Rhode Island State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test

Abortion

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer

2. Abortions should always be legal.
- No Answer

3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
- No Answer

4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- X

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X

6. Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
- No Answer

7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- As a devout Catholic, I believe in the sanctity of every human life. As a member of the State Senate, I have sworn to faithfully uphold the state and federal constitution and her courts, and I will not break my oath to the citizens of Rhode Island.

Budget and Tax

State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.

1. Education (Higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Slightly Increase

3. Emergency preparedness
- Slightly Increase

4. Environment
- Slightly Increase

5. Health care
- Slightly Increase

6. Law enforcement
- Slightly Increase

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase

8. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

9. Other or expanded categories
- I firmly believe in fiscal responsibility, and I am an ardent advocate for smart, conservative spending. The solution to our current budget woes is smart targeted reductions in spending and NOT in new broad-based tax increases. For eight years, I have fought against broad-based tax increases.

State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.

1. Alcohol taxes
- No Answer

2. Cigarette taxes
- No Answer

3. Corporate taxes
- No Answer

4. Gasoline taxes
- No Answer

5. Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
- No Answer

6. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- No Answer

7. Property taxes
- No Answer

8. Sales taxes
- No Answer

9. Vehicle taxes
- No Answer

10. Other or expanded categories
- The solution to our current budget woes is smart targeted reductions in spending and NOT in new broad-based tax increases. For eight years, I have fought against broad-based tax increases. I have advocated passage of a new law to curb increases in property taxes, and I sponsored legislation to provide property tax relief for senior citizens.

11. Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- No

12. Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget?
- No

13. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- Undecided

14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.

1. Do you support the current limit of terms for Rhode Island governors?
- Yes

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Rhode Island state senators and representatives?
- Undecided

Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

1. Individual
- Yes

2. PAC
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Parties
- Yes

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

6. Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns?
- Yes

7. Should Rhode Island participate in the federal REAL ID program?
- Yes

8. Should a plan to reduce the state budget deficit include laying off state workers?
- Undecided

9. Should a plan to reduce the state budget deficit include health benefit reductions to retired state employees?
- Undecided

Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

1. Other or expanded principles
- I am honored to be rated the #1 Good Government Legislator in the General Assembly. I remain committed to passing tougher government reform and accountability legislation. I sponsored new campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics reform legislation to make our Ocean State a Good Government State. In addition to my fight for good government legislation, I sponsored legislation to restrict the powers of eminent domain and protect Rhode Islanders' private property.

Crime

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer

2. Establish the death penalty in Rhode Island.
- No Answer

3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X

4. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- No Answer

5. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- No Answer

6. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- X

7. Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
- X

8. Support hate crime legislation.
- X

9. Other or expanded principles
- With 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States and an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 of them in Rhode Island, illegal immigration deserves our full attention. The costs to our nation and our state associated with illegal immigration are significant and continue to grow each year. With the federal government appearing unwilling or unable to address this issue at this time, Rhode Island should confront illegal immigration at the state level as federal law permits. We must enact e-verification legislation in Rhode Island. I also oppose mandatory minimums for misdemeanor drug possession and other non-violent crimes.

Education

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

1. Support state funding of universal pre-K programs.
- X

2. Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- No Answer

3. Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students.
- X

4. Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- X

5. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer

6. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer

7. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X

8. Support using a merit pay system for teachers.
- No Answer

9. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X

10. Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of Rhode Island to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
- No Answer

11. Other or expanded principles
- As a high school history teacher, I understand the importance of public education. I am strongly opposed to vouchers of any kind. I am proud to be endorsed by the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and NEA.

Employment

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market.
- X

2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector.
- No Answer

3. Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
- X

4. Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X

5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- X

6. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X

7. Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
- No Answer

8. Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- X

9. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- X

10. Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
- X

11. Other or expanded principles
- In response to federal government inaction on illegal immigration, the General Assembly has introduced a number of immigration reform bills. I support and co-sponsored federal court upheld legislation that would require state employers to verify the legal status of new employees (E-verify). Removing the core incentive, namely employment, which attracts illegal immigrants to the state in the first place, would be a positive first step in bringing about much-needed illegal immigration reform. In Rhode Island we must promote new business growth while protecting workers rights. I have fought to protect collective bargaining rights in the Senate.

Environment and Energy

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X

2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc).
- X

3. Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
- X

4. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X

5. Support funding for improvements to Rhode Island's power generating and transmission facilities.
- X

6. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X

7. Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
- X

8. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- X

9. Other or expanded principles
- In 2005, I was named the Conservation Legislator of the Year. I am committed to protecting our environment and, in particular, the health of Narragansett Bay. I led the charge to defeat the mega container port proposed at Quonset Point. In addition, I co-sponsored a new Clean Water Law and the statewide public area smoking ban. I also sponsored new legislation to protect against the inappropriate sale of state-owned Open Space and preservation lands.

Gun

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

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

2. Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

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

4. Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

5. Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- I am a proponent of the Second Amendment. I believe that the best means of enforcing criminal control is through background checks to determine one's criminal record and mental state. Tragic events like the massacre at Virgina Tech underscore the importance of preventing criminals and mentally unstable individuals from having access to firearms.

Health

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X

2. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer

3. Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer

4. Allow patients to sue their HMOs.
- X

5. Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality.
- No Answer

6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Rhode Island.
- No Answer

7. Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- Accessible, affordable health care is essential to improving one's quality of life. As vice-chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, I continue to fight for better health insurance options and more affordable prescription drugs for every Rhode Islander. This year, I successfully sponsored legislation to bring more health insurance companies to Rhode Island, in an effort to make health insurance more accessible and more affordable. In addition, I sponsored a law requiring Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI to pass prescription discounts onto customers. I also spearheaded the state's effort to import safe, low cost prescription drugs from Canada.

Social

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.

1. Should Rhode Island continue to recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

2. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- Undecided

3. Should Rhode Island provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
- Yes

4. Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
- Yes

5. Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
- Yes

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

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

8. Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
- Undecided

9. Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
- Undecided

10. Should Rhode Island continue affirmative action programs?
- Yes

11. Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
- Yes

12. Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
- Undecided

13. Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
- No

14. How long should welfare recipients be allowed coverage (in years)?
- 5 Years

15. Other or expanded principles
- Affirmative Action: I firmly believe in assisting anyone who is disadvantaged. The emphasis should be on the disadvantaged first and foremost, regardless of race or gender. Stem Cell Research: While I prefer researchers avoid the use of embryonic stem cells when possible, I support funding for research that uses embryos that would otherwise be discarded. I oppose farming embryos explicitly for embryonic stem cell research. I am very encouraged by the recent breakthroughs that uses skin tissue to recreate stem cells.

Legislative Priorities

1. 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.
- Serving the people of Narragansett and North Kingstown has been my honor and privilege. As your voice in government, I have worked diligently on government accountability and reform, accessible and affordable healthcare, property tax relief and environmental protection. These will continue to be my top legislative priorities in the 2009 General Assembly Session. We must complete Separation of Powers, pass renewable energy legislation, enact E-verification, and develop a positive business climate for job growth in RI. With your support this election, we can continue to chart a course for a brighter future for our coastal communities and our Ocean State.