Hartford - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got most of what he wanted on budgetary matters this past legislation session, but according to a new opinion poll, the victories cost him popularity with voters.

The governor's job approval rating has slid to 42 percent among likely voters, and a majority said they wouldn't vote to elect the Democrat to a second term in 2014, according to the results of a poll released Tuesday by the conservative Yankee Institute for Public Policy.

The land line phone survey of 500 likely Connecticut voters was conducted on behalf of the Yankee Institute by Pulse Opinion Research, which provides the fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys.

The poll was done Thursday - the day after the adjournment of the General Assembly's regular session - so that legislative issues would be fresh in people's minds, said Fergus Cullen, Yankee Institute's executive director. Both chambers of the legislature are under Democratic control.

This year's session saw the passage of Malloy's $40.2 billion biennial budget involving the largest tax increase in Connecticut in two decades - $1.4 billion in new taxes its first year and $1.2 billion in the second. Dollar-for-dollar, the tax increase is bigger than that signed by former Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. when he introduced Connecticut's income tax in 1991, but it is smaller when adjusted for inflation.

Cullen suspects that the impending tax increases had something to do with Malloy's tepid poll numbers. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they either "somewhat" or "strongly" disagree with how Malloy has handled his job. Just 39 percent said they would vote to re-elect the governor.

"Raising taxes is not popular, so we weren't surprised to see that," Cullen said.

Roy Occhiogrosso, the governor's senior adviser, defended Malloy for choosing to make the tough decisions that Connecticut needs for long-term health.

"You can choose to be popular or you can choose to lead," Occhiogrosso said in a statement Tuesday. "In making the tough decisions now, he's confident our state will be in better shape when he leaves office than it was when he took office."

The survey asked if the governor's budget "spends too much and raises taxes too much" or if the budget is "about as good as could be expected" with the weak economy. Fifty-seven percent agreed with the first statement.

It also posed questions about the labor concession's agreement between Malloy's administration and union leaders representing about 45,000 state employees. The agreement is to provide $1.6 billion in savings for state government over two years in exchange for no union layoffs for four years and three years of 3-percent pay raises at the end of the deal.

Forty-nine percent said the 15 unions "did not give enough and should have been asked for more," while 36 percent said the unions did give up a lot. Fifteen percent were unsure.

Fifty percent said they support mass layoffs if the unions reject the agreement; 36 percent were opposed to layoffs. Asked if state worker unions "are more interested in the quality and affordability of public services, or in protecting their members' jobs," 74 percent said protecting jobs.

Respondents generally had favorable marks for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The survey reported a margin of error of 4.5 percent.

Today, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute is scheduled to release the results of its latest opinion poll. The survey asked questions about President Barack Obama, Malloy, the new state budget and the new law mandating that service-sector employers provide paid sick leave to workers.

j.reindl@theday.com