Nevada 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
- I do not like abortions. We should strive to educate people and to decrease unwanted pregnancies. My biggest concern for outlawing abortions is what happens to the child when a person wants an abortion but cannot obtain one. What happens to that child before they are born? Is the mother taking care of her womb and concerned about what she puts in her body? What are the long-term effects? Today, some babies are born to drug-addicted mothers who face few repercussions (penalties to the mother have shown to harm the child even further). There is no good solution here.

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. Other or expanded principles
- We are missing MANY ways we can reduce our budget here. Transparency in public funding is key. Currently, most government recipients do not need to be fully transparent with their spending (or transparent at all). My proposal is that if an entity receives government assistance, that entity must release all of their spending for an entire year. This should discourage the use of public funds, root-out mismanagement (CCSD 'lost' millions in 2017), and keep everyone accountable. There are many more ideas which you can find on my website.

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?
- No

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?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- In Nevada, our campaign contribution limit to state candidates is $10,000 per person or entity per cycle ($5,000 primary $5,000 general). That is nearly twice the limit for federal candidates ($5,400 - $2,700 each). When a single person owns fifteen companies, that single person may now contribute $150,000 to each candidate and ultimately have a much larger voice than others - and this sort of action does take place. Campaign finance disclosure has seemed to replace campaign finance reform - but this, to me, is wrong, and campaign finance is one of the biggest plagues on our current political system.

Crime & Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- Yes

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

4. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- If a person commits a crime I believe we should cooperate with federal authorities. If a person HAS NOT committed a crime, I do not believe we should seek out those people for the sole purpose of deportation (for numerous reasons). If a person commits a violent crime, I would want to give them a fair trial and lock them up if found guilty - or deport if found not guilty. The big difference between me and others is the idea of seeking out illegal aliens/undocumented persons versus once they are caught dealing with them appropriately.

Economic

1. Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

2. Do you support lowering state taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

3. Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector?
- Yes

4. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- No

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 Nevada?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- Most of these should not be blanket yes/no's. I do not support the stadium (government spending as a means of promoting economic growth) for many reasons, including the fact that if you do a quick search online for "stadiums and economic impact" you will see that most economists disagree with politicians (and the politicians are given lots of money to their campaign accounts, but campaign finance reform needs to pass the politicians so does not happen). We cannot lower taxes on the largest companies because then the smaller ones must make up the difference. Much more to this discussion.

Education

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

2. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- Yes

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- Federal education standards would need to be updated in order to gain my support. In Nevada, a charter school is a public school which is privately run as a non-profit. I do support these and think they are a great way to test ideas. I also support splitting up the school district (and as a business student can show how this will increase competition while retaining economies of scale). Child immigrants have not chosen to break the law - their parents (or someone) did - and the child who did not make the decision should not be punished for it.

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 increasing state funding to improve air quality?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- We all share the environment. When a company pollutes the air, we all feel the effect. This is why I support government regulations for our environment. Water is also a very large issue that must be addressed. I do not have all of the answers - but I may be able to ask the right questions. One such question I asked was, 'how about a water pipeline?', to which I heard 'the environment would be ruined'. But don't we build oil pipelines? And if an oil pipeline leaks - that is much more dangerous. We should explore all options.

Gun

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No

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?
- No

5. Other or expanded principles
- Criminals and a history of violence with weapons should preclude a person from owning a firearm - and therefore we need background checks. Once a person has a firearm (legally), the government should not restrict their presence unless they can ensure a safe environment. For instance, I walk to UNLV campus and may pull a wagon which could contain anything. UNLV campus is a 'gun-free' zone, even though there is nothing to stop a person from coming onto campus with a firearm. This seems to put the law-abiding into jeopardy. A business should be free to make their own rules.

Health

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

2. Do you support Medicaid expansion through Nevada's health care programs?
- No

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

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. Do you support increasing state funding for community health emergency preparation?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- These questions do not properly address the healthcare issues our state is facing. We should be focusing on 'how do we lower the cost of healthcare' rather than 'how do we lower the cost of health insurance'. We can purchase drugs from Canada as a state and save a lot of money on our Medicaid and Medicare costs. We should look into ways of reducing our costs in every aspect of health care, and then everything else becomes easier and less expensive to do.

Social

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

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

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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.
- My number one priority is education. We should lower our student/teacher ratios, split up the district, and encourage more school choice. #1 Charter schools cost the state less money. #2 If we split up the district there will be more competition for many of the school activities. Not many companies can handle 320,000 students at lunchtime, but a lot more can handle 40,000. Increase competition and retain economies of scale. #3 Bringing student/teacher ratios down means smart spending elsewhere (like not publicly funding large private businesses). Our budget has less % allocated to education than we did ten years ago.