Nearly four out of five New York State voters support a tax-the-rich plan, first floated by state Assembly Democrats, that would raise income taxes on people who earn more than $1 million a year.

When a recent poll by Quinnipiac University asked voters to state whether they support or oppose the proposal, 78% of voters surveyed said that they back the plan.

Among Democrats, 91% of voters said they are in support of the so-called millionaire’s tax, and 7% said they oppose it. Among Republican voters, 56% support the tax proposal and 36% oppose it.

The Republican majority leader of the state Senate, Dean Skelos, said yesterday that Assembly Democrats are looking to the millionaire’s tax to plug the state’s budget deficit, fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and pay for more heating oil subsidies for lower-income families.

“You are going to chase the people out of the state if you do that. And taxing isn’t the answer to solving our problems, we have a spending problem,” Mr. Skelos said yesterday in an interview with The New York Sun. “Those taxes are going come down to you and me. It’s not going to be millionaires, they are going to come right down. They are going to hit everybody.”

According to the poll, which was released yesterday, most New York voters say they would rather cut services to balance the state budget than raise taxes.

Fifty-six percent of voters surveyed said they would prefer cutting services, with 32% saying they would rather raise taxes. Eighty-two percent of Republicans surveyed said they would rather cut services than raise taxes. Thirty-eight percent of Democrats said they would prefer that route to balance the budget.

When asked which type of tax increase they would prefer, if one “is needed,” 58% of respondents said they would want to raise the state sales tax instead of the state income tax.

New Yorkers expressed serious concern about the state’s economy. Forty-eight percent said it is “not so good,” and 38% said it is “poor.” The polling institute said it was the lowest economic rating since the university began asking the question in 2001.

The poll also found that 64% of New York State voters approve of the job Governor Paterson is doing, with 54% saying they think he has the leadership ability to solve the state’s budget problems.

Mr. Paterson’s approval rating, however, did not put him at the top of the list of potential gubernatorial candidates. When asked who they would like to see elected governor in 2010, 28% of voters said they would want Mayor Giuliani, 26% picked Mayor Bloomberg, 24% picked Mr. Paterson, and 14% selected Attorney General Cuomo.

The poll, which surveyed 1,409 New York State voters, was conducted between July 31 and August 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6%.