Jeffery Gifford's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Deceased
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.
Jeffery Gifford did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 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.
Maine 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.
| X | 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. | |||
| f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period. | |||
| g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | |||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
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 Decrease | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Sales taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Vehicle taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Other or expanded categories | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | 4) Should state funding to local school districts be reduced to help balance the state budget? | ||
| 5) Other or expanded principles | |||
| I believe that we need to take long hard looks at all of these there are to many people that need to look at how we can do things with either part time or voluteer help .These programs weren't set up so that people could make a living off the working person. There is no such thing as a free program someone has to pay. | |||
| Taxes in Maine should be lower as you do that I think that you will see increases in revenue.People can spend on new things creating more jobs with less regulations . | |||
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?
| Yes | a) Do you support the current limit of terms for Maine governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the current limit of terms for Maine 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns? | ||
| No | f) Should Maine participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| X | b) Establish the death penalty in Maine. | ||
| X | 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) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | |||
| f) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | |||
| g) Support hate crime legislation. | |||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
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). | |||
| c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students. | |||
| d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |||
| e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school. | |||
| X | f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school. | ||
| g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. | |||
| X | h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers. | ||
| 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 Maine to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| The contracts for teachers could still be negociated and use the merit base to see if they deserve to be promoted,don't just give a pay raise to those that aren't qualified. | |||
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. | ||
| 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. | |||
| f) Increase the state minimum wage. | |||
| g) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | |||
| X | h) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | ||
| X | i) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | ||
| X | j) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | ||
| If we increase funding for job training the receipant can't just draw a check they have to contribute to the job they are reuired to do | |||
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) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops. | |||
| d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | |||
| X | e) Support funding for improvements to Maine's power generating and transmission facilities. | ||
| 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. | |||
| Over regulation is the vehicle that has gotten us to the point we are in now. We need some serious discussions not sensationalism, that has driven the enviromental industry of today. | |||
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? | ||
| No | 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.
| X | a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary. | ||
| b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | |||
| c) Support Dirigo Health in Maine. | |||
| X | d) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | ||
| e) Allow patients to sue their HMOs. | |||
| X | f) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality. | ||
| g) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Maine. | |||
| h) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']
| No | a) Should Maine recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| No | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| No | c) Should Maine 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions? | |||
| j) Should Maine continue affirmative action programs? | |||
| Yes | k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I believe that abstinnce is the best but realistically the need is there to offer other alternatives | |||
| I would like to see the ins. rates lowered by changing legislation to allow more ins. companies into the state. DO away with Dirigo it's to costly.Increase the terms for legislators to two four year terms .We need a serious look at the departments and maybe the legislature itself to see if we are cost effective for the time that we spend there.The number one thing we neee to create more industrial jobs that pay top wages and affordable health care | |||
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.