Joe Pickett's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
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.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Joe Pickett has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 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.
Texas State Legislative Election 2004 National Political Awareness 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. | |||
| 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. | |||
| X | f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and of organizations that advocate or perform abortions. | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles | |||
State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| h) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Vehicle taxes | ||
| j) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Undecided | k) Should Internet sales be taxed? | ||
| Yes | l) Do you support expansion of gambling to increase state revenue? | ||
| American Indian Tribes, Race Tracks. | |||
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 and gubernatorial candidates?
| Undecided | a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas's governors? | ||
| Undecided | b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas's state senators and representatives? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Undecided | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support prohibiting the reporting of media exit polling results until all polling locations in Texas are closed? | ||
| Undecided | h) Should Texas recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| Undecided | i) Should Texas restrict marriage to a union only between a man and a woman? | ||
| No | j) Do you support capping non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in liability lawsuits? | ||
| No | l) Do you support allowing the governor to appoint judges if they are subject to Senate approval and retention elections? | ||
| Yes | m) Do you support banning insurance companies from using a homeowner's credit history to decide their premium? | ||
| n) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and for hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| b) Support the death penalty in Texas. | |||
| X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | ||
| d) End parole for repeat violent offenders. | |||
| X | e) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. | ||
| f) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. | |||
| g) Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes. | |||
| h) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | |||
| X | i) Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth. | ||
| X | j) Increase funding for state and local emergency agencies to prevent and respond to terrorism. | ||
| k) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| X | a) Support national standards and testing of public school students. | ||
| b) Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school. | |||
| c) Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school. | |||
| X | d) Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure). | ||
| e) Increase state funds for hiring additional teachers. | |||
| f) Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay. | |||
| X | g) Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools. | ||
| h) Require public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |||
| X | i) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. | ||
| X | j) Increase funding for Head Start programs. | ||
| k) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. | |||
| l) Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods. | |||
| X | m) Support abstinence-only sexual education programs. | ||
| No | n) Do you support Texas's school funding equalization system (Robin Hood)? | ||
| New revenues from tribal gamings franchise tax charges. | |||
| "Short term help w/ increase in cig. tax. " | |||
Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies' decisions on:
| X | a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market. | ||
| b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion. | |||
| 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. | ||
| e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| X | f) Include sexual orientation in Texas's anti-discrimination laws. | ||
| X | g) Increase the state minimum wage. | ||
| h) Support using a portion of Texas's "Rainy Day" fund for economic development. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No | a) Public employment | ||
| Yes | b) State college and university admissions | ||
| Undecided | c) State contracting | ||
| d) 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, and oil). | |||
| c) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | |||
| X | d) Support funding for open space preservation. | ||
| e) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | |||
| f) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| a) Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | |||
| b) Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | |||
| c) Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. | |||
| X | d) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns. | ||
| e) Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks on guns. | |||
| X | f) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows. | ||
| g) Require a license for gun possession. | |||
| h) 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) Transfer more existing Medicaid recipients into managed care programs. | |||
| c) Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | |||
| X | d) Support patients' right to sue their HMOs. | ||
| X | e) Support patients' right to appeal to an administrative board of specialists when services are denied. | ||
| f) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | |||
| g) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Texas. | |||
| h) Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare.
| X | a) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | ||
| X | b) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | ||
| c) Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work. | |||
| d) Support limiting benefits given to recipients if they have additional children while on welfare. | |||
| X | e) Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations. | ||
| X | f) Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor. | ||
| g) Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients. | |||
| h) Eliminate government-funded welfare programs. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
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