With the Florida Senate preparing to vote on Wednesday on a measure giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens who attended high school in Florida, a new poll finds a majority of registered voters in the Sunshine State support the idea. The poll also finds a majority approve of allowing same-sex couples to be married despite the 2008 state constitutional amendment recognizing only traditional marriage.
A poll from Quinnipiac University, released Wednesday morning, finds 55 percent of those surveyed support the in-state tuition proposal while 41 percent oppose it.
The poll shows a major partisan divide on the issue, with 75 percent of Democrats supporting it and 66 percent of Republicans opposing it. Only 21 percent of Democrats oppose it while 29 percent of Republicans support it. A majority of independents -- 57 percent -- back the in-state tuition bill; 40 percent of them oppose it.
"A number of states already allow high school graduates in the United States illegally to qualify for the in-state tuition at their public colleges and Floridians seem to think it's a good idea," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said Wednesday.
After much legislative wrangling, the in-state tuition bill, which cleared the House earlier in the session, was moved to the Senate calendar on Tuesday. The Senate is expected to vote on it later Wednesday.
The poll also shows 56 percent of registered voters support allowing same-sex couples to marry while 39 percent oppose the idea.
There is a major partisan gap on the issue, with 65 percent of Democrats supporting same-sex marriage and 64 percent of Republicans opposing it. Only 31 percent of Democrats oppose same-sex marriage, while 32 percent of Republicans support it. Independents lean heavily toward supporting same-sex marriage -- 64 percent of them backing it and only 30 percent opposing it.
A majority of voters under 65 support same-sex marriage; voters over 65 lean against it. Almost a majority of voters over 65 -- 49 percent -- oppose same-sex marriage but 45 percent back it.
Back in 2008, a state constitutional amendment recognizing only traditional marriage in the Sunshine State passed with 62 percent of voters supporting it.
The poll of 1,413 registered Florida voters was taken from April 23-28 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
