Keith Sommer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Keith Sommer has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2020 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.
Illinois 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. | |||
| b) Abortions should always be legal. | |||
| c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. | |||
| X | d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. | ||
| X | e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. | ||
| X | f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period. | ||
| X | g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | ||
| We must encourage the protection of all life and promote adoption while discouraging abortion. | |||
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.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | i) Vehicle taxes | ||
| Undecided | 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? | ||
| No | 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| 4) Other or expanded principles | |||
| Budget limitations currently limit spending increases. | |||
| Against tax increases. | |||
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?
| No | a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Illinois governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Illinois state senators and representatives? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) PAC | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Parties | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| No | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns? | ||
| No | f) Should Illinois participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| X | a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | ||
| X | b) Support the death penalty in Illinois. | ||
| 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) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. | |||
| f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | |||
| X | g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | ||
| h) Support hate crime legislation. | |||
| (h) depends on the crime | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs. | |||
| 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. | ||
| d) Require public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |||
| 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. | |||
| 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 Illinois to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| k) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
| a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in todays job market. | |||
| X | b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector. | ||
| X | c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses. | ||
| d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| f) Support the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in Illinois' anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| g) Increase the state minimum wage. | |||
| h) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | |||
| X | i) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | ||
| j) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | |||
| k) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | |||
| (d) Tax credits for all | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.
| X | a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology. | ||
| X | b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc). | ||
| c) Provide 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. | ||
| e) Increase funding for improvements to Illinois' power generating and transmission facilities. | |||
| X | f) Support funding for open space preservation. | ||
| g)Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. | |||
| h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| No | a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | c) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | |||
| No | 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.
| a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary. | |||
| X | b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | ||
| X | 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. | ||
| f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Illinois. | |||
| g) Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.
| No | a) Should Illinois recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| No | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| No | c) Should Illinois provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools? | ||
| f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | |||
| Yes | 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 Illinois continue affirmative action programs? | ||
| k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | |||
| No | l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it? | ||
| (f) Depends on the program (k) Depends on the stem cell source | |||
| We must protect personal and professional rights and freedoms while not letting government spending get further out of control, comprehensively address the funding of public education, and work closely with our neighboring communities and state government to foster long term economic growth. |
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