Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2004 National Political Awareness 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.
- X

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. Prohibit public funding of abortions and of organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget, Spending, and Tax

State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.

1. Education (higher)
- Greatly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Slightly Increase

4. Health care
- Slightly Increase

5. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Capital gains taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Estate taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
- Slightly Increase

8. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- Slightly Increase

9. Property taxes
- Slightly Decrease

10. Sales taxes
- Slightly Increase

11. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status

12. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

13. Should Internet sales be taxed?
- Yes

14. Other or expanded principles
- X

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

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

1. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Massachusetts governors?
- No

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Massachusetts state senators and representatives?
- No

Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative and gubernatorial 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?
- Undecided

7. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying, and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes

8. Do you support prohibiting the reporting of media exit polling results until all polling locations in Massachusetts are closed?
- Yes

9. Should Massachusetts recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

10. Should Massachusetts restrict marriage to a union only between a man and a woman?
- No

11. Do you support allowing out-of-state same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts?
- Yes

12. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Auto Insurance Reform: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding auto insurance reform.

1. Distribute high-risk drivers evenly among auto insurance providers.
- No Answer

2. Increase the investigation and prosecution of auto insurance fraud.
- X

3. Support increased competition between auto insurance providers in Massachusetts.
- X

4. Reduce subsidies paid by good drivers to offset rate increases for bad drivers.
- X

5. Other or expanded principles
- X

Crime

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

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

2. Implement the death penalty in Massachusetts.
- No Answer

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

4. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- X

5. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X

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

7. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- No Answer

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

9. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X

10. Increase funding for state and local emergency agencies to prevent and to respond to terrorist attacks.
- X

11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Education

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

1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- No Answer

2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer

3. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer

4. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X

5. Increase state funds for hiring additional teachers.
- X

6. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- No Answer

7. Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
- No Answer

8. Require public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- X

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

10. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- X

11. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- No Answer

12. Offer free public college tuition to the top quarter of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scorers.
- No Answer

13. Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- X

14. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- No Answer

15. Other or expanded principles
- X

Employment and Affirmative Action

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. Increase the number of weeks an individual must work in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
- No Answer

3. Reduce the number of weeks that individuals are eligible for unemployment benefits.
- No Answer

4. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- No Answer

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

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

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

8. Include sexual orientation in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws.
- X

9. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies' decisions on:

1. Public employment
- Undecided

2. State college and university admissions
- Undecided

3. State contracting
- Undecided

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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, and oil).
- No Answer

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

4. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X

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

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

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

1. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

2. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

3. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

4. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- No Answer

5. Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks on guns.
- No Answer

6. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- No Answer

7. Support current licensing requirements for gun possession.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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. Transfer more existing Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- X

3. Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- X

4. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- X

5. Support patients' right to appeal to an administrative board of specialists when services are denied.
- X

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

7. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Massachusetts.
- No Answer

8. Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- X

9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Welfare and Poverty

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare and poverty.

1. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- No Answer

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

3. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X

4. Support current limits on benefits given to recipients if they have additional children while on welfare.
- No Answer

5. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- No Answer

6. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
- X

7. Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
- No Answer

8. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer

9. Increase funding for affordable housing programs.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 75 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.
- My priorities if re-elected include changing the education funding formula to increase disbursements for small/rural and regional schools; work to stimulate a serious discussion of our state's tax structure and policies, with an eye toward reforming and restructuring all taxes to increase fairness; accelerate timetables for ending the lottery diversion from local aid, and reaching full funding of PILOT and Regional School Transportation accounts; increase higher education accounts and restore the endowment incentive program.