BATON ROUGE – Louisiana residents are most worried about the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers in the Public Policy Research Lab at LSU’s Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs in the Manship School of Mass Communication.Â
The Louisiana Survey polled 781 adult residents from across the state to find out how Louisianans view their government and its policies. Findings from the first of five reports indicate the following opinions on Louisiana government and economy:
- The pandemic appears to have had little, if any, effect on what Louisiana residents think about the direction of the state. Today, 46% say the state is heading in the wrong direction, and 42% say it is heading in the right direction. This is a shift from our last survey in 2019, when 43% said the state was heading in the wrong direction and 47% said it was heading in the right direction, but the change is within the margin of error. Beliefs about the direction of the state have held relatively steady since 2017.
- The pandemic has shifted the public’s priorities for what problems the state government should tackle. The economy and the pandemic top state residents’ concerns, replacing education and transportation infrastructure, which topped the list two years ago.
- Louisiana residents are neither more nor less confident in state government than they were before the pandemic. Forty-one percent (41%) of state residents say they are either very confident or somewhat confident in state government to address problems effectively. This share is on par with annual results from the Louisiana Survey since 2013.
- The public has mixed views about economic well-being. On one hand, a large majority of Louisiana residents (72%) say the state’s economy is worse than it was a year ago. On the other hand, most state residents (54%) say their own financial situation is the same as it was a year ago, while 29% say it is worse than it was a year ago.
The survey was conducted from Jan. 4 to March 1, and the total sample has a +/- 6.4% margin of error.
Read the full first report from the Louisiana Survey at https://pprllsu.com/projects/. The second of five reports from the Louisiana Survey is slated for release on Thursday, April 1.
