The 2016 Louisiana Survey: Public in grim mood as lawmakers convene legislative session

Results from the 2016 Louisiana Survey show that Louisiana residents are disgruntled with the direction of the state, increasingly dismayed with economic conditions, and have little confidence in government to solve the state’s most important problems. The Louisiana Survey is an annual project of the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs at LSU’s Manship School for Mass Communication to identify the opinions of Louisiana residents and share those opinions with state lawmakers.
Nearly two-thirds of Louisiana residents – 63 percent – think the state is heading in the wrong direction, the most on record since the Louisiana Survey began tracking opinion in 2003.
The state’s budget issues are chief among the public’s concerns. The share of respondents who name the state’s budget as the most important problem jumped from 7 percent in 2015 to 26 percent this year. As a result, the budget now tops the public’s list of the most important problem facing the state for the first time on record.
Public confidence that state government will effectively deal with the most pressing problems remains low. Only 34 percent said they are “very confident” or “somewhat confident” that state government can address these problems.
However, the public is not so gloomy about all topics. About half of state residents – 49 percent – give Louisiana a grade of A or B as a place to live. Among public services, state colleges and universities receive the highest marks, with 59 percent assigning a grade of A or B. In contrast, residents give relatively low marks to the quality of roads, bridges and highways – 13 percent A and B grades; state economic development efforts to attract, recruit and create jobs – 25 percent; and Louisiana’s public schools overall – 26 percent.
About the Louisiana Survey
Since 2003, the Louisiana Survey has tracked public opinion about contemporary issues and challenges facing the state as well as trends in evaluations of the state’s economic, social and political affairs.
The 2016 Louisiana Survey was administered over the telephone from Feb. 1 to Feb. 26 to both landline and cell phone respondents. The project includes a representative sample of 1,001 adult Louisiana residents. The total sample has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
This is the second in a series of releases about findings from the 2016 Louisiana Survey.
A copy of the report is are available at http://pprllsu.com/projects/.