THE DES MOINES REGISTER/MEDIACOM IOWA POLL

SELZER & COMPANY

804 Iowa adults
Margin of error: 3.5 percentage points

Study #2134
February 21-24, 2016
Weighted by age, sex, and congressional district
POLL QUESTIONS

Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Are you a resident of the state of Iowa?
100
-

Yes
No
Not sure

Continue
Terminate

Im going to mention some elected officials. For each, please tell me if you approve or disapprove
of the way each is handling his or her job. (Rotate list.)

Joni Ernst as U.S. senator

Chuck Grassley as U.S. senator

Approve

Disapprove

Not
Sure

Feb-16
Feb-15

43

31

25

38

34

28

Feb-16
Feb-15
Sep-14
Jun-13
Feb-13
Sep-12
Feb-12
Feb-11
Sep-10
Feb-10
Nov-09
Sep-09
Apr-09
Jan-09

57

28

15

64
59
60
62
62
60
65
56
54
57
57
66
75

22
25
27
22
23
28
21
30
28
32
30
20
12

14
16
13
16
15
12
14
14
18
11
13
14
13

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The Iowa Department of Transportation is considering a plan to widen interstates. If they do, would you favor
or oppose restricting large trucks to certain lanes and designating other lanes for cars and small trucks only?
71
23
6

Favor
Oppose
Not sure

Here are some specific issues that may be debated in the Iowa Legislature this year. For each, please tell me if
you favor or oppose the initiative. (Rotate list, but recreational marijuana must always follow medical
marijuana.)
Favor

Legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Iowa

[Not directly comparable:] This month, the Iowa Pharmacy Board will hold a
hearing on whether it should recommend the use of marijuana to treat
medical conditions if a patient has a doctors approval. Do you favor or
oppose allowing medical marijuana in Iowa?

Legalize the use of marijuana for recreational purposes in

Iowa
[Not directly comparable:] What about legalizing marijuana for recreational
use, with restrictions similar to the use of alcohol, such as prohibiting
driving while under the influence and setting a minimum? Do you favor or
oppose legalizing marijuana for recreational use?

Oppose

Not
Sure

Feb-16
Feb-15
Feb-14
Feb-13

78

20

70
59
58

26
37
38

4
4
4

Feb-10

64

33

Feb-16
Feb-15
Feb-14
Feb-13

34

63

30
28
29

67
69
68

3
3
3

Feb-10

28

70

The Renewable Fuel Standard is a federal program that requires a certain percentage of renewable fuel like ethanol be
blended into the gasoline supply in increasing amounts. In general, do you favor or oppose the Renewable Fuel
Standard?

Feb-16

Favor

Oppose

Not sure

71

21

Do you think the Iowa Legislature should or should not raise the minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour? (If
should, ask:) What should it be raised to, over a period of three years$8 an hour, $9 an hour, $10 an hour, or $15 an
hour or more?
Should,
$9 an hour

Should,
$10 an hour

Should,
$15 an hour
or more

No, should not

raise

16

33

16

28

18

30

31

Should,
$8 an hour
Feb-16
Feb-14

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Not
Sure

Last year, the Des Moines Water Works announced it would pursue a lawsuit against three northwestern Iowa drainage
districts in Sac, Buena Vista, and Calhoun counties because of record high levels of nitrates in the water flowing from
those districts, leaving the job of removing the nitrates to Des Moines Water Works. Do you think the Des Moines Water
Works is right or wrong to pursue this lawsuit?
Right

Wrong

Not sure

60

24

15

63

23

14

Feb-16
Feb-15

This dispute pits farmers against city dwellers in deciding who should pay to remove the nitrates. Are you more inclined
to side with farmers or city dwellers?
Farmers

City dwellers

Neither (VOL)

Not sure

42

32

13

13

Feb-16

Currently, there are voluntary programs to help support farmers financially who want to reduce the amount of nitrate
runoff from their lands. Do you think voluntary programs are or are not sufficient to address the problem?
Are
Sufficient

Are not
Sufficient

Not
Sure

36

45

19

Feb-16

For each of the following, please tell me if you think the entity should or should not pay some of the cost of removing
nitrates from the water coming into the Des Moines Water Works.
(Read options. Rotate list. Multiple responses accepted, so total may exceed 100%.)
Which of these do you think should pay the most? (Accept only one response.)
Should pay
some of the Should pay
cost
the most

36
50
43
39
4
14

11
31
20
19
2
17

All Iowans through the state budget or dedicated tax

Drainage districts, and indirectly Iowa farmers
Des Moines Water Works rate-payersthe people who use the water
The federal government
None of these (VOL)
Not sure

Iowa has a 1-cent sales tax that pays for school repairs and construction. In your school district, do you think this funding
has or has not been sufficient for the needs?
51
36
13

Has been sufficient

Has not been sufficient
Not sure

Governor Branstad has proposed using a portion of the revenue from the 1-cent sales tax to pay for water-quality
improvements, along with an extension of the tax for another 20 years. Schools would not get as much of an increase
each year, but would be guaranteed a revenue stream for a longer period of time. Do you favor or oppose this approach to
funding water-quality improvements?
43
49
8

Favor
Oppose
Not sure
ABOUT THE POLL

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SELZER & COMPANY
PAGE 3

The Iowa Poll, conducted Feb. 21-24 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on
telephone interviews with 804 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with
randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were administered
in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex, and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent
census data.
Questions based on the sample of 804 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the
findings would not vary from the percentages shown here by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on
smaller samples of respondentssuch as by gender or agehave a larger margin of error.
Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.

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SELZER & COMPANY
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