North Dakota State Legislative Election 2014 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. Education (higher)
- Greatly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Environment
- Slightly Increase

4. Health care
- Slightly Increase

5. Law enforcement/corrections
- Slightly Increase

6. Transportation/infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

7. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

8. Other or expanded categories
- Early Childhood services particularly pre-kindergarten and Head start programs should be more adequately funded. Behavioral health services such as mental health and substance abuse need funding.

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Increase

3. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Gas/Oil taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Property taxes
- Greatly Decrease

6. Sales taxes
- Slightly Decrease

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

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

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

10. Other or expanded principles
- ND needs to focus tax reductions on middle and lower income families: eliminating income taxes on social security and veteran's benefits; implementing a renter's property tax credit program; reducing sales taxes on essentials and on all thrift store purchases.

Campaign Finance & Government Reform

1. Individual
- Yes

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- No

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

9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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?
- No

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

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?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- Prosecuting juvenile offenders includes many complex variables. Maintaining a strong and flexible Juvenile Justice system is critical to assuring that the punishment fits the crime. There are certain juveniles that should be prosecuted as adults but that decision should be thoroughly established for each individual situation rather than by broad statues.

Economic

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

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?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- The challenge of all economic development activity is to ensure that public funds actually produce living wage jobs. With the growing wage and income gaps, many of the current economic development practices have not demonstrated good wage outcomes for workers. Increased accountability is essential to long term support of economic development activities.

Education

1. Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative?
- Yes

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 North Dakota high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- Public education is the backbone of a healthy and stable society. Having standards for education makes sense. The specifics of the Common Core Standards may need to be modified. Assuring affordable and accessible higher education is critical to meeting the workforce challenges particularly in ND. Maintaining or lower tuition, increasing access to student grants and no or low interest loans will help stabilize the state's workforce.

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)?
- No

3. Do you support state funding for improvements to North Dakota'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
- No Answer

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?
- Yes

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- I strongly support the second amendment but I believe there are some individuals, particularly those with serious psychiatric conditions, who should not have access to guns. In order to protect our children and communities, we need some common sense gun regulation.

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?
- Yes

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?
- No

8. Other or expanded principles
- North Dakota is currently implementing the ACA Medicaid Expansion. This system has helped over 10,000 uninsured adults. The long term challenge will be to assure the availability of health care services, particularly in rural areas to address the aging populations.

Social

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

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

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- All people deserved to be treated with dignity and respect . It is time for same sex marriage in ND. Sexual orientation and gender identity should be a protected class in ND's anti-discrimination laws.

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. Expansion of behavioral health services, mental health and substance abuse, to children and adults in need. Currently the public behavioral health system is in a crisis and the numbers of suicides continues to increase. I strongly support the Interim Human Services Committee recommendations2. Eliminating income taxes on social security and veterans benefits3. Supporting increased funding for basic infrastructure (roads, bridges, housing) throughout ND particularly in Western ND ND has current reserves that can address all of these needs and many more.