Vermont 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.
- No Answer

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- No Answer

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

7. Other or expanded principles
- X

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)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Maintain Status

3. Environment
- Maintain Status

4. Health care
- Slightly Increase

5. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Maintain Status

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- We must try to spend existing funds more effectively & efficiently

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

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Capital gains taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Estate taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

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

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

9. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

10. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status

12. Other or expanded categories
- Everyone must pay their fair share. We should SIMPLIFY tax codes

13. Should Internet sales be taxed?
- Yes

14. Other or expanded principles
- Internet transactions deserve no special status. The internet was developed with government funding, & requires government regulation.

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 Vermont governors?
- No

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

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

1. Individual
- No

2. PAC
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Parties
- No

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?
- No Answer

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 Vermont are closed?
- Yes

9. Do you support recognition of civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

10. Should Vermont restrict marriage to a union only between a man and a woman?
- Undecided

11. Should Vermont ban smoking in all public places, including bars?
- Yes

12. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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 Vermont.
- 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.
- No Answer

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
- X

Education

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

1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- X

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. Expand Vermont's public school choice program to include all K-12 students.
- No Answer

5. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- No Answer

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

7. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- X

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

9. Require public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- No Answer

10. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- No Answer

11. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- No Answer

12. Support incentives for communities to start public preschool programs.
- No Answer

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

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

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

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

5. Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
- No Answer

6. Increase the state minimum wage.
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- X

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

1. Public employment
- No

2. State college and university admissions
- No

3. State contracting
- No

4. Other or expanded principles
- Socioeconomic status should be taken into account in state college and university admissions to ensure access to upward mobility.

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. Conduct environmental permit appeals before a full-time Environmental Court.
- X

7. Conduct environmental permit appeals before a citizen board.
- No Answer

8. Allow individuals or groups that can demonstrate an interest or expertise in a case to participate in environmental permit appeals.
- No Answer

9. Other or expanded principles
- X

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.
- X

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. Require a license for gun possession.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- X

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.
- No Answer

3. Provide tax credits to small businesses that offer health insurance to their workers.
- No Answer

4. Allow small businesses and individuals who have not had health insurance in the past to buy coverage under a state plan.
- X

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

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

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

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

9. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Vermont.
- No Answer

10. Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer

11. Other or expanded principles
- X

Welfare and Poverty

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

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

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. Limit 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. Other or expanded principles
- X

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.
- Reform the health care system to ensure access by creating a large pool of insured to spread the risks and capture economies of scale. This could be done through a consortium of private companies or a public/private partnership. Reform school financing to increase income sensitivity to lessen hardship and improve the appraisal system. Review all economic development programs to ensure that they focus resources on support for new and existing Vermont businesses and farms.