South Carolina 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.
- No Answer

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.
- X

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X

6. Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
- X

7. Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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)
- Greatly Increase

3. Emergency preparedness
- Maintain Status

4. Environment
- Maintain Status

5. Health care
- Slightly Increase

6. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

8. Welfare
- Maintain Status

9. Other or expanded categories
- South Carolina receives a grade of D in a national study of infrastructure maintenance. We are on a 36-year road repaving schedule. Only 20% of the local gas tax money is required to be spent on state secondary roads. Without proper infrastructure, we cannot attract the jobs we desperately need. As City Attorney, I have spent nearly ten years working on infrastructure issues. As a Bankruptcy attorney, I know the desperate need we have for new jobs. I will work to shorten the road repaving schedule and increase the percentage of gas tax money spent on state secondary roads.

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
- Slightly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Greatly Increase

3. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

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

6. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- Maintain Status

7. Property taxes
- Slightly Increase

8. Sales taxes
- Slightly Decrease

9. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status

10. Other or expanded categories
- The Legislature has slashed public school budgets with Act 388, which changed the way schools were funded from property tax to a volatile sales tax. Sales tax revenues are at an all-time low and local schools districts are having to cut millions from their budgets for the upcoming school year, resulting in increased class size, and the deletion of many courses and instructors. Act 388 is especially troublesome for border counties such as ours. It creates an incentive to shop in North Carolina, and our schools never see the revenue. Using sales tax to fund education is wholly irresponsible.

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

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

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

14. Other or expanded principles
- When it comes to money, I am frugal. I don?t like paying taxes any more than the next person. But I know that taxes are necessary to keep our government operating, pave roads, etc. The problem is that our state legislators don?t seem to know how to handle money. A few years ago when South Carolina received several million dollars from the tobacco settlement, legislators spent all of the money almost immediately on new programs. The next year those programs couldn?t be funded because the cigarette money was no longer there. That was irresponsible of our lawmakers.

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 South Carolina governors?
- Yes

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for South Carolina state senators and representatives?
- 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?
- Yes

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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 South Carolina.
- 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.
- No Answer

7. Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
- X

8. Support hate crime legislation.
- X

9. Restrict sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare center, park, or public playground.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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.
- X

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

11. Other or expanded principles
- I am opposed to private school vouchers. There is an organized effort to dismantle South Carolina's public school system. They try to scare parents into thinking that public schools are inadequate or even dangerous and that the best solution is private school voucher programs. But we pay for public schools to benefit our communities as a whole, not just for our individual children. What would society be if we allowed everyone to pick and choose what public programs they want to pay for? That would be absurd. And yet, this is the goal of private school voucher proponents.

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 South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws.
- X

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

8. Increase the state minimum wage.
- No Answer

9. Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
- No Answer

10. Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- X

11. Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
- X

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

13. Other or expanded principles
- Our neighbors have lost their textile and manufacturing jobs, leaving middle-aged workers without transferrable skills or the training needed to compete in today?s job market. And yet, our people have the spirit, the faith, and the un-stoppable work ethic to do any job for which they receive training. I know. I served beside of them at Springs Mills while I was working to pay for college. And in my law practice today, I see my hard-working neighbors forced into Bankruptcy. Our people can do anything if given the chance and the training. We must do more to re-train displaced workers.

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 South Carolina's power generating and transmission facilities.
- No Answer

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. Other or expanded principles
- Since 1732, my family has farmed the land of this District, depended on it, and loved it! And when their time on earth was through, they returned their earthly bodies to this land that gave them so much. Our river is now considered the most endangered river in the country, not because of its condition today, but because our methods of handling development mean it will become more polluted unless we act quickly to correct the mistakes we've made. Our roads and highways are becoming more congested. I want to see our district prosper, but we must manage growth responsibily.

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?
- Yes

5. Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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 South Carolina.
- No Answer

7. Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Social

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

1. Should South Carolina recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- No Answer

2. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- No

3. Should South Carolina provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
- No Answer

4. Should South Carolina continue to recognize common law marriages?
- No

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

6. Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
- Yes

7. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes

8. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- Yes

9. Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
- Yes

10. Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
- No

11. Should South Carolina continue affirmative action programs?
- No

12. Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
- No

13. Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
- No

14. Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
- Yes

15. Should South Carolina require that the distance between a dancer and a patron at a strip club be at least six feet?
- No

16. Should South Carolina require that strip clubs close no later than midnight?
- No

17. 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.
- 1. End the threat of private school vouchers and repeal Act 388. I received a terrific public school education in this district, and my children are currently receiving great public school educations as well. Our public schools are not perfect, but taking money out of the system signals that we're giving up. That would be absurd! The Legislature has already cut our public school budgets beyond the bone with Act 388, which changed the way schools are funded from property tax to volatile sales tax. 2. Recruit new and innovative jobs to replace our lost textile jobs.3. Improve Infrastructure.