Christine Rolfes' 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.
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Christine Rolfes has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Washington State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| Yes | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| I am supportive of paying employees less for less work, in order to save funds. For example, furloughs. I am also supportive of freezing salaries temporarily to avoid job layoffs. An income tax would need to be approved by the voters - I am supportive of an income tax on the state's highest earners. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Washingon? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Should State Patrol agents be allowed to destroy firearms that have been confiscated in criminal investigations? | ||
| I support life in prison without possibility of "parole" for certain crimes. I believe the criminal justice laws should be flexible for youth, and whether adult prosecution is warranted is dependent upon age and the violence of the crime. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Washington? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| No | h) Do you support occupancy restrictions on domestic residences? | ||
| All of these responses are dependent upon specifics. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Washington? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Washington? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Washington high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support restricting local waterway usage for commercial beverage production? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Regarding d - I support licensing/permitting (and training) for concealed weapons. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Washington's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| Regarding f - Washington state has a paid family medical leave policy in place, with responsibility shared by workers and employers through a payroll tax. How to solve for this problem during covid is more complex than a yes/no answer. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Washington state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| The top priority of my campaign, and my work over the next year, is to help our region recover from the COVID crisis by rebuilding our schools, our local businesses, and our public health system. I will also bring together colleagues from across the state to protect the ferry system from devastating service cuts, reduce climate pollution and increase environmental resilience, and identify and eliminate systemic racism. | |||
| In addition to the items above, my top legislative priority will be to continue to support and enhance the gains we have made in our state's behavioral health system, particularly at the community level. I will fund this by demanding that insurers refund to the state the cost savings that they enjoyed when health care visits dropped dramatically during the early part of the covid public health response. The answers to complicated policy and values statements are not well suited to simple yes and no responses - I encourage voters to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. |
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