| Full Name: | Darren Michael Soto |
|---|---|
| Office: | State Senate (FL) - District 14, Democratic |
| First Elected: | 11/06/2012 |
| Next Election: | 2016 |
| Gender: | Male |
|---|---|
| Family: | Single |
| Birth Date: | 02/25/1978 |
| Birth Place: | Ringwood, NJ |
| Home City: | Orlando, FL |
| Religion: | Christian (Catholic) |
What is the Political Courage Test?
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.
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. | |
| X | d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. |
| X | e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. |
| f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions. | |
| g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | |
| h) Other or expanded principles | |
Right to Privacy guaranteed by the Florida Const. (Art-sec.) protects right to choose to the extent allowed by U.S. Supreme Court in Casey v. Planned Parenthood (no undue burden until post-viability) and possibly greater protection. |
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State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category. | |
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (Higher) |
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) |
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment |
| Maintain Status | d) Emergency preparedness |
| Maintain Status | e) Health care |
| Maintain Status | f) Law enforcement |
| Maintain Status | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure |
| Maintain Status | h) Welfare |
| i) Other or expanded categories | |
Greatly decrease local interest projects ("pork") |
|
State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax. | |
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes |
| Maintain Status | b) Capital gains taxes |
| Maintain Status | c) Cigarette taxes |
| Maintain Status | d) Corporate taxes |
| Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes |
| Maintain Status | f) Property taxes |
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes |
| Slightly Increase | h) Vehicle taxes |
| i) Other or expanded categories | |
| Yes | j) Should the state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales? |
| Yes | k) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget? |
| Yes | l) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? |
| m) Other or expanded principles | |
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform. | |
| Yes | a) Do you support the current limit of terms for Florida governors? |
| Yes | b) Do you support the current limit of terms for Florida state senators and representatives? |
c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates? | |
| Yes | 1) Individual |
| No | 2) PAC |
| No | 3) Corporate |
| No | 4) Political Parties |
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? |
| Undecided | e) Do you support the power to amend the state constitution through ballot initiative petitions? |
| Yes | f) Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns? |
| Yes | g) Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes? |
| Yes | h) Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Florida are closed? |
| Undecided | i) Should Florida recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? |
| j) Please list what changes (if any) you would make to lower property insurance rates. Please use forty (40) words or less. | |
I would support a pooling system resembling the Federal Flood Insurance Fund as supported by FL Senator Rod Smith |
|
| k) Other or expanded principles | |
e) I support statutory initiatives |
|
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) Support the death penalty in Florida. |
| X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. |
| X | d) End parole for repeat violent offenders. |
| X | e) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. |
| X | 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) Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes. |
| X | j) Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth. |
| X | k) Strengthen sex-offender laws. |
| X | l) Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine). |
| m) Other or expanded principles | |
I believe our criminal justice system needs to treat individuals who are continually convicted of crimes related alcoholism or other substance abuse addictions as mentally ill rather than as regular criminals. I believe we must focus our tax dollars more on preventing violent crime |
|
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education. | |
| a) Support national standards and testing of public school students. | |
| X | b) Support a constitutional amendment to provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school. |
| c) Support a constitutional amendment to 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). |
| X | e) Increase funds for hiring additional teachers. |
| X | f) Require that 65 percent of Florida's education funding be spent in the classroom. |
| X | g) Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay. |
| h) Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools. | |
| i) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |
| X | j) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. |
| k) Increase funding for Head Start programs. | |
| X | l) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. |
| m) Relax class-size limits for Florida public schools. | |
| X | n) Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods. |
| o) Support abstinence-only sexual education programs. | |
| p) Other or expanded principles | |
Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment. | |
| X | a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain 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. | |
| 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. |
| X | e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. |
| X | f) Support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Florida's anti-discrimination laws. |
| X | g) Increase the state minimum wage. |
| h) Other or expanded principles | |
Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies' decisions on: | |
| Yes | a) Public employment |
| Yes | b) State college and university admissions |
| Yes | c) State contracting |
| d) Other or expanded principles | |
I believe economically challenged individuals should also be added to this list of protected classes |
|
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). | |
| X | c) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. |
| X | d) Increase funding for improvements to Florida's power generating and transmission facilities. |
| X | e) Support funding for open space preservation. |
| X | f) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. |
| g) Other or expanded principles | |
I believe Florida has a responsibility to protect two national treasures with our borders: The Everglades and our beaches. While this may require us to force businesses and government to internalize environmental costs, we have a national duty and a duty to tourism to do so. |
|
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. | |
| d) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns. | |
| e) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows. | |
| X | f) Require a license for gun possession. |
| g) 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 current 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. |
| e) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | |
| X | f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Florida. |
| g) Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |
| X | h) Other or expanded principles |
d) ...with a prevailing party attorneys fees provision to discourage frivolous lawsuits |
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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. |
| X | c) Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work. |
| X | d) Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations. |
| e) Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor. | |
| X | f) Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients. |
| g) Eliminate government-funded welfare programs. | |
| X | h) Remove the cap on affordable housing spending in Florida. |
| i) Other or expanded principles | |
| Please explain in a total of 75 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. | |
Lower State Debt -- reinstate prior intangibles tax and vote against most local impact state funding ("pork") Growth Management -- statewide program creating land trusts to assure ample "green space" for the future Education -- (a) Increase teacher salaries (b) enforce class size amendment (c) reject school vouchers (d) deemphasize FCAT as Rating tool |
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