Texas State Legislative Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion & Reproductive

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

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

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget, Spending, & Tax

1. Do you support the creation of a state income tax in Texas?
- No

1. Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions?
- No

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

3. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients?
- No

4. Other or expanded principles
- We should close the loophole for corporate property taxes, and we should incentivize clean energy industry and tax the resultant products. I'm also in favor of legalizing marijuana and regulating and taxing it just like we do with tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Do you support any limits on campaign contributions to state candidates?
- Yes

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

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- Given the current challenges some segments of our population face to obtain government issued ID, I do not support requiring such a photo ID to vote. I'd like to see government ID's issued for all citizens through a comprehensive managed system that makes such identification easy for citizens to obtain and accessible to all.

Crime & Public Safety

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

2. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Economic

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

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

3. Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector?
- No

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

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

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

7. Other or expanded principles
- In my view, some of the questions in this section are not black/white issues. For example, I support lowering taxes on individuals and small businesses to promote growth, but large corporations already have low taxes in TX and do not need further relief. I'm not wholly opposed to drug testing welfare recipients, but states that do it have not actually saved any money. I think that if we decide to drug test welfare recipients then we should also regularly drug test our state representatives including legislators, judges, and executives; since they also benefit from state funds.

Education

1. Do you support adopting federal education standards in Texas?
- Yes

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

3. Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Texas high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

4. Do you support increasing funding for the state education budget?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- We should close the "Equal and Uniform" property tax loophole for corporations with large buildings facilities and use the added revenue to better fund our schools. We also *MUST* ensure that every dollar designated for education stays in the education budget and shall never go to the state's General Fund. We should also eliminate the STAAR testing and instead implement sensible and VALID measurements to evaluate school performance, such as Federal Diagnostic testing and tracking Student Outcomes. Schools should be evaluated based on how well we prepare our kids for success in life, not on a discriminatory STAAR test.

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 government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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 teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom?
- No

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- Instead of "gun-control" we should be pushing for common sense gun SAFETY reform. Let's institute stronger background check so that suspected terrorists and violent psych patients get flagged for extra safety measures before buying. Let's incentivize safe storage, and let's prosecute folks who carelessly allow guns to get into the hands of children or other dangerous people who then commit crimes or even injure or kill others. Let's have "Red Flag" laws to at least temporarily remove guns from domestic violence abusers.

Health

1. Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse?
- Yes

2. Do you support Medicaid expansion through Texas's health care programs?
- Yes

3. Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance?
- Yes

4. Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia?
- Yes

5. Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations?
- Yes

6. Do you support increasing funding for state medical facilities and hospitals in rural areas?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- I said "yes" to requiring folks to buy insurance, because having more people enrolled will help reduce the cost. But I don't like the idea of *requiring* individuals to purchase health care insurance because the high costs we currently have will make that impossible for folks who are already struggling to make ends meet. We need to find ways to make healthcare available to everyone, and we need to especially promote preventive healthcare in order to reduce costs all the way down the line.

Social

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

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

3. Do you support greater efforts by Texas state government in closing the pay gap between men and women?
- Yes

4. Should individuals be required to use a bathroom that corresponds with the gender listed on their birth certificate?
- No

5. Do you support the removal of Confederate statues from public spaces?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- On the bathroom issue, we should let people use the bathroom that aligns with their identity. Someone's identity is how they live their lives, it is *not* some flighty or silly decision as it has been described by misinformation campaigns. As for Confederate statues, there are some (very few) that accurately mark historical locations and events and those could be properly labeled and then registered as historical markers. Most, however, only serve to glorify a war waged over the right to keep slaves and those should be removed from public spaces, perhaps to be relocated to museums.

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.
- My top priority is public education, both funding and the governance systems. Funding can be improved by closing a corporate tax loophole and by not sending public school money to charter or private schools through vouchers. My second priority is improving access to healthcare for Texans, especially women's access to healthcare. We can accept the Medicare expansion to alleviate cost and we can stop attacking clinics that assist lower income women at lower cost. My third priority is criminal justice reform, starting with de-escalation training for police and revising the bail system and uneven sentencing to be equitable for all.