Utah Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Other or expanded principles
- I agree with the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that a woman's body should not be regulated. I believe this is a very personal decision and that each woman should have the right to choose for herself.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- I will fight to reverse Trump's tax plan that largely benefits the One Percenters and Large Corporations. I will work for a tax plan that benefits middle class American's in the long-term while still providing the funds needed for programs like; education, infrastructure, healthcare, and defense. I have the utmost respect for our Armed Forces - active duty, veterans, and their families. I will work to shift some of the Defense Budget towards programs that support and benefit those who serve and have served as we know that combat veterans have returned changed; physically, mentally, and/or emotionally.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- There are many brilliant, strong leaders who are unable to compete in the electoral process because they do not have access to the same funding that career politicians have. Indirect campaign contributions provide an unfair advantage to be able to hire staff and flood the media with TV ads, flyers, and social media advertisements. It also makes the career politicians beholden to these large corporations instead of the constituents they were elected to represent.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support lowering taxes for small and medium businesses to create local jobs, strengthen communities, and provide opportunities for innovation and growth. I will fight to eliminate tax loopholes and curb tax-avoidance strategies that large corporations exploit to reduce the federal tax percentage below the 35 percent that they should be paying. I would use this increased tax revenue to support federal healthcare along with programs like Meals on Wheels, that support the vulnerable populations.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I feel education standards should be continued to be managed at the state level. That said, I acknowledge that there are huge gaps in the education curriculum and materials provided between wealthy and impoverished areas. I also acknowledge that our teachers are a valuable resource that we entrust to keep our children safe and prepare them to enter a competitive workforce, and that we are not doing enough to support them.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- I am appalled by the current administrations efforts to weaken the laws that were put in place to protect our air, water, and land. I will fight to ensure that companies are incentivized to harvest renewable energy sources and develop technology that reduces harmful emissions.

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I fully support our 2nd Amendment for law-abiding citizens but acknowledge that legislation needs to be passed to ensure that our schools, churches, malls, and other public places are safe. In order to address gun legislation we also need to address mental health issues. I would ban bump-stocks, define and regulate extended magazines, support extensive and comprehensive universal background checks, install a mandatory waiting period, and close the gun show and private sales loopholes. I would also push for money to be advocated to the CDC to study the reasons behind our countries mass shootings.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I do not support repealing the Affordable Care act because it provides life-saving insurance to millions of people, but I will push for changes. I support a single-payer, universal healthcare system that would ensure healthcare access for all our citizens. To develop this healthcare system we should study the systems in countries like Luxembourg, Switzerland, Netherlands, and France to identify what does and does not work. Using this research we should then create a system that works best for our citizens.

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- We need to keep the promise that we made to the Dreamers. We need to create a reasonable pathway to citizenship. We need to create worker visas and have special considerations for those who; at least one nuclear family member is a US Citizen, have been in our country for 20+ years, are a contributing member of society, have no criminal record, and agree to have an annual review.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I would fight to have Medical Cannabis (Marijuana) reclassified across the nation as a Schedule II drug allowing for those suffering from severe seizures or parents of children suffering from severe seizures to obtain the life-saving medication. In addition to helping those suffering from severe seizures it will also help with the opioid epidemic and will offer our honored Veterans additional treatment options for PTSD.

National Security

1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Yes

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support the United States working closely with our Allies to prevent hostile governments and other terrorist factions from possessing or developing nuclear weapons. The use of military force should never be taken lightly but our primary concern must be the safety of our citizens.

Administrative Priorities

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.
- Healthcare:I support a single-payer, universal healthcare system that would ensure healthcare access for all our citizens. This would be partially funded through my Tax Reform initiative discussed below. Tax Reform:The recent Trump tax reform will ultimately benefit the wealthiest individuals and corporations in our country. This needs to be repealed and tax reform needs to be introduced to strengthen our vanishing middle class. I will fight to close the loopholes and curb tax-avoidance strategies that large corporations exploit to reduce their federal tax contribution below the 35 percent that they should be paying.