The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A majority of Kentuckians would prefer cuts in state spending rather than raising taxes to balance the state budget, according to the Courier-Journal newspaper's newest Bluegrass Poll.

Of 804 adult Kentuckians surveyed from Feb. 5-10, 56 percent favored cuts in programs while 18 percent favored more taxes.

Another 19 percent said that they favored a combination of cuts and tax increases to make up for the state's projected shortfall of about $400 million next fiscal year.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, also showed that Gov. Paul Patton is the most unpopular governor in the survey's 16-year history.

Fifty-five percent of those polled disapprove of Patton's work, while 39 percent approved.

Only 28 percent, however, thought he should resign, while 64 percent said he should remain in office.

Though many of those polled said they could accept budget cuts in various state programs, more than 75 percent oppose any cuts in education and Medicaid.

Seventy-six percent of Kentuckians oppose cuts in funds for public elementary, middle and high schools, and 77 percent opposed cuts in the Medicaid program, which serves more than 600,000 Kentuckians.

Those opposed to such cuts include Velma Cobb, 61, of Elizabethtown.

"You could cut some programs, but I don't think they should mess with Medicaid or the school system," said Cobb.

The poll results didn't surprise Rep. Jimmie Lee, D-Elizabethtown, chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees funding for human services - including the $4 billion Medicaid program. Lee said the results reflect what legislators are hearing - that most people don't want taxes increased but want education and human services, including Medicaid, spared any cuts.

Of registered voters, 53 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans favored spending cuts over tax increases.

Those polled said they could support some cuts in the following areas: higher education, 49 percent; state parks and tourism, 76 percent; state police, 41 percent; the state court system, 72 percent; prisons, 66 percent; and business development programs, 72 percent.

Until the latest survey, none of the four governors tested by the Bluegrass Poll has received majority disapproval.

"It is understandable that many Kentuckians have been disappointed with me for the personal mistake I have made; they're justified in their disappointment," Patton said Friday of his admitted affair with western Kentucky businesswoman Tina Conner.