PROVIDENCE – A public-opinion survey of Rhode Island registered voters conducted by the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University found that a majority of respondents thought it was important to use state and local funds from the American Rescue Plan for small businesses, job training and “re-skilling” programs and reversing student learning losses, the institute said Wednesday.
One of the survey questions asked respondents to rank six potential uses for the federal funds in order of importance to them. The options included: grants and loans to help small businesses hurt by the pandemic; subsidizing rent for affordable housing units; jobs training and re-skilling programs; one-time infrastructure projects; eliminating projected budget deficits; and reversing student learning losses due to the pandemic.
Eliminating deficits and one-time infrastructure projects were the least popular choice in the survey. When asked to choose one priority that was the most important, 35% of respondents said small-business aid, the highest of all the choices, followed by student aid at 17%.
“Rhode Island and our localities are receiving over $2 billion in federal aid to spend over the next few years,” Gary Sasse, the institute director, said in a statement. “How we spend that money matters, and voters overwhelmingly support funding education and small businesses.”
The survey, which polled 400 Rhode Islanders, was conducted from April 25 through April 28 by Fleming & Associates.
The survey also found that 48% of respondents did not trust government officials to wisely spend the $2 billion in funds slated for state and local governments in Rhode Island. Another 41% said they did trust public officials to spend the funds wisely.
At the local level, respondents said the most important use of funds would be to enhance public school programs, followed by the prevention of any near-term increases to property taxes.
When asked about state infrastructure spending using federal funds, respondents said it was most important to spend money on repairing roads and bridges, the modernization of school facilities, climate resiliency and renewable energy.
The survey also found that voters are divided on whether to prioritize the federal funds on one-time capital projects or daily government operations, with 38% supporting capital improvements, 26% supporting daily operations and 27% unsure.
