New York State Legislative Election 2016 Political Courage Test

Abortion & Reproductive

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

2. Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy?
- No

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- Yes

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- Yes

5. Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- No

6. Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- No

7. Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures?
- No

8. Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Tapping into New York's "rainy day" fund
- No

2. Decreasing funding for public universities
- No

3. Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions
- No

4. Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees
- No

5. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- Many possibilities exist for reorganizing government. For example, decreasing SUNY central bureaucracy and allowing each campus to function more independently. Studies have shown that the high cost of college education is derived in part from a proliferation of administration.

1. Education (higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Greatly Increase

4. Health care
- Greatly Decrease

5. Law enforcement/corrections
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation/infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- I favor single payer health insurance (Medicare for All) which is the only way to decrease health insurance costs.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Increase

4. Small business taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Gas/Oil taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Property taxes
- Slightly Decrease

7. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

8. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Slightly Decrease

9. Income taxes (mid-income families)
- Slightly Decrease

10. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Greatly Increase

11. Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases?
- Yes

12. Other or expanded principles
- I support reinstating the sales tax on the sales of stock, bonds, and other securities. In addition, corporate taxes are not a revenue raiser but an incentive for investment, i.e. corporations would rather re-invest than pay the government money in taxes. The United States had its highest period of economic growth when corporate taxes were highest.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Individual
- Yes

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- Yes

5. Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

7. Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting?
- Yes

8. Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls?
- No

1. Other or expanded principles
- I support public financing of campaigns. There is no significant percentage of voter fraud such that phot ID for voting needs to be required. I know of no fraud at all in my district and we do not have photo ID required for voting.

Crime & Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No

2. Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

3. Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana?
- Yes

4. Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
- No

5. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- No

6. Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Economic

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

2. Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

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

4. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- Yes

5. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits?
- No

7. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

8. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- Yes

9. Do you support an increase of the minimum wage?
- Yes

10. Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them?
- Yes

11. Other or expanded principles
- NY law allows employers to be able to ask about applicants' criminal history only when related to their job duties. I support this provision of NY law. If unrelated to job duties, employers should not be able to ask.

Education

1. Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative?
- No

2. Do you support a merit pay system for teachers?
- No

3. Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers?
- Yes

4. Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school?
- No

5. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- No

6. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- Yes

7. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from New York high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- No

8. Should teacher evaluations be tied to the standardized test scores of their students?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- I do not support tax credits for donors to private foundations that support private schools.

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 funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- No

3. Do you support state funding for improvements to New York's energy infrastructure?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes

5. Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

6. Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- I support the NYS ban on fracking.

Gun

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

2. Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- Yes

3. Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
- No

4. Should a license be required for gun possession?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- Yes

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- No

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- No

4. Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

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

6. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- No

7. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- I support single-payer health insurance also known as Medicare for All.

Social

1. Do you support same-sex marriage?
- Yes

2. Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New York's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

3. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New York's anti-discrimination laws?
- 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.
- 1) Addressing the heroin epidemic by allowing family members to obtain mandatory 90-day treatment for afflicted family members regardless of age 2) Fully funding Foundation Aid to public schools 3) Decreasing health insurance costs to municipalities by allowing them to join County self-insured health plans 4) Increasing wages for not-for-profit direct care providers to disabled and mentally ill persons. 5) Creating a State fund for municipal water and sewer infrastructure improvement.