slim majority, Maryland voters favor banning the sale of all handguns, with support strongest in the Washington suburbs. Only a third of rural Marylanders, however, favor a ban. And overall, support for the concept has dropped over the past two years – from 54 percent to 50 percent.
  • More Marylanders oppose using state money to buy textbooks for private and religious schools (49 percent) than support the idea (45 percent), but neither view rises to a majority. In Baltimore County, 54 percent of voters back the idea, making it the only major jurisdiction to support the plan, which has been included in the state budget for the past two years.

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