Pubdate: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.utsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. Author: Michael Gardner VOTERS FAVOR POT LEGALIZATION, POLL SAYS Gay Marriage, Path to Citizenship Backed Sacramento - A strong majority of California voters want marijuana legalized and say the federal government should not interfere in states where pot use is allowed, according to a new survey. The Public Policy Institute of California poll also found that voters overwhelmingly endorse same-sex marriage, favor offering a path to citizenship to unauthorized immigrants and are skeptical of the benefits of the federal health insurance overhaul known as "Obamacare." The survey released Wednesday night gauged voter attitudes on a broad range of pressing state and federal issues: 60 percent approve of legalizing marijuana and 68 percent said federal agents should not enforce federal anti-pot laws in states where marijuana is legal. Last month, the Obama administration said they would let legalization laws in Colorado and Washington state take effect. A legalization initiative was rejected by 54 percent of California voters in 2010. 64 percent favor same-sex marriage and 63 percent approved of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed those weddings to take place again in California. 79 percent approve of a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. 50 percent support Obamacare, which launches with open enrollment Oct. 1. Significantly, 34 percent say they and their families will be "worse off," 22 percent say they will be "better off" and 40 percent say the law will "not make much difference" personally. 79 percent say government should not interfere with a woman's choice to have an abortion. 52 percent favor a state compromise to spend $315 million to ease prison overcrowding. Seventy-seven percent said they were either "very" or "somewhat" concerned about early release of dangerous felons. 66 percent support the state's overhaul of school funding that provides additional revenues to districts with large enrollments of disadvantaged students. 43 percent say the state should build more reservoirs as part of water-supply planning efforts while 52 percent said to focus on conservation. Forty-eight percent said voter-approved bonds should be used to pay the bills, while just 25 percent thought user fees should increase instead. 73 percent disapprove of how congressional Republicans are handling the deficit and debt ceiling leading up to the current threat of a government shutdown. Fifty-three percent don't think President Barack Obama is doing any better at fixing the budget problems. 49 percent approve of the way Gov. Jerry Brown is handling the job, a rating similar to those reported over the past seven monthly polls. 51 percent approve of Obama's job performance. That's down from his 54 percent last month and his lowest rating since July 2012. 61 percent of likely voters favor increased regulation of hydraulic fracturing "or fracking" that involves using high-pressured water mixed with chemicals to extract oil and gas from underground rock foundations. (Brown just signed legislation to do that.) Fifty-three percent said they opposed increasing fracking. On marijuana, the survey's results - combined with recent polls by Gallup, Field and others - suggest that nationally and in California voters are moving toward legalization, either through legislation or by an initiative. PPIC President Mark Baldassare said it's the first time one of his polls has recorded a majority backing for legalization. That's politically important because as a general rule initiatives need an early lead to have a chance of success at the polls, he said. High-propensity voters 55 and older favor legalization by a three-point margin, 50 percent to 47 percent. "When you think about putting something on the ballot, you think of the response from likely voters and older voters show up most at the polls," Baldassare said. He said Californians clearly want a path toward citizenship for unauthorized immigrants as long as the applicant has met conditions, such as a waiting period, English fluency, paying a fine and passing a criminal-background check. Eight out of 10 poll respondents had that view. "People are looking to give them a path toward normalcy," Baldassare said. "Whether it's through state or federal efforts matters less. They just want something that works for California." PPIC polled 1,703 Californians, including 1,429 registered voters, Sept. 10-17. Among those likely voters responding, 46 percent were Democrats, 31 percent Republicans and 17 percent independents. That generally follows current voter registration statistics. The racial makeup of likely voters was 61 percent white, 15 percent Latino, 12 percent Asian and 8 percent black. The PPIC poll had a margin of error of between 3.7 percent and 4.5 percent depending on the subgroup polled. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom