Most Georgians aren’t in favor of raising the federal budget ‘debt ceiling’ by Congress, despite talk from Democrats and others that failing to do so would have triggered fiscal scenarios such as downgraded U.S. credit. That’s according to an InsiderAdvantage/Opinion Savvy survey conducted Feb. 9 and 10.
The poll found that nearly two-thirds of Georgians did not want the debt ceiling raised. Forty-two percent opposed it outright, and another 20 percent were undecided or had no opinion.
This was the first passage since 2009 of a ‘clean’ debt-ceiling increase, or one without stipulations or conditions. The nation’s debt stands at about $17.2 trillion.
The survey was conducted among 404 Georgia voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8% and a confidence level of 95%. The data have been weighted for age, race, gender and political affiliation.
Among the senators voting against raising the debt ceiling was Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson. But Isakson is doing more: He is co-sponsor of a bill that would change the federal budgeting process to a biennial, or every-two-years approach.
Isakson’s initiative took an important step forward this week when the House Budget Committee approved a similar House bill by a bipartisan vote of 22-10.
“The House Budget Committee’s passage of biennial budgeting legislation marks another milestone in our efforts to reform our nation’s broken budget process,” Isakson said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in both chambers on this much-needed legislation, as it will go a long way to get us back in the business of budgeting, appropriating and conducting oversight on a regular basis.”
Democratic U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is the other co-sponsor of the Senate bill.
Biennial budgeting has been endorsed by each successive administration since Ronald Reagan was president, as well as by numerous federal budget experts. Isakson has sponsored biennial budgeting proposals every year he’s been in the Senate. Currently, more than 20 states operate on a two-year budget cycle.
Last year the biennial budgeting plan received 68 votes in the Senate when it was introduced as an amendment to a Senate budget resolution.
The InsiderAdvantage online survey was conducted with our survey partner OpinionSavvy. To read more about the accuracy of online surveys visit the news center at www.opinionsavvy.com
