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Mitch McConnell.
- A New York Times/SurveyMonkey poll showed that the newly-implemented Republican tax law is getting more popular among Americans.
- This is critical for Republicans, who have staked a large amount of their electoral success on the bill.
The Republican tax law officially became the law of the land on January 1, and Americans are coming around on the changes.
According to a New York Times/SurveyMonkey poll released Tuesday, the percentage of Americans who favor the new law increased in January from prior polling in December, before the law was passed.
According to the poll, 46% of those surveyed approve of the new tax law, up from 37% in a poll taken in early December. Additionally, the number of people disapproving dropped to 49% from 58% previously.
It's unclear whether the change in attitude was due to Americans becoming more familiar with the law itself or last-minute changes made by Republicans to the bill, including preserving a number of popular tax credits.
The increase in approval also reflects a poll from Gallup, released January 10, showing that approval increased to 33% in January from 29% in December. While there was some improvement, Gallup did warn that the improvement was not statistically significant.
The improvement in polling is important for Democrats heading into the 2018 midterm season. Based on polling through December, the tax law was the least popular piece of tax legislation in at least 30 years. The GOP bill even polled worse than tax-hike bills from the 1990s.
The boost comes after a strong blitz from GOP leaders to highlight the positive effects of the bill from corporations announcing one-time bonuses to new investments in factories.
Selling the law will be key to protecting the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and GOP leaders have made convincing the public a large part of their agenda for the year.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said in December that the results from the law and its impact on average Americans will help the GOP's efforts to translate legislative success into electoral victories.
"When we get this done, when people see their withholding improving, when they see the jobs occurring, when they see bigger paychecks, a fair tax system, a simpler tax code, that's what going to produce the results," Ryan said on December 19. "Results are going to make this popular."