Voters in nearly three dozen congressional districts across the country overwhelmingly favor a massive bipartisan infrastructure package, though relatively few support tying its passage to a broader Democratic spending proposal, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by HarrisX for the bipartisan group No Labels and shared with The Hill on Thursday, found that 72 percent of voters in 33 congressional districts say they support the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill backed by the White House and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate.
That bill, which includes $579 billion in new spending over eight years, focuses on revamping only physical infrastructure, like roads, bridges and broadband internet.
Of the 33 districts included in the poll, 15 are represented by Democrats who are being targeted by Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. It also included four GOP-held districts that Democrats are hoping to flip next year.
The poll looks to make the case that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle would be wise to back the bipartisan infrastructure deal, even if it means breaking with more hard-line members of their parties.
Top Democrats are hoping to pass a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint alongside the bipartisan infrastructure bill. That spending plan would vastly expand social and environmental programs and has drawn unanimous opposition from Republicans.
The No Labels poll, however, found little appetite among voters for Congress to tie the budget blueprint to the infrastructure bill. Seventy-six percent of respondents say they want a separate up-or-down vote on the infrastructure package, while only 24 percent say they want the two measures linked to one another.
Of concern is the combined $4.7 trillion price tag attached to the two proposals. The poll found that 74 percent of voters surveyed fear that such high spending would result in runaway inflation. Slightly more — 78 percent — say they’re concerned about potential tax increases if Congress were to approve both the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion budget blueprint.
Those voters aren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of a social spending bill, the poll found. Sixty-one percent say they would support a separate social spending measure so long as it has bipartisan backing.
The No Labels-HarrisX poll is based on responses from 12,403 registered voters across 33 congressional districts gathered online and by phone July 16-21. The margin of sampling error varies by district, ranging from 4 percent to 6 percentage points.