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

7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- I will always protect a woman's right to choose.

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
- Greatly Increase

6. Law enforcement
- Slightly Increase

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

8. Welfare
- Greatly Increase

9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

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
- Greatly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Greatly Increase

3. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Increase

4. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

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

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

7. Property taxes (general)
- Maintain Status

8. Property taxes (seniors)
- Slightly Increase

9. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

10. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Other or expanded categories
- I support an increase in cigarette and other tobacco products to help fund universal health care.

12. Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
- Yes

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

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

15. 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 Pennsylvania governors?
- Yes

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

3. Should the size of the state legislature be reduced?
- No

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?
- Undecided

7. Should Pennsylvania participate in the federal REAL ID program?
- No

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

1. Other or expanded principles
- I am committed to addressing the issue of reforming campaign contribution limits in the Senate.

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. Support the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
- 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.
- X

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.
- No Answer

8. Support hate crime legislation.
- X

9. Other or expanded principles
- I am committed to working to pass reasonable hand gun control legislation. My position was praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer in its Endorsement (April 12, 2008).

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 Pennsylvania to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
- No Answer

11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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

7. Include gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws.
- X

8. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X

9. Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
- X

10. Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- No Answer

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

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

13. 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, oil, etc).
- No Answer

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 Pennsylvania'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. Finance energy independence programs with a utilities surcharge.
- No Answer

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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?
- No

5. Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- I support increased legislation and enforcement for items d and e.

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.
- X

6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Pennsylvania.
- No Answer

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

8. Support using the Mcare surplus to extend coverage to the uninsured.
- No Answer

9. Increase tobacco taxes to fund programs that extend coverage to the uninsured.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- Please see my positions on he use of state taxes to help fund universal health care for all Pennsylvanians.

Social

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

1. Should Pennsylvania recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

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

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

4. Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
- No

5. Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
- No

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?
- Yes

10. Should Pennsylvania 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?
- Yes

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

14. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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.
- My top legislative priorities will be to fight for quality health care for all Pennsylvanians; to make our communities and neighborhoods safer by implementing reasonable handgun control; to ensure the availability of family-sustaining jobs; and to provide my district with the resources it needs to improve our children's education, protect our open and green spaces, and enhance our mass transit system.