Maryland State Legislative Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test

Abortion

1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer

2. Abortions should always be legal.
- X

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.
- No Answer

5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- No Answer

6. Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
- No Answer

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

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Budget and Tax

1. Education (Higher)
- Slightly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Greatly Increase

3. Emergency preparedness
- Slightly Increase

4. Environment
- Greatly Increase

5. Health care
- Greatly Increase

6. Law enforcement
- Greatly Increase

7. Transportation and Highway infrastructure
- Slightly Increase

8. Welfare
- Maintain Status

9. Other or expanded categories
- Greatly Increase

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Capital gains taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Increase

4. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Gasoline taxes
- Slightly Decrease

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

7. Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
- Slightly Increase

8. Property taxes
- Slightly Increase

9. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

10. Vehicle taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

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

13. Should accounts such as a ?rainy day? fund be used to balance the state budget?
- Yes

14. Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
- Yes

15. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance and Governmental Reform

1. Do you support the current limit of terms for Maryland governors?
- Yes

2. Do you support limiting the number of terms for Maryland state senators and representatives?
- No

1. Individual
- No

2. PAC
- No

3. Corporate
- No

4. Political Parties
- No

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?
- No

7. Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
- Yes

8. Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Maryland are closed?
- Yes

9. Should Maryland recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
- Yes

10. Do you support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage?
- No

11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Crime

1. Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
- No Answer

2. Support the death penalty in Maryland.
- X

3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X

4. End parole for repeat violent offenders.
- No Answer

5. Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
- X

6. Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
- X

7. Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
- No Answer

8. Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
- X

9. Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes.
- X

10. Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
- X

11. Strengthen sex-offender laws.
- X

12. Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine).
- X

13. Other or expanded principles
- Update and/or replace outdated penal institutionsa) Added text: ...staff. "Replace facilities over 25 years old"

Education

1. Support national standards and testing of public school students.
- No Answer

2. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- No Answer

3. Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- No Answer

4. Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
- X

5. Increase funds for hiring additional teachers.
- X

6. Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
- X

7. Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
- X

8. Supprt requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
- No Answer

9. Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
- X

10. Increase funding for Head Start programs.
- X

11. Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
- X

12. Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
- X

13. Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
- No Answer

14. Support the state taking over control of under-performing Baltimore public schools.
- No Answer

15. Other or expanded principles
- Too much emphasis on test taking and not enough attention to critical thinking and analysis

Employment and Affirmative Action

1. Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain displaced workers and teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X

2. Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
- X

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. Support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maryland's anti-discrimination laws.
- X

7. Increase the state minimum wage.
- X

8. Other or expanded principles
- c) Added text: ...businesses. "Especially minority ones"

1. Public employment
- Yes

2. State college and university admissions
- Yes

3. State contracting
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Environment & Energy

1. Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
- X

2. Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, and oil).
- X

3. Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
- X

4. Increase funding for improvements to Maryland's power generating and transmission facilities.
- X

5. Support funding for open space preservation.
- X

6. Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
- No Answer

7. How would you propose to alleviate the rising cost of energy in Maryland? Please use forty (40) word or less.
- Any increase in energy cost must be verified and any increase to consumers must be consistent with the increased cos of production

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

1. Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- X

2. Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

3. Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- No Answer

4. Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
- X

5. Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
- X

6. Require a license for gun possession.
- X

7. Other or expanded principles
- d) Added text: ...guns. "with a permit"

Health

1. Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
- X

2. Transfer current Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
- No Answer

3. Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
- No Answer

4. Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
- X

5. Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
- No Answer

6. Legalize physician assisted suicide in Maryland.
- No Answer

7. Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
- X

8. Allow pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptive without a prescription.
- No Answer

9. Support providing state grants for embryonic stem cell research.
- X

10. Other or expanded principles
- We need single payer system

Welfare and Poverty

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

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

3. Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
- X

4. Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
- No Answer

5. Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
- X

6. Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
- X

7. Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 75 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.
- No Answer