Washington State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion and Reproductive

1. Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
- Pro-choice

2. Should abortion be legal only within 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?
- No

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

7. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes

8. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- Choice is just that - Choice. Women and their Doctor and family should make those choices. As for minors - too many young women come from ethnic minority groups where the decision to have an abortion (or even sex) will result in their deaths. Again, Choice is Choice! Anti-Choice is no choice at all.

Budget, Spending, and Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Maintain Status

4. Health care
- Greatly Increase

5. Law enforcement
- Greatly Decrease

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Maintain Status

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- I will assume that law enforcement means the courts and justice system. If we decriminalized or legalized marijuana, we would have much more money for prevention programs, education and health care.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- No Answer

4. Gasoline taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Other or expanded categories
- Because we don't have an income tax, we do not have corporate taxes. What we have is a very regressive tax, B&O, that taxes on gross receipts instead of net. We need tax reform, and if I-1098 passes, the B&O would go away on 375,000 small businesses and the state's portion of the property tax. 1098 would tax the 2% of wealthiest citizens to fund education and health care.

1. Tapping into Washington's "rainy day" fund
- Yes

2. Instituting an income tax on high-earners
- Yes

3. Extending the suspension of Initiative 960, the Taxpayer Protection Act
- Yes

4. Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders
- Yes

5. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

6. Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees
- No

7. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

8. Privatizing certain government services
- Yes

9. Other or expanded principles
- We already privatize certain govt. services on roads, at DSHS, and other agencies. We have already instituted 10 furlough days for state employees, I am not in favor of more. If we lay-off more people, we will still have to pay unemployment and the unemployed use the ERs, food banks, and other resources.

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Individual
- Yes

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- No

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

1. Other or expanded principles
- We already do most of this in WA State. It is unconstitutional to limit terms, as found by the Supreme Court.

Crime and 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. Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized?
- 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?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- Brain Studies have shown that children's brains do not fully mature until the age of 25 - children who have boundaries and parental oversight do better, but a child without any of this can commit heinous crimes, but can be salvageable.

Economic

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

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

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

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

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

6. Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- As far as regulations on the private sector, which ones should we pick? Health and safety - I doubt it. Many regulations come out of local government. It is not so easy to just say yes.

Education

1. Do you support national education standards?
- No

2. Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams?
- No

3. Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers?
- No

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

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

6. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Washington high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- I don't believe the Federal Government should be dictating school standards. That is for the state to do. I don't believe in standardized exit exams but end of course exams. We already have the SATs. Illegal immigrants who graduate from high school - how can a child who has been brought here as a child be punished for the parents' acts. Education makes all of us better citizens, and these children will become citizens.

Environment and 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)?
- Yes

3. Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops?
- Yes

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

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

6. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- On (f) if the regulations are evidence based.

Gun

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

2. Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- Yes

3. Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

4. Do you support requiring a license for gun possession?
- Yes

5. Do you support a ban on assault weapons?
- Yes

6. 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?
- No

4. Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance?
- Yes

5. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- No

6. Do you support continuing to allow physician-assisted suicide in Washington?
- Yes

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- (e) How much is a life worth? When we can have a absolute figure I will revisit this question.

Social

1. Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
- No

2. Should Washington continue to allow same-sex couples to form domestic partnerships?
- Yes

3. Do you support state funding for stem cell research?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research?
- Yes

5. Do you support the state's use of affirmative action?
- Yes

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

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

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.
- WA. State Ferries, jobs and protecting the most vulnerable in our society. If we need additional funding then we need to close tax loopholes and exemptions.