Here's What NJ Voters Think Of The 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' New Poll Says

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” championed by President Donald Trump has left a sour taste in many New Jersey residents’ mouths – including some Republicans, a recent poll says.

Earlier this week, Fairleigh Dickinson University released the results of a new survey, which asked likely New Jersey voters if they support the federal budget bill that narrowly passed a Congressional vote last month. According to pollsters, 27 percent of those surveyed said they approve of the bill. Meanwhile, 62 percent said they disapprove of it.

Democrats were nearly unanimous about their dislike of the bill, with 94 percent giving it a thumbs-down. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Republicans said they approve of it, 21 percent said they oppose it, and 15 percent said they weren't sure.

In addition, about 64 percent of independents – a large voter bloc in New Jersey – said they disapprove of the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

The bill extends Trump’s 2017 tax reforms, while cutting billions of dollars from the federal budget to help balance the books. Meanwhile, the bill will add trillions to the national debt, ramp up military spending and provide more money for deportations, prisons and border security.

The bill has seen condemnation from its critics, who say that it will make severe cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) – while giving huge tax breaks to some of the nation’s wealthiest people and corporations.

Supporters – including Trump – have countered that the bill will also lower taxes for middle and working-class people through policies like “No Tax On Tips,” while beefing up America’s “energy dominance” and defense capabilities.

The bill also increased the state and local taxes (SALT) deduction for most taxpayers from $10,000 this year to $40,000 next year, then by 1 percent per year after that, until 2030, when it reverts back to $10,000.

However, even tackling this perpetual hot-button issue in New Jersey wasn’t enough to change the minds of many Garden State voters, pollsters reported:

“Mentioning the temporary SALT deduction cap increase in the question doesn’t significantly change approval or disapproval among partisans, but it does increase the proportion of independents who say that they support the bill, from 14 percent to 22 percent. This increase is cancelled out in the overall numbers by a non-significant 3 point drop in approval among the larger group of Democrats in the state … Similarly, the mention of the temporary SALT deduction cap increases support for the bill overall among likely voters who say that they own their homes (or are paying a mortgage), from 30 percent to 35 percent, while decreasing it insignificantly among renters (who are less likely to approve in any condition).”

“You might imagine that voters in New Jersey would be thrilled to get even a temporary increase in the SALT deduction cap,” Fairleigh Dickinson University professor Dan Cassino said.

“But that doesn’t seem to be enough for most people to get past the parts of the bill that they don’t like,” Cassino added.

The survey of 806 registered voters was conducted between July 17 and July 23, using a voter list of registered voters in New Jersey. The simple sampling error is +/-3.4 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence interval. Including the design effects, the margin of error would be +/-3.9 percentage points.

View the full poll results and learn more about its methodology here.

• See Related: 'Big Beautiful Bill' Passed By House: What It Means In NJ
• See Related: Here’s How NJ Reps Voted On Controversial Federal Budget Bill
• See Related: Booker, Kim Of NJ Vote Against Senate Budget Bill, Trump Cheers Its Passage
• See Related: Trump Tax Cuts: Were They A Win Or Loss For New Jersey?

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