Al Davis' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Al Davis has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Nebraska State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe that life begins at conception. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State Taxes:Using the key, indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Nebraska's budget.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | j) Should the state allow municipalities to increase their sales tax to a maximum of 2%? | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Nebraska's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Nebraska's rural counties have seen a significant loss of state aid to schools which forces property taxes up in this region of the state. My principal goal is to redraw the state aid formula to bring fairness and equity to western Nebraska. I also hope to focus on solutions for the medicaid and health insurance crisis in Nebraska because such a large percentage of our residents have no insurance presently and rely on medicaid for their health needs. The system is stressed and needs to be re-evaluated and repaired. | |||
| It would be inappropriate to advocate for lower taxes across the board without first understanding what the ramifications of those reductions would be on both the state and local governments. For example, reductions in state aid to schools will result in increased property taxes, since local school districts must find replacement revenue. Tax shifts are not a solution which I favor. My record on the Hyannis School Board will show that I have been a strong advocate for frugality. Property taxes have risen very little in my many years on the board here. | |||
| The first step in balancing the state budget is to eliminate all non-essential programming and institute a freeze on department expenditures. Secondly, the rainy day fund was established to use in emergency situations, since the Nebraska Constitution requires a balanced budget. Salary reductions do not foster good morale, but most employees will understand the need for freezes in salary increases if problems are explained to them. Nebraska's pension plan is in good fiscal condition and I would not favor pension reductions for those already receiving pensions since they have based life decisions on that income. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | |||
| Yes | f) Should the winner of the statewide popular vote receive all of Nebraska's Electoral College votes for President? | ||
| Campaign finance reform laws were designed to prevent individual, corporate or political action committees from buying an election. In the modern world, tremendous resources are thrown into national, state, and even local issues and media exposure is the primary way in which most candidates connect with their constituents. We don't want our elected officials to be bought an sold to the highest bidder. Voting in Nebraska's huge 43rd district is done in different ways. Cherry County offers vote-by-mail services to remote residents. I need to understand how my constitutents would be affected by the rule before taking a position. | |||
| a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| With the advent of DNA-linked evidence, several death-row residents in many states have been exonerated. Because of these cases, I believe that life sentences are most appropriate except in cases where there are several credible witnesses to a specific crime. The issue of "sexting" needs to be examined and guidelines put in place. Is "sexting" private communication between two individuals? Do the participants understand the laws/ | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Should Nebraska allow wagers on historic horse races? | ||
| Nebraska' s infrastructure needs are tremendous. We need to keep roads and bridges in good condition, expand construction of expressways, add lanes to the Interstate. I also support increased state funding for job-training to help individuals get off welfare so they can be contributing members of society. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | |||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Nebraska high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Nebraska's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the Keystone Pipeline's revised route through Nebraska? | ||
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| What is state funding? If state funding is the actual transfer of money to a business to develop alternative energy or traditional energy I would not support this action. If state funding is the implementation of tax abatement programs for this development then I support that. We have seen what tax abatement programs have done for Nebraska's farmers with the development of the ethanol industry. I believe we should encourage the development of alternative sources of energy in Nebraska and I would support taxing programs which benefit those industries. It will help grow the economy of Nebraska. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| g) Should the state of Nebraska fund prenatal care for illegal immigrants? | |||
| Over 20% of the residents of Legislative District 43 have no health insurance. Most of those individuals rely on medicaid for their healthcare--and often that comes at a much higher cost to the taxpayer through use of emergency room services. All states need to find a solution to paying for the uninsured, because the current system simply shifts those costs to the insured population through higher medical bills. The fiscal note on prenatal care for illegal immigrants indicated that significant cost savings were possible by developing a prenatal program. These babies will be US citizens entitled to care after birth. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Nebraska's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Nebraska's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| I do not believe that homosexuality is a choice but rather due to biological processes which we do not understand. Same-sex couples should have all the protections offered to heterosexual couples but I do believe in the sanctity of marriage as between a man and a woman. | |||
| 1). Rural Nebraska must reverse population loss. To do that we need to develop a strong entrepreneurship program in our schools, develop micro-loans for small innovative businesses in rural Nebraska, and encourage the development of agricultural value-added enterprise on the region's cattle ranches and farms. 2). Reduction in property taxes in association with a reformulation of the state aid to schools formula, since the two are interconnected. 3). Infrastructure improvements like the Heartland Expressway need to be developed or completed. Paid for by issuing bonds which would be inexpensive in this low-interest environment. 4). |
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