Oregon State Legislative Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion & Reproductive

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

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

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- Government has no proper role in the abortion decision. That belongs to the pregnant women and whoever she shares that decision with, hopefully including her healthcare provider. Prohibition of public funds effectively means women of means would have the ability to safely implement that decision while economically disadvantaged women would not. That violates what I take to be American values and shouldn't be tolerated.

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions?
- No

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

3. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients?
- No

4. An income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- Candidates agree we need to re-invest in children, people generally, infrastructure, education, etc, at levels beyond available revenue. Some say they'll do it without added taxes/fees by just eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse." Nonsense. Yes, we can ALWAYS improve the effectiveness/efficiency of spending and I'm committed to holding agencies accountable to do that. Put let's not fall for the "I'll improve services and curb taxes" fairy tale that's helped put us in a deep hole. Oregon's extraordinarily light taxation of major corporations leaves room to progressively raise revenue without asking more of the many Oregonians close to the economic edge.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Do you support any limits on campaign contributions to state candidates?
- Yes

2. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

3. Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting?
- Yes

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- We demonstrably have a voter suppression and demonstrably do NOT have a voter fraud problem in our country. I strongly believe that special-interest campaign money blocks solutions to our major problems. That's why I decided to accept NO special-interest PAC or lobbyist money in either the primary or general election for this office. That is dramatically different from my opponent's finances. This is so critical and central that I've dedicated a page of our website to the issue. Please see https://www.goldenforsenate.com/money/

Crime & Public Safety

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

2. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- C) answer would GENERALLY be 'no' but circumstances could occasionally warrant exceptions. Federal immigration enforcement strategy is wildly over the top and doesn't deserve the support of Oregon resources. Come back and talk to us when the federal government shows genuine interest in a broad-based solution to the immigration issue. Marijuana criminalization has had no rational justification on either public health or safety grounds. It has needlessly ruined, or made much more difficult, the lives of otherwise law-abiding people.

Economic

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

2. Do you support lowering state taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

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

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

5. Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits?
- No

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

7. Should landlords be required to provide relocation assistance to tenants displaced by a terminated lease or rent increase?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- I found this the toughest section for Yes/No questions...my responses, if allowed, would have several "It depends" elements. I welcome a phone call from anyone wanting to engage more on any of these questions at 541/843-0270

Education

1. Do you support adopting federal education standards in Oregon ?
- No

2. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- No

3. Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Oregon high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- On b), there could be exceptions, if the charter school is consistently meeting standards as high as normal public schools and is not draining resources from K-12 education in a damaging way. There are some charter schools achieving valuable innovations that don't seem likely in the larger system. But we have to be careful to prevent defunding of the major K-12 system, which is a bulwark of democratic republics.

Environment & Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes

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

3. Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives?
- Yes

4. Do you support implementing cap-and-trade policies in Oregon that require in-state businesses to pay a carbon emissions tax?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- Strong yesses on all of these. America's neglect on meaningful climate action is a betrayal of the upcoming generations. There are proven strategies that can transition us from carbon-based to renewable energy that also generate many family-wage jobs. Other states are proving the truth of that. It is past time to stop subsidizing the "externalized" costs of the fossil-fuel industry that has allowed them to mass the greatest profits in history, and pricing carbon emissions is an economically sound way to do that, one that free-market conservatives should certainly embrace.

Gun

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes

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

3. Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom?
- Yes

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- a) LET'S FIRST GET MORE SPECIFIC on what "gun-control" means. That's not the goal--reducing gun violence is the goal, and reasonable restrictions on firearms is one of several means to get there. The NRA-inspired fear that ANY restriction is the start of a slippery slope aimed to "Take Away Our Guns!" is irresponsibly destructive and should be refuted at every turn. Let's talk more intelligently and less fearfully about what will actually reduce gun violence.c) under certain circumstances and with strict training and safety measures, teachers can be allowed, NOT REQUIRED OR PRESSURED, to carry firearms.

Health

1. Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse?
- Yes

2. Do you support Medicaid expansion through Oregon 's health care programs?
- Yes

3. Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance?
- No Answer

4. Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia?
- Yes

5. Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- c) I strongly favor and will advocate tenaciously for some form of a Medicare-for-All system, or at least a public option to join one. That renders irrelevant the question of individual mandate.

Social

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

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

3. Do you support greater efforts by Oregon state government in closing the pay gap between men and women?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- These are basic to human rights and democracy.

Legislative Priorities

In the following area, 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) Serious action on climate--passing a potent Clean Energy Jobs Bill and killing the fracked-gas pipeline proposal, ending fossil fuel subsidies and transitioning to renewable energy.2) Getting upstream to address root causes of homelessness/unaffordable housing, mental illness, barriers to health care and education that brings family-wage jobs within reach. This will take revenue reform, eg, the 2017 Educational Investment Initiative proposal ($1.6B), raising beer/wine taxes from the lowest in America to middle of the pack ($.72B), ending other corporate tax privileges.3) Reducing the stranglehold of Big Money on government, preferably with voluntary public campaign financing. Thanks, JG