| Full Name: | Mark N. Willis |
|---|---|
| Current Office: | State House - District 16, Republican |
| First Elected: | 11/04/2008 |
| Last Elected: | 11/06/2012 |
| Next Election: | 2014 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Family: | Wife: Tracy; 3 Children: Mary-Langston, Elledge, Reeves |
| Birth Date: | 08/01/1963 |
| Birth Place: | Greenville, SC |
| Home City: | Fountain Inn, SC |
| Religion: | Baptist |
What is the 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? |
| 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? |
| 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) Other or expanded principles: |
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. | |
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) |
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) |
| Maintain Status | c) Environment |
| Eliminate | d) Health care |
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections |
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure |
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare |
| h) Other or expanded categories: |
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. | |
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes |
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes |
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes |
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gas/Oil taxes |
| Eliminate | e) Property taxes |
| f) Sales taxes |
| g) Income taxes (low-income families) |
| h) Income taxes (mid-income families) |
| i) Income taxes (high-income families) |
| j) Other or expanded categories: |
3) Budget Stabilization: | |
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing South Carolina's budget. | |
| a) Tapping into South Carolina's "rainy day" fund |
| b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities |
| c) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees |
| d) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients |
| e) Other or expanded principles: |
4) Public Pensions: | |
To mitigate South Carolina's public pension shortfall, do you support: | |
| No | a) Reducing benefits of current state employees? |
| Yes | b) Ending the Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive (TERI) program for future employees? |
| Yes | c) Reducing cost-of-living adjustments for current and future employees? |
| Yes | d) Requiring state employees to work longer before retiring? |
| Yes | e) Increasing employee contributions by current and future employees? |
| Yes | f) Preventing employees from factoring unused sick and vacation days into benefit calculations? |
| g) Other or expanded principles: |
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 |
| Yes | 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? |
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? |
| f) Other or expanded principles: |
| 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 decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? |
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? |
| Yes | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? |
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? |
| g) Other or expanded principles: |
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? |
| Yes | b) Do you support efforts to increase limits on unions in South Carolina? |
| Yes | c) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? |
| No | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? |
| No | e) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? |
| Yes | f) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? |
| No | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? |
| h) Other or expanded principles: |
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? |
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? |
| Yes | 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? |
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? |
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? |
| h) Other or expanded principles: |
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? |
| Yes | 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 opening South Carolina's waters to offshore drilling? |
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to South Carolina's energy infrastructure? |
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? |
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? |
| g) Other or expanded principles: |
| 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? |
| e) Other or expanded principles: |
| 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 requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? |
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? |
| No | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? |
| g) Other or expanded principles: |
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? |
| No | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? |
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? |
| d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? |
| e) Other or expanded principles: |
| In the following area, on an attached page, or via e-mail, please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding. |