New Poll Finds Biden Agenda Has Strong Bipartisan Support in Wisconsin

Poll shows strong bipartisan support for taxing the super-rich to pay for new programs, expanded benefits—even if Biden himself doesn’t enjoy the same level of enthusiasm.

A Biden administration proposal that would expand Medicare coverage, offer Medicaid to more families, make the first two years of college more affordable, and provide paid family leave enjoys support from 2 out of every 3 Wisconsinites polled in a recent survey.

Polling 518 likely voters in the state between Aug. 20 and 27, the nonprofit left-leaning pollster Data for Progress found that 67% of likely Wisconsin voters supported the plan, dubbed the Build Back Better agenda. The provisions in the plan with the most support were long-term care expansions for the elderly and disabled, expanded Medicare coverage, and childcare investments. 

By comparison, Biden himself had a 48% approval rating, underscoring the overall appeal of the plan.

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The survey also found 71% of likely voters here support the administration’s infrastructure bill, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as broad support for paying for the programs by increasing taxes on the super-rich

According to the results, between 76% and 75% of likely Wisconsin voters support using a combination of increased capital gains taxes for the wealthy, limited deductions for wealthy business owners, and higher income taxes in general for the wealthy, to help fund the plans.  The results mirror those found by the pollster in 11 other states, including West Virginia, Arizona, New Hampshire, Colorado, Montana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Oregon. 

The survey results come as House and Senate Democrats are hoping to assemble the package—a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion so-called “human infrastructure” bill supported only by Democrats—by a self-imposed Sept. 15 deadline, and as the Biden administration is urging the passage of those bills by Oct. 1.

Speaking during a press call on the survey, groups representing working  families and healthcare workers stressed the need for Democrats to not waste their momentum and pass the Build Back Better agenda. 

“Democrats have the support they need for this package,” said Lorella Praeli of Community Change Action. “They have the votes they need in the House and the Senate; they have the White House, and most, most importantly the American people are with them.”