California State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test

Abortion & Reproductive

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

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?
- Yes

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?
- Yes

9. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that every life is precious and is a blessing. I myself am the father of 3 boys and could not imagine life without them. Sadly there are bad things that happen in life and particular circumstances that must be faced; even though I may not agree with it. While I pray that it does not have to happen, I would never condemn a woman into a back alley abortion. If we are going to truly have small government, then small government doesn't intrude into the personal lives of our citizens.

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Greatly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Slightly Decrease

4. Health care
- Slightly Increase

5. Law enforcement/corrections
- Slightly Increase

6. Transportation/infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- Education is an investment in our children and our children are our future. We must invest in that future in order to promote the success of future generations.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Increase

3. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Decrease

4. Gas/Oil taxes
- Greatly Decrease

5. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

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

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

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

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

1. Tapping into California'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
- Yes

6. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- Balancing the budget is not as simple as putting the onus of responsibility on the backs of the citizens. The legislature needs to find a way to fund programs that work and cut those that are redundant without harming vulnerable Californians.

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?
- Yes

1. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that citizens should be required to show identification to vote but that these laws should not be used in order to promote voter discrimination.

Crime & Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- Yes

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?
- Yes

5. Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- Yes

6. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- Yes

7. Do you support requiring labels on foods that have been genetically engineered or contain genetically modified ingredients?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- E. This is an open question. If the minor is doing something that would classify as Sexual Assault/Indecent Exposure then yes. However, if not then no.

Economic

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Do you support an increase of the minimum wage?
- No

8. Other or expanded principles
- H. Increasing the minimum wage as it is currently being done is not effective. It needs to be increased based on inflation and cost of living.

Education

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

2. Do you support a merit pay system for teachers?
- Yes

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?
- Yes

5. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- Yes

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

7. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- A. Common Core needs to get back to reading, writing and arithmetic as Benjamin Franklin envisioned. The current standard is confusing and poorly planned out. There needs to be a standard and accreditation process; it currently does not work and parents are unable to teach their children as the methods of teaching are alien to them. G. I believe that by getting their diploma, they should be eligible for citizenship at that point and then seek in-state tuition legally.

Environment & Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- Yes

2. Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- Yes

3. Do you support state funding for improvements to California'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. Other or expanded principles
- E. Green house gas emissions are a problem and need to be addressed. However, making business and travel untenable due to over taxation will only hurt this state more than it will help it. There is a better way to address this than how it has been handled. The legislature needs to find it.

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- No

2. Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- No

3. Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

4. Should a license be required for gun possession?
- No

5. Other or expanded principles
- I'm a pretty staunch believer in constitutional rights. The 2nd amendment is very clear and I will actively oppose any measures which would infringe upon it.

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?
- Yes

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- Yes

4. Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act?
- Yes

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?
- Yes

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- D. As long as it has proper reimbursement to the doctors which are eating the costs of this program.E. I don't believe in requiring people to purchase anything they do not wish to purchase.

Social

1. Do you support same-sex marriage?
- No

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

3. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws?
- No

4. Other or expanded principles
- A. I believe the government should not be giving anything called marriage. What people get from the state should be called a civil union or something other than marriage. Marriage is a religious term and no religion should be forced to marry those that it cannot based upon its beliefs.

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.
- My first an foremost priority is to lead a task force on the rebuilding of our state's crumbling infrastructure. Having worked in construction I know that the first priority is that the foundation must be secure before any other projects can be added. Our state's water, roads, and power grid cannot sustain us. We must use funding that is being allocated for things like "high speed rail" to repair our crumbling foundation before adding a second story expansion on top it. This will create jobs and boost the economy instead of driving business away.