A newly released poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows Illinois voters are more polarized about the performance of Governor Bruce Rauner.
Fifty (50) percent disapprove of his job performance, while 41 percent approve. Last year, 37 percent approved and 31 percent disapproved.
Institute visiting professor and one of the designers of the poll, John Jackson, says Illinoisans are becoming more frustrated with the ongoing budget standoff.
"People want the government to work and they want things to happen that benefit people at the grassroots, like basic education, healthcare, human services, collecting the taxes, sending you a notice that your car tag is about overdue, all of those little and big things are not being tended to by state government."
Only about a third of Illinoisans responding to a poll conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute say they're being directly impacted by the eight month old budget stalemate.
The sample of a thousand people found 32 percent say someone in their immediate family has been affected, while 62-percent didn't feel they had been affected.
Jackson says more people will be directly impacted the longer the standoff continues.
"With that many jobs at risk and that much controversy, so people who pay attention, of course there are a fair number of people who don't pay attention, but people who pay attention can hardly ignore what's happening right here in our backyard to both Logan and SIU."
Wednesday night, the John A. Logan Board of Trustees approved laying off 55 workers due to the impasse. SIU and the other Illinois public universities are operating without any state funding.
The poll shows 50 percent of respondents disapprove of Governor Rauner's job performance and 84 percent believe the state is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll's margin of error is three percentage points.