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Drought tops all Calif. worries

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Californians are now more worried about the state’s water crisis than its economy, while a strong majority continue to support Gov. Jerry Brown as he tackles the drought and stabilizes state finances, according to a survey released late Wednesday.

The poll also found record-high support, 56 percent, for legalizing marijuana, something voters in the California may decide in 2016.

For the first time in a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, which started polling in 1998, Californians named water and drought as their most important state issue. The poll showed 39 percent had that as their top concern, compared with 20 percent who listed jobs and the economy.

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The poll was conducted in late May, about six weeks after Brown ordered an unprecedented 25 percent reduction in statewide non-agriculture water use in the drought-ridden state.

CALIFORNIA DROUGHT

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Late last month, state regulators approved mandatory water use cuts from 8 percent to 36 percent for cities and towns. The conservation mandates went into effect on Monday.

Brown’s historic order served as a wake-up call for many Californians, according to Mark Baldassare, the Public Policy Institute’s president and CEO.

“Public concern about the drought is at a record-high level today,” Baldassare said. “People realize it’s just not raining.”

Central Valley residents are most concerned about water, with 53 percent listing it as their top concern. In San Diego and Orange counties, 37 percent said it ranked No. 1. In Los Angeles it was 31 percent and 42 percent in the Bay Area.

The survey found 46 percent of Californians say the state’s water restrictions do the right amount to respond to the drought. About one-third, or 36 percent, however, say the mandates don’t go far enough.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of those polled said people in their region weren’t doing enough to respond to the drought, including 65 percent in San Diego and Orange County.

Brown and his budget

While their water worries are rising, Californians’ support for Brown remains strong, especially for his fiscal management.

Brown’s overall job approval was 54 percent among likely voters, up one percent from April. The figures are down from his record-high approval rating of 58 percent at the start of his fourth term in January.

The governor received particularly high marks across the political spectrum for his revised $115.3 billion spending plan, with 73 percent of those surveyed saying they favor it.

“The budget basically has something for everyone,” Baldassare said, noting that it includes more spending but no new taxes and socks away money for tough times in a voter-approved “rainy day” fund.

Support for the budget is highest among Democrats at 80 percent, followed by independents at 73 percent and Republicans at 55 percent, the survey found.

Compared with past years, fewer Californians are worried about the state’s budget situation. State fiscal matters remain a significant topic in San Diego and Orange counties, where 55 percent of respondents said the state budget is a big problem, the highest share of any region in the state.

Record marijuana support

Californians showed the highest support for legalizing recreational marijuana, at 54 percent for all Californians and 56 percent for likely voters, since the survey began asking about the topic five years ago.

More than 60 percent of Democratic and independent likely voters favor legalization, compared with 43 percent of Republicans.

The institute’s first survey in May 2010 showed 48 percent of Californians favored legalization.

California’s growing support follows a national trend. Four states — Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska — have legalized the drug in recent years.

In 1996, California became the first state in the nation to decriminalize medical marijuana, through a voter initiative. In 2010, a California initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use as well was defeated by about 7 percent.

Several marijuana advocacy groups have submitted legalization initiatives for the 2016 ballot.

While support is increasing, Baldassare said it’s too early to say whether Californians would actually pass a marijuana initiative. He noted that the May survey found that 46 percent of respondents would be very concerned that more underage people would try marijuana if it were legal.

He said he expected that opposition groups would spend a lot of money in the run-up to a possible 2016 vote, potentially curbing some of the current support for legal pot.

Also in the survey:

• 52 percent of likely voters and 45 percent of all Californians believe the state is headed in the wrong direction.

• 49 percent of Californians favor extending Proposition 30, the temporary increase on sales taxes and income taxes for top earners to fund schools and public safety realignment.

• 50 percent favor changing Proposition 13 to create a “split roll” tax on property — taxing commercial properties according to their market value while leaving limits on residential property taxes intact.

• 70 percent favor raising state taxes on cigarettes.

• 44 percent favor and 50 percent oppose taxing the extraction of oil and natural gas.

• 69 percent favor automatically registering people to vote when they visit the Department of Motor Vehicles. Legislation to automatically register people who obtain or renew a license recently passed the Assembly. The bill is being carried by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego.

• 60 percent favor Brown’s proposal for an Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income people.

• 63 percent support Brown’s proposal for 4 percent funding increases for the University of California in each of the next four years in return for a two-year tuition freeze.

• 70 percent support automatically sending registered voters a vote-by-mail ballot.

• 67 percent say children should not be allowed to attend public schools unless the children are vaccinated.

• 42 percent favor and 46 percent oppose extending the sales tax to services not currently taxed while lowering the overall tax rate.

The poll was conducted May 17-27 and surveyed 1,706 adults, 1, 374 registered voters and 1,048 likely voters. It has a margin of error of 3.6 to 4.6 percentage points.

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