New Poll: Majority of MO Voters Oppose Efforts to Repeal Prop B

Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, the advocacy group supporting the Puppy Mill Prevention Cruelty Act, has a new poll out from Lake Research Partners showing that a majority of registered voters oppose efforts to repeal Proposition B in the General Assembly.  As summarized by KMOX:

The Missouri Humane Society is out with a new public opinion poll that shows 59 percent of respondents do not want Proposition B-the puppy mill law…repealed or weakened by Missouri lawmakers.  

Prop B was approved by voters last November. 

41 percent favor the repeal.  Lake Research Partners designed and conducted the survey of 600 registered voters who had voted in the 2008 presidential election or had registered to vote since.   The telephone poll was conducted March 17th through the 21st.   The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points. 

The poll also revealed that if lawmakers succeed in either repealing or weaking [sic] the puppy mill law, voters by a nearly two-to-one margin want to see Gov. Jay Nixon veto the bill so that Prop B remains law. 

Full press release below the break.

Statewide Poll Shows That More Voters Want Prop B Protected than Voted for It in November 2010

A new public opinion survey conducted by Lake Research Partners has concluded that a majority of Missouri voters do not want their state legislature to repeal or weaken Proposition B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, which was approved in November. Overall, nearly six in ten voters (59 percent) who have an opinion on the issue (those who did not respond “don’t know”) oppose the repeal effort in the legislature, while only 41 percent favor the repeal.

Additionally, if such a bill passes the legislature, voters by a nearly two-to-one margin want to see Gov. Jay Nixon veto the bill so that Prop B remains law. Overall, a majority (52 percent) want to see the Governor veto the legislation repealing the measure they passed, and just 29 percent want him to sign it (19 percent “don’t know”). Among voters who have an opinion on the issue, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) want the Governor to veto it and only 36 percent want him to sign it.

“Some state lawmakers think they know better than the people, and they are seeking to override the decision of nearly one million Missouri voters who favored Prop B and stronger standards for the care of dogs on commercial breeding operations,” stated Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.“These latest polling results from throughout Missouri show that voters don’t like this arrogant repeal campaign by state lawmakers, and they want Governor Nixon to respect the will of the people and veto any major modification of Prop B.”

The survey found that voters across the political spectrum, including voting groups who can make the difference in close elections, want the Governor to veto the repeal bill in order to protect the voters’ will, including the following findings:

• 62 percent of independents want Governor Nixon to veto the bill, including 66 percent of independent women.
• 61 percent of Republicans with an opinion want the Governor to veto the bill.
• Blue-collar women, who are late deciders in elections, want to see a veto (65 percent).
• Voters in the vote-rich St. Louis (69 percent veto) and Kansas City (70 percent) markets would like a veto.
• In swing counties  where the vote on Prop B was close (+/- 10 points) more than three out of four voters (76 percent) support a veto, a share that is even higher than among those living in counties that went more strongly for Prop B (70 percent want a veto).

Prop B established common-sense standards for the care of dogs in large-scale commercial breeding operations, including clean water, food, space, exercise, veterinary examinations, and rest between breeding cycles. Several bills making their way through the legislature, including SB 113 which has passed the Senate by a vote of 20-14, and HB 131 which is pending in the House, would repeal every core provision of Prop B and revert to the weak laws that allowed Missouri to earn the reputation as the puppy mill capital of America.  Prop B passed in a majority of state Senate and House legislative districts, meaning that a number of lawmakers favoring a repeal are not only countermanding a statewide vote but also the voters of their own districts.

Lake Research Partners designed and administered this survey of a stratified sample of 600 registered voters who had voted in the 2008 presidential election or had registered to vote since then. The poll was conducted by telephone March 17-21, 2011, using professional interviewers. The margin of error for the full sample is +/-4.0 percentage points.