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News Specialist John Daley reportingAccording to our exclusive new poll conducted by Survey USA, Utahns are sharply split on the efforts of lawmakers this session, with a quarter saying they're doing a good job and a quarter saying they're doing a poor job. The rest give lawmakers an average grade.
In our poll of 500 adult Utahns, just 2% say the state's legislature did an excellent job this session.
26% say lawmakers did a good job.
46% rate their performance fair.
24% called in poor.
3% said they weren't sure.
This session saw heated debates on issues ranging from the fight between banks and credit unions to proposed hate crimes legislation, to often-controversial gun laws.
Some recent polls find lawmakers taking positions on some hot-button issues that are contrary to the public. And Democratic lawmakers took Republicans to task on that front yesterday.
This afternoon House Speaker Marty Stephens, speaking to the group Professional Republican Women, said he believed lawmakers did a good job dealing with, among other things, a series of tough budget decisions.
He says he disagrees with those who say lawmakers are out of touch with the public.
"If the people felt that the legislature is out of touch, why did the legislature pick up seats in the House and the Senate, if the people thought we were out of touch? I don't think the general populaace believes that," he says.
Coming up tonight at 10, we'll have more on our poll, specifically do Utahns support the legislature's action or inaction on guns in schools, hate crimes and accepting gifts from lobbyists?
