Bettyann Sheats' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for State Senate (ME) - District 20
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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.
Maine State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | |||
| b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | |||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | |||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| f) with exceptions when a case worker or guardian can be assigned because of | |||
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 Maine's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Maine'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 | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| I believe in the longer term, we can reduce the needs for corrections and social services by investing in education, especially technical skills and job training and placement. | |||
| c) I would increase by closing loopholes and exemptions, not by increasing rates. If corporations paid their fair tax, it would lower the tax burden on individuals. i) I would repeal the tax reduction for higher incomes from this past legislature. | |||
| a) Two or three years ago I would have said yes. d,e,f) These have been reduced. I would not support further reductions. | |||
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 | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| 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? | |||
| b) voluntary is meaningless. e) only if that ID were easy to obtain (available through several locations at various times of day and night) at no cost for the voter. | |||
| No | 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 requiring that bail decisions in domestic violence cases be made by a judge? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | f) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | |||
| d) for medicinal purposses. e) with a few exceptions. f) age and intent are factors here. Charges should be only one option of many. g) We are a society of laws, and I support that. However, our immigration system is clearly broken. We need to find a way to fairly address the needs of those here illegally with respect and fairness to those who have been or have come here legally. I do support The Dream Act as a way to start. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| a) I am in favor of reducing outdated, contridictory or duplicated rules. and streamlining processes for reports and such. c) not beyond the current expansions. I do not support efforts to add restrictive requirements on unemployment (such as drug testing or continuing education) which is an insurance program paid for by individals and their employers. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | |||
| c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | |||
| d) Do you support expanding open enrollment policies for students in Maine? | |||
| e) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | |||
| f) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | |||
| g) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | |||
| h) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| Yes and no to each of these. CCSS has been adopted by Maine, but that does not relieve us from the burden of No Child Left Behind. I support merit pay but have found no fair system of evaluating teachers. I do not support tenure in general, but much more than tenure goes into teacher effectiveness. Parents already have school choice within Auburn. Before I would support funding for charters, I would like to bring some of those initiatives into our public schools. States offer varieties of financial asst in incentives for areas of study needed in the state. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding the wind turbine programs off the coast of Maine? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Maine's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| c) only to ensure these are opperated responsibly from an environmental, health and safety perspectives. And only to lower the cost of energy in Maine to encourage business growth. I believe any investment in these areas will be repaid in larger tax revenues from business growth. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| Maine has addressed each of these issues well. I see no need for additional regulations. I would however support the repeal of a law past during the last legislature that allowed someone with a carry permit to carry a fire arm onto the private property of another without the owners knowledge or consent. I see that as a violation of property rights. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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 Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| d) No one should be discrinimated against. But there are too many varialbes not addressed in this question: bathrooms, schools.... | |||
| Jobs: As a small business owner myself, I would like to be a voice for small businesses. I support innovation and new technologies to grow our economy and provide good paying, technical jobs. Veterans: Maine has the highest percentage of veterans, whom we serve well. But we need to be prepared for the wave of young servicemen and servicewomen who will be leaving active duty in the next few years, and their financial, physical and emotional needs. Support for local government: by continually shifting costs to cities and towns, the state has forced Auburn's taxes to increase. |
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