Ginny Mayer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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California State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test
The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
| a) Abortions should always be illegal. | |||
| X | b) Abortions should always be legal. | ||
| c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. | |||
| d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. | |||
| e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. | |||
| f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period. | |||
| g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | |||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
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.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.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Welfare | ||
| i) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000) | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Vehicle taxes | ||
| Yes | 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales? | ||
| No | 2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Yes | 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Yes | 4) Should California increase the tax exemption on luxury items (yachts, airplanes, and motor-homes) purchased and stored outside of the state from 90 days to 1 year? | ||
| Taxes on the middle class should not be increased as the middle class increasingly bears the brunt of rising prices, and in parts of California an income somewhat above $75,000 is still middle class. I would maintain current levels on middle and lower income households but raise them slightly on the top 1%. | |||
| Balancing the budget is essential and the need to generate more revenue is undeniable, as distressing as it is to require raising of fees etc. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?
| Yes | a) Do you support the current limit of terms for California governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the current limit of terms for California state senators and assemblymembers? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) PAC | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Parties | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns? | ||
| No | f) Should California participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support giving the redistricting authority of the state legislature to a California citizen council? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the California state government using eminent domain to seize private property for the purpose of private development? | ||
| Leveling the playing field is necessary for truly fair elections; otherwise monied interests exert undue influence, often with out-of-state money used to affect races. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| b) Support the death penalty in California. | |||
| X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | ||
| X | d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. | ||
| e) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | |||
| f) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | |||
| X | g) Support hate crime legislation. | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| X | a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs. | ||
| X | b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind). | ||
| X | c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students. | ||
| X | d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | ||
| X | e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school. | ||
| f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school. | |||
| X | g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. | ||
| h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers. | |||
| X | i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. | ||
| j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of California to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| It is imperative that access to high-quality education is accessible to children and adults to maintain our economic competitiveness in the 21st Century. Whatever solutions will promote this will be pursued. I support standardized testing in theory, but in practice such programs must be reformed so that they do not encourage merely "teaching to the test" and do not allow arbitrary standards to be set for the sake of ensuring high pass rates. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
| X | a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in todays job market. | ||
| b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector. | |||
| X | c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses. | ||
| X | d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families. | ||
| X | e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | ||
| X | f) Increase the state minimum wage. | ||
| g) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | |||
| h) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | |||
| i) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | |||
| X | j) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | ||
| k) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.
| X | a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology. | ||
| b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc). | |||
| X | c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops. | ||
| X | d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | ||
| X | e) Support funding for improvements to California's power generating and transmission facilities. | ||
| X | f) Support funding for open space preservation. | ||
| X | g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. | ||
| X | h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | ||
| California should take the lead in encouraging alternative, sustainable energy development as well as conservation and greater energy efficiency to preserve the environment, fight global warming, and stimulate economic growth. Cleanup of industrial sites should be the responsibility of the polluters, with state funds being used only as a fallback. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| Yes | a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.
| X | a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary. | ||
| b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | |||
| c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | |||
| X | d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs. | ||
| X | e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality. | ||
| X | f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in California. | ||
| X | g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | ||
| Lack of access to healthcare coverage for 5 million Californians. In addition, many who are underinsured face bankruptcy when major illnesses strike. Taxpayers pay the "hidden costs" for treating the uninsured, and for treating preventable or less severe conditions only after they have become crises; and businesses' profits are hurt by having to provide healthcare coverage. Universal healthcare coverage using a single payer approach that cuts out the "middle man" will eliminate unnecessary costs, and benefit individuals and businesses. | |||
['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']
| Yes | a) Should California continue to recognize domestic partnerships between same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| Yes | c) Should California provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples? | ||
| No | d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools? | ||
| No | e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| No | h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions? | ||
| No | i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions? | ||
| No | j) Should California continue affirmative action programs? | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it? | ||
| n) Other or expanded principles | |||
| A top priority is the enactment of single-payer healthcare coverage. The cost to taxpayers and businesses would be more than compensated for by sharply diminishing individuals' current healthcare costs and the burden of companies having to provide healthcare coverage. Secondly, fighting global warming and environmental harm, helping to reduce oil dependency, and stimulating economic growth (which in turn leads to more state revenue) can be promoted through investing in green collar jobs and incentivizing R&D in alternative energy, conservation and greater efficiency. Finally, promoting access to K-12 and adult education is a necessity that will enhance California's economic competitiveness. | |||
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