Margaret Gorski's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Margaret Gorski has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Montana State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | |||
| b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | |||
| c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | |||
| The question should be would I support pro-choice or anti-choice legislation. Whether I vote on a piece of legislation that addresses the issue would depend on the details and the consequences of the actions. Having a child is the most important private part of a woman's life that affects her health, her relationships, and her economic condition. It is no place for government interference and infringes on a woman's constitutional rights. The decision to have a child should be a private discussion between her, and her partner, her doctor, and her pastor. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support establishing a state sales tax in order to reduce personal property taxes? | ||
| The Montana Tax Code needs to be revised and modernized to ensure it is equitable, but I do not support a regressive sales tax. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| We should stop using elections as a political football and we need to repeal Citizen's United. If people don't trust our elections, our democracy is dead. We should make sure as many people vote as possible, but we should also make sure that we educate our populace on how government is supposed to work. I would support legislation that requires teaching civics classes in every high school. I would support voter registration tied to getting a drivers license, but I don't know enough about the issue of requiring a government issued photo to know how I would vote on that. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | 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 Montana? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | |||
| I am troubled that marijuana is still illegal at the Federal level and if we pass a state law to legalize it, it feels hypocritical. I am also conflicted about hanging the legalization on using it as a source of tax revenue. With that said, I think this is one of those issues that the horse is already out of the barn and you can't really reel it in. So considering the global context, if people are going to smoke it, might at well make some tax revenue from it just like we do with all the other sin taxes. | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| Yes | 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 Montana? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Regulations are usually needed for good reason. Whether or not I would reduce a regulation would depend on what it is and why it was needed and I would weigh the benefit against the cost to the business. This is one of those questions that it's just not black or white because in general I support small businesses, but I also see the need to balance the drive to make a profit with the benefit of ensuring the cost of protecting the environment, employee safety, etc isn't passed on to future generations. | |||
| a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Montana? | |||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Montana? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Montana high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I believe that public education is the bedrock of our democracy. It is also the town square and provides our children the place to learn how to get along with others and how to succeed in a diverse society. I see the need to make sure our kids get the highest quality education we can provide and if a local area is trying to starve the system or influence the standards for some reason or another, then there might be a need for the Federal/State government to step in but it depends on what it is. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| This is an area where the government must play a role to provide incentives of some kind to level the playing field to ensure that renewables can be competitive against traditional fossil fuels that have long had government assistance and tax breaks for years. But the devils' always in the details and we need to work together to build a sustainable energy future that includes a diverse energy portfolio while at the same time dealing with the need to reduce our carbon emissions. We have the technology, we just have to develop the political will. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | |||
| c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | |||
| d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | |||
| I am a gun owner and a hunter and know that guns are part of our Montana culture. We don't have the same kind of urban street gang violence that plagues inner cities. There are so many guns out there now I don't think that we would affect gun violence with passing gun control legislation. Why we are a violent society is a whole other kettle of fish that won't be fixed via gun control. I do support the 2nd Amendment. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Montana's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| I believe that everyone should have access to affordable health care. I also believe that individuals have a responsibility to live a healthy and clean life and that tax payers shouldn't have to pay to take care of health problems that are a direct result of poor life style choices. Just like everything, it's a balancing act. The solution to the opioid problem lies in addressing abuse by individuals and abuses by the pharmaceutical industry. It costs more to society if we don't try to address holistically. I don't know enough about the euthanasia issue to answer that difficult question. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Montana state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Do you support the creation of Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana? | |||
| In general I believe in live and let live and the government shouldn't discriminate against anyone for any reason. Legislating morality is a sticky wicket. I think Indigenous Peoples Day should replace Columbus Day. | |||
| My campaign is focused on local issues that matter to residents in my District, NOT on national issues. Access to health care, growing clean industry by addressing infrastructure needs, like broadband internet; supporting public education; and keeping public lands in public hands and addressing the fire risk from our National Forests. | |||
| If elected I will focus my energy on obtaining the resources DNRC needs to make it a priority to work with national forests on enhancing the use of the Good Neighbor Authority as one tool to develop integrated fire protection plans and fuels reduction plans for all the Wild land Urban Interface Areas in the state. I will also focus on the need for better access to broadband internet for economic development, distant learning, and home businesses in Ravalli County. |
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