Shannon Robinson's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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New Mexico State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| No | 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 a woman's right to choose is between her doctor and herself. Unfortunately our federal government is now infringing on religious organizations' rights to decide how and what the organization can pay for in its budget. For Catholic and Christian organizations and foundations this is a matter of religious freedom rights. We have to protect First Amendment Rights as well. | |||
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 of the proposals below you support (if any) for balancing New Mexico's budget by marking (Y) or No (N).
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into New Mexico's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| We can greatly reduce capital gains taxes as any tax reduction in this area will never be as inexpensive to our state budget as it is now. Bernalillo County property taxes are among the highest in the state. We can cut property taxes that severly impact elderly and retired citizens financial well being. If we want healthcare to be effective we have to increase the reimbursement to doctors or we'll continue to lose physician access as more healthcare professionals decline medicare and medicaid patients. | |||
| High income taxes repress growth in the economy. High income taxes also is one of the main reasons companies choose not to relocate in New Mexico and small businesses feel they are restricted from increasing their payroll and hiring new empolyees. Some politicians are suckered into believing that tax exemptions are a gold mine for new tax revenue. [...] It doesn't work because those tax exemptions were all hard fought and designed to promote business in the state. For example sales of Girl Scout Cookies are tax exempt. | |||
| The state's pension funds have to be reallocated so they are fiscally solvent. This situation is currently unfair to state employees. Making changes in the pension funds requires honest debate and compromise. We have to maintain the Film Finance Incentives program which I was responsible for creating with Jon Hendry. Film making subsidies bring manufacturing dollars to our economy that otherwise will be spent in Canada, California, Louisiana, or other states that copied our legislation. | |||
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) Should former legislators be banned from lobbying for the first year after leaving office? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| In 2008 for the first time in New Mexico non-profits used taxpayer money to engage in campaign activities for Progressive candidates. Raising campaign monies is so much easier if the non-profit can promise New Mexico tax deductions for their contributors. Some of us think this is cheating when the candidate then denies he received the money or was aided in his campaign. One New Mexico State Senate candidate used a school bus in his campaign that was loaned to him by a non-profit from Oregon which was publicly funded to provide school buses for disabled children. Reform must happen now. | |||
| 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) Do you support increasing penalties for repeat drunk drivers? | ||
| Yes | e) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | f) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support requiring proof of United States residency in order to obtain a New Mexico driver's license? | ||
| Possession of marijuana in small quantities is already a petty misdemeanor and a person convicted of large quantity possession can receive a Conditional Discharge on their first offense which erases the conviction. I sponsored the medical marijuana law for Cancer survivors. The danger is when legal marijuana growers allow the drug to go out the back door and get on the street. Two of the illegal residents from El Salvador had New Mexico drivers' licenses when they killed my client Stephanie Anderson at Denny's Restaurant. They were in APD custody a month before the shooting for suspended license charges. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Government does not create jobs. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from New Mexico high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Smaller class sizes makes the most difference along with a teacher who can then manage a reasonable number of children and thereby has the freedom to actually teach. There is a one to one correlation between poverty and lack of success on standardized tests. Highland High School has great teachers but we're not graduating a majority of our Seniors. We need to support Governor Martinez' efforts to reform our schools. | |||
| 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 state funding for improvements to New Mexico's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| We do not need to follow the EPA's requirement to spend 750 million dollars to refit emission control equipment on our major power plants in the Four Corners. This would be equivalent to the largest tax increase in recent New Mexico history and we'd pay it all on our electric bill from PNM. Senior citizens can't afford this tax assessment. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I sponsored the New Mexico Concealed Carry Act which took me five years to acheive its passage into law. Crime is on the rise in District 17 although politicians brag that reported crime is down by 7%. Actually undocumented citizens are reluctant to report a crime as a victim when they don't have a social security number to give to the APD, so unreported crime is up. Unfortunately armed robberies are skyrocketing in occurrence and the incidents are moving Eastward through the District. Personal protection has never been more necessary. We should offer advanced gun safety classes for young people. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I have been the prime sponsor on legislation to pay doctors a higher reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid patient services which didn't pass. Legislators don't understand that doctors are leaving the state. For example, it costs thirty thousand dollars to upgrade a physician's computer software to handle on-line medical records filing. What good does it do to have universal coverage if no one can get a doctor's appointment. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| First we have too many laws on the books so I'll continue to work to eliminate unnecessary laws and regulations that interfere with our personal liberty and individual ability to freely engage in business. Second the New Mexico Senate voted with me for years on bipartisan "Bull Moose" party issues. Republicans and Democrats worked together on every "Bull Moose" Independant vote. We didn't sponsor legislation, we just played good defense. Those Independant values can happen again. |
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