Results of the 2015 USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey show Floridians are most concerned about the economy (22 percent), followed by K-12 education (10 percent), crime (7 percent), immigration (6 percent) and the environment/oil drilling/climate change (6 percent).
University of South Florida Professor Susan MacManus, who leads the USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey, said compared to survey results from previous years “concerns about the economy and jobs are clearly on the downside, reflecting an improving economy in our state.”
“At the same, when you have a better economic picture and growth starts occurring, that explains the slight uptick in issues like crime, immigration, and the environment–things that are affected by growth. So you clearly see an improving Florida, but you also see a rise in concern about growth-impactedareas of this state,” MacManus said.
This public policy survey which has questions written by MacManus’s media and politics class also addresses many hot-button issues facing the state.
Floridians overwhelmingly support law enforcement wearing body cameras (90 percent) and stricter water quality regulations (72 percent). Citizens also support stricter environmental regulations (66 percent), promoting more school choice (60 percent) and legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana (55 percent). The majority of Floridians is against students carrying concealed weapons on campuses (73 percent), and is against giving more rights to undocumented immigrants (57 percent). More than half of citizens are against collecting sales tax on Internet purchases (57 percent).
When asked whether the state was going in the right or wrong direction, Floridians are split on several issues including Common Core (34 percent right, 33 percent wrong), off-shore drilling for oil and gas (42 percent wrong, 38 right), taking federal funding for Medicaid expansion (44 percent right, 33 percent wrong), repealing Stand Your Ground (41 percent wrong, 30 percent right), allowing law enforcement to use drones (42 percent wrong, 31 percent right) and allowingmore casino gambling (42 percent wrong, 30 percent right).
“This is really the heart of this year’s survey because we have selected 16 of the most volatile issues that are alive and well in Florida,” MacManus said. “When you really probe into some of the results, you’ll see there are some big regional differences in some of these key areas.”
