Congress should spend more money on assistance to the poor and less on foreign aid, Utah voters say

Utah voters believe the federal government should spend more money in several different areas, with foreign aid as a strong exception, according to recent polling.

Voters overwhelmingly believe the government spends too little on education and assistance to the poor with only 15% and 16% of respondents saying too much money is dedicated to those areas, respectively, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by HarrisX for the Deseret News.

By contrast, the one area that voters say the government already spends too much money on is foreign aid. A majority of Utahns (56%) say the government spends too much money on foreign countries compared to just 13% who said more funding should be allocated.

Another 31% said current spending levels for foreign aid are “about the right amount.”

What voters say about welfare program spending

A plurality of voters also say the government spends too little on certain entitlement programs such as Social Security. About 46% of Utah voters say the government should spend more money making payments to retirees, although 44% say current spending levels are “about the right amount.”

Similarly, 43% of Utah voters say the government should spend more on Medicare but 45% say the government already spends enough money. Another 12% said the government spends too much money on Medicare, according to the poll.

Voters are more split on Medicaid spending, with 37% saying the government should allocate more funding compared to 45% who say current spending levels are fine. Another 18% say the government spends too much money on the welfare program.

Those opinions come as Medicaid and other welfare programs may be on the chopping block for spending cuts later this year as congressional Republicans look for ways to reduce spending as part of their massive tax reconciliation package.

As part of the budget resolution passed earlier this year, House Republicans are instructed to find $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee, the panel largely responsible for overseeing Medicaid.

A recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress, showed that lawmakers would likely need to slash Medicaid funding to cover the lost tax revenue from extending the 2017 tax cuts.

In the CBO’s budget projection, Medicaid accounts for roughly 93% of non-Medicare related mandatory spending in that time period. When one removes Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program from the equation, funding under the committee’s jurisdiction is only $381 billion.

That’s raised concerns among Democrats and even some moderate Republicans who say they won’t support a package that contains substantial cuts to the welfare program. Still, lawmakers have left the door open to root out waste, fraud, and abuse related to Medicaid, giving GOP leaders some wiggle room when it comes to finding cuts.

Utahns split on military, border security funding

When it comes to spending on military and border security, most Utahns say the government is already spending enough.

About 46% of Utahns say the government spends “about the right amount” on both the military and the border, according to the poll. Only 35% say the government should spend more on the border and ever fewer (31%) say the government should allocate more funds toward the military.

Only 22% of Utahns say the government already spends too much on the military compared to 19% who said the same about the border.

Meanwhile, a majority of Utahns (54%) say the government spends the right amount of money on federal law enforcement agencies with only 26% wanting more. Another 20% said the government already spends too much on those agencies, according to the poll.

The poll was conducted between April 9-12 among 800 registered voters in Utah. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.