Hawaii State Legislative Election 2012 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 Answer

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 Answer

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

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
- I support some adult consent or notification for abortions of minors 16 and younger, but it should not be limited exclusively to parental consent, because in some cases that may compromise the safety of the minor. I would not outlaw abortions after the first trimester, but would support some limitations on the third trimester, so long as there is a continual authority for abortion when the life of the woman is endangered.

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Maintain Status

2. Education (K-12)
- Maintain Status

3. Environment
- Maintain Status

4. Health care
- Maintain Status

5. Law enforcement/corrections
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation/infrastructure
- Slightly Increase

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- Due to the slowly recovering economy, for the next couple years I would maintain funding levels for most state services, but work to consolidate programs and eliminate certain outdated programs or make them self-supporting (such as adult education, which is part of our K-12 statewide education system). We could use the resulting savings towards supporting newer and more essential programs within those systems. Infrastructure is one area where I'd slightly increase spending in order to maintain infrastructure and public works projects that support the economic recovery.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Gas/Oil taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Maintain Status

8. Income taxes (mid-income families)
- Maintain Status

9. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Maintain Status

10. Do you support expanding the film and television tax credit?
- No

11. Other or expanded principles
- Again, due to the slow economic recovery, I would not increase any taxes at this time. The one exception would be if there were an opportunity to conduct an overall reform of our State Tax Code. Hawaii's Tax Code is extremely regressive, it taxes lower income people at a higher proportion, and it also tends to favor large business over small businesses. If we could make the Code more progressive and level the playing field for small businesses, in a revenue neutral manner, which would make some taxes go down and some go up, I would support that effort.

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

2. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

3. Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining
- No

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

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

6. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- Thanks to the rise in tourism, our budget is stable right now. We need to replenish the Rainy Day Fund, and maintain fiscal discipline, so the weak recovery can reach the non-tourism businesses in Hawaii. We don't need to inflict more fiscal pain on anyone, we just need to hold off on restoring former spending levels until the economy fully recovers and revenue picks up as a result.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Individual
- No

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?
- No Answer

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 Answer

1. Other or expanded principles
- 4b - I don't know what voluntary limits would achieve or who would be doing the encouraging. 4e - It doesn't seem necessary in small towns and areas where people know each other. It seems more logical in metropolitan areas.

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 decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana?
- No Answer

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

5. Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- No Answer

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

7. Other or expanded principles
- c - undecided d & e - depends on the circumstances of the case. Generally no, but some extreme circumstances could warrant yes.

Economic

1. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- No Answer

2. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- No Answer

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

4. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- No Answer

5. Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

6. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- a - depends on the business and existing regulations. In some cases they should be reduced, in others, expanded or modernized. b & d - I support helping our adult workforce meet the needs of the modern economy, which in many cases requires retraining. I'm not happy with making that effort fully private or fully government. c - I supported the recent extension of unemployment benefits. Undecided if I would extend them further.

Education

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

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

3. Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers?
- No Answer

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?
- Yes

6. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- No Answer

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- I support high common standards for education, but am not familiar with the initiative. I support merit pay, but would not tie it only to test scores and would increase the mentoring and supervision over new teachers for the first several years in practice. Our state funds K-12, including charter schools, and I support equal funding for charter students. I support parent choice in public schools. Our state subsidizes tuition for all in-state students by keeping it low.

Environment & Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- No Answer

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 Hawaii's energy infrastructure?
- No Answer

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

5. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- No Answer

6. Other or expanded principles
- a - I support state assistance that is not necessarily funding, such as provision of land for projects and permitting assistance, to keep costs of renewable energy in line with traditional, to help us transition to renewables. c - I don't support the state funding our Electric Company infrastructure under its current direction. e - I support government planning and land use decisions to consider the effects of climate change and, to the degree possible, help reduce it (but Hawaii is a small emitter, so we won't have much effect at worldwide reductions).

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- 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
- Gun ownership is a constitutional right, and any regulations would need to respect the constitutional rights of private citizens.

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- No Answer

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

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

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

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

6. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- I do not have enough information on the health care reform options to have a response to most of these technical questions. As a practical matter, health care costs have to be contained somehow, and the problem is so large that it requires federal government action. While no law is perfect, I support implementing the recent federal health care act and evaluating its effectiveness. We cannot let the problem continue to fester, which it would if we simply repealed the Act or created more uncertainty with incessant tinkering.

Social

1. Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
- No

2. Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions?
- Yes

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

In the following area, on an attached page, or via e-mail, 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. Repeal Act 55 and the Public Land Development Corporation and all fast-tracking of development projects. 2. Sunset the Act 105 tax increase on subcontractors and small businesses. 3. Direct a greater proportion of the Department of Education budget to the schools by putting it in the line item EDN 100, which the schools control.