This field note describes how the public polling produced by academic-based survey research organizations provides state and local policymakers  with information regarding public preferences.  As an illustrative case study, the paper documents how the Goucher College Poll informed a variety of COVID-19 policies across the state of Maryland.  Although the American Political Science Association was founded with an eye towards applied research, academic-based survey research organizations are one of the few institutions in the discipline that continue to carry out this mission in earnest.