Luke Lofgren's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Luke Lofgren has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2014 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 the extreme exception cases for abortion can be addressed by a medical professional who makes life-and-death decisions on a regular basis. We do not need any statute legalizing abortion. | |||
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 Pennsylvania's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | 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) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Pennsylvania's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| K-12 school funding is at the highest level in the history of Pennsylvania. We do not have a money problem in education, we have an expense problem. Learning outcomes have not improved in the last couple decades of faster-than-inflation increased funding. We must identify and address the root reasons why students are not motivated to learn. | |||
| Severance/extraction taxes on natural gas should be offset by dollar-for-dollar credits on PA business income taxes and/or impact fees. Any leftover money should go to reducing the unfunded pension liability. This pension issue comes from a violation to the spirit of the constitutional requirement to have a balanced budget. We also need to reduce future pension benefits and make adjustments to curtail abuses while raising taxes to pay for the last 15 years of increased benefits. Pensions are a great thing to continue to provide; we must stabilize the program for existing pensioners. | |||
| Ideally expenses should be contained so there is a buffer amount year-to-year that precludes extraordinary measures to balance the budget. However should it have a shortfall the mistake is to raise taxes to merely cover a year-to-year change in costs for existing programs. Taxes should only be considered when there is a specific need not encompassed by existing revenue. In this case the only thing that qualifies is addressing the unfunded pension liability. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| The history of races in my district shows that money is not the deciding factor for who wins elections. Finance regulations related to elections favor preserving incumbency over any other outcome. I would also like to see voting made easier by defining a system to allow casting your ballot online. We have an effective system of online banking, and people should be able to have the convenience of voting online on election day. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I think we should review carefully the minimum sentences for drug crimes. The rate of incarceration (specifically affecting minorities) shows that the war on drugs serves political ends more than it helps with the safety of our communities. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the privatization of liquor sales? | ||
| Privatization of liquor should optimize long-term revenue and minimize retail expansion, should not be designed for a short term "windfall". My primary objection to the PA-run liquor stores is that it's an unnecessary state function. For seasonal businesses, we should provide adjustments in unemployment taxes so they can pursue private options to allow their workers to have a more consistent income. I think the commonwealth should foster retraining and job creation, however direct support tends to be inefficiently administered by government entities and addressing regulations to encourage employer training programs would be optimal. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| State government provides financial aid to in-state college students through state college subsidies, no direct grants or loans are needed. The US should change immigration policy so that there those who graduate from high school are legal immigrants through a significant expansion in allowed immigration. No amnesty, but merely making our policy reflect how we allow many immigrants to come to America. The primary goal of the education system should not be preserving poorly performing institutions but instead doing the right thing for each child that wants an education. My children need well-educated peers to have a successful society. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | 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 the regulation of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Pennsylvania's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| State funding does not preclude a drilling company getting the same capital spending tax advantages of any company. All drilling does require some regulations, I do not think more are needed at this time. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Of course I support some of the existing restrictions on purchase and possession of military-grade continuous fire weapons, but no more restrictions are needed at this time. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I support allowing for low-cost simplified health care plans that would take care of common diseases and injuries without covering health effects from detrimental diet, smoking, and other choices. | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I would hire the candidate who was most qualified for a job; their personal relationships are not a factor. It will not be a priority for me to undo the attempts to use legal fiat and regulation to change the meaning of the word marriage. Marriage and divorce are pre-political institutions that can't actually be redefined by government. However, since government is abdicating its role to regulate the actual definition, I will be interested in promoting legislation to guard religious freedom for churches and businesses that want to operate according to personal conscience. | |||
| 1. Streamlining and reduction of business regulations specifically for small businesses. We must make Pennsylvania attractive to manufacturing's return. 2. Pension reform to fully address the unfunded liability. This will require a tax increase, a reduction in benefits accrued by existing employees in future years, and adjustments to reduce abuses of the system. 3. Welfare and education reform designed to encourage finishing and good grades in school. Reduced benefits for those who do not complete high school. Also, reduction of state regulations for education to allow teachers more control in the classroom. Students must earn promotion to the next grade. |
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