Alex Polikoff's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Alex Polikoff has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2020 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.
Oregon State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | |||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Even though it is not an issue for me, I understand that many citizens in my district would not want their taxes directly paying for abortions as a matter of conscience. I support education, contraception, counseling, and adoption as ways to reduce the number of abortions. | |||
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 proposals you support (if any) for balancing Oregon's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| a) Tapping into Oregon's "rainy day" fund | |||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | |||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Crime rates are down, but we keep building prisons. Use that money on more urgent priorities. | |||
| Tapping into "rainy day" fund should only be an emergency measure. Furloughs should also be an emergency measure only. We should get rid of the kicker; it wreaks havoc on the budet process. | |||
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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | |||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Minor crime should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, not with sweeping generalizations. | |||
| 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 government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | h) Do you support expanding liquor sales? | ||
| Government regulation is necessary to protect the public, but should be simplified when possible to aid in compliance. I support forcing lenders to do everything possible to keep homeowners out of foreclosure and avoiding loss of their homes. | |||
| a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | |||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | |||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| 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 Oregon high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Common Core has both good and bad sides to it (mostly bad). The tenure process can produce both effective and ineffective teachers alike. Charter schools can be beneficial, but don't deserve blanket support. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | 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 Oregon's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | |||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | |||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support universal background checks, and restrictions on the purchase of some tactical weapons. We already have open carry laws; concealed carry should be limited to proven need. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Tort reform should not be implemented if it makes sense, not to save insurance companies from suffering losses. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Oregon's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Oregon's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 1) Health Care for All Oregon - universal, accessible, affordable, publicly-funded, privately-delivered healthcare with no deductibles, limits, co-pays, or insurance companies to deal with. 2) Establish an Oregon State Bank - keep our money in Oregon for loans to small businesses and farmers instead of giving it to huge out-of-state banks. 3) Campaign Finance & Election Reform - get money out of politics with public campaign financing, and institute Instant Runoff Voting so people can feel free to vote for whoever they want and officials are elected by a true majority of voters. |
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