Poll: Conn. Voters Say Plan to Divide Surplus is Gimmick

Connecticut has a $500 million surplus, but a large majority of voters say Gov. Dannel Malloy's plan to refund $155 million of it a political gimmick, a new poll finds.

Sixty-three percent of Connecticut voters say the Democratic governor's idea to send out $110 to households in the Constitution state is not good public policy, and 23 percent think it is, in the latest Quinnipiac University poll of 1,878 Connecticut registered voters from Feb. 26 to March 2 with a 2.3 percent margin of error.

Eighty-three percent of Republicans and 71 percent of independents say that the Malloy's proposal is a political gimmick, while only 41 percent of Democrats agree.

Several governors boasted of surpluses for their 2014 budgets during their state-of-the-state addresses this year, and there is much debate over what to do with the additional funds.

Malloy has also suggested putting some of the state's surplus into savings and pensions as well as using it as an opportunity to cut taxes.

Related Stories:

• States Wrestle with Whether to Spend, Save or Give Back Surpluses
• California Analyst: Stocks Help State to Big Surplus