Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test

Abortion & Reproductive

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy?
- No

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- Yes

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- Yes

5. Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- No

7. Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures?
- No

8. Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Slightly Increase

4. Health care
- Slightly Decrease

5. Law enforcement/corrections
- Slightly Decrease

6. Transportation/infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

7. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

8. Other or expanded categories
- We need to invest in ourselves to generate more opportunity. Once we invest in each other and the common good we will generate more opportunity and prosperity. We can actually decrease our health care cost by adopting a single payer medical payment system.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Increase

3. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Increase

4. Gas/Oil taxes
- Greatly Increase

5. Property taxes
- Slightly Decrease

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Greatly Decrease

8. Income taxes (mid-income families)
- Maintain Status

9. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Greatly Increase

10. Other or expanded principles
- Tax breaks to the rich do not produce broad prosperity or jobs.

1. Tapping into Pennsylvania's "rainy day" fund
- No

2. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

3. Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining
- No

4. Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions
- No

5. Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees
- No

6. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- We cannot cut our way to budget stabilization. I favor looking closely at the key areas of state spending to find areas for reduction. At the same time, we can grow our state revenue with job creation and therefore revenue creation strategies from infrastructure and education investments.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Individual
- Yes

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- Yes

5. Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

7. Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting?
- No Answer

8. Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Crime & Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No

2. Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

3. Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana?
- Yes

4. Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
- No

5. Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- No

6. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Economic

1. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- No

2. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- Yes

3. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- Yes

4. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

5. Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

6. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- Yes

7. Do you support an increase of the minimum wage?
- Yes

8. Do you support the privatization of liquor sales?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- There are regulations of the private sector that should be added and subtracted. However, in general the government deregulation of business as a general policy is a mistake that has lead to financial and environmental failures.

Education

1. Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative?
- Yes

2. Do you support a merit pay system for teachers?
- Yes

3. Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers?
- No

4. Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school?
- No

5. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- Yes

6. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- Yes

7. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- The state not the local school districts should fund the charter schools. More oversight of charter and public schools is required to raise achievement in PA.

Environment & Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- Yes

2. Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- No

3. Do you support the regulation of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for improvements to Pennsylvania's energy infrastructure?
- Yes

5. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes

6. Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

2. Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- Yes

3. Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
- No

4. Should a license be required for gun possession?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- Yes

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- Yes

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- Yes

4. Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act?
- Yes

5. Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance?
- Yes

6. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- Yes

7. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- Universal health care is a human right.

Social

1. Do you support same-sex marriage?
- Yes

2. Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

3. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

In the following area, on an attached page, or via e-mail, please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- 1) Raise support for public education with a fair funding formula and state funding of at least 50% of the cost of basic education.2) Raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour to get working families out of poverty and support small businesses and our economy with greater consumer spending.3)Reduce gun violence with restrictions on access to handguns with fingerprint handgun licensing.