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Paul Seaton's 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.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Paul Seaton has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.

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.

Alaska State Legislative Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test

The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

a) Abortions should always be illegal.
X 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.
X g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
Alaska has a very good parental notification and informed consent law which I worked on in the legislature. The state does start having an "interest" in developing fetus at the point of independent viability and after that restrictions are appropriate. This modifies the check to (b) because the only other option is (c) which is more restrictive than my answer would be.

State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.

Slightly Increase a) Education (Higher)
Greatly Increase b) Education (K-12)
Maintain Status c) Emergency preparedness
Maintain Status d) Environment
Maintain Status e) Health care
Maintain Status f) Law enforcement
Slightly Decrease g) Transportation and highway infrastructure
h) Welfare
i) Other or expanded categories
Greatly Increase a) Alcohol taxes
b) Capital gains taxes
Slightly Increase c) Cigarette taxes
Maintain Status d) Corporate taxes
Slightly Increase e) Gasoline taxes
f) Property taxes
Maintain Status g) Vehicle taxes
No i) Should the state tax Internet sales?
Yes j) Should accounts such as a “rainy day” fund be used to balance the state budget?
Yes k) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
b, f) na Greatly increase- Mineral extraction
In (j) the account should only be used when the rainy day occurs. User fees are needed to diversify the state revenue source for future stability and to prevent subsidization of service by the general public.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

Yes a) Do you support the current limit of terms for Alaska governors?
No b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Alaska state senators and representatives?
Yes 1) Individual
Yes 2) PAC
Yes 3) Corporate
Yes 4) Political Parties
Yes d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
No e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
Yes f) Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
No g) Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Alaska are closed?
Yes h) Should Alaska recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
i) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

X a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
b) Implement the death penalty in Alaska.
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.
f) Support recriminalizing 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.
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.
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

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

X a) Support national standards and testing of public school students.
b) Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
c) 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) Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
g) Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
X h) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
X i) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
X j) Increase funding for Head Start programs.
X k) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
X l) Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
m) Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
n) Other or expanded principles

Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies’ decisions on:

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.
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.
e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
X f) Include sexual orientation in Alaska's anti-discrimination laws.
g) Increase the state minimum wage.
X h) Support replacing the state's retirement system with privatized 401(k)-type accounts.
i) Support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex partners of public employees from receiving benefits.
j) Other or expanded principles
No a) Public employment
Yes b) State college and university admissions
No c) State contracting
d) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

X a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
X 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 Alaska's power generating and transmission facilities.
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

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the natural gas pipeline.

X a) Require oil companies to guarantee the construction of a gas pipeline as part of a contract with Alaska.
X b) Support 20 percent state ownership in the gas pipeline.
c) Tax oil companies if they do not build a gas pipeline or sell the gas they have under lease.
d) Freeze oil taxes for 30 years as an incentive for building the gas pipeline.
e) Freeze gas taxes for 45 years as an incentive for building the gas pipeline.
g) At what rate should Alaska tax oil production?
h) Other or expanded principles
22.5 + progressive

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

X 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.
X d) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
X e) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
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 Alaska.
X g) Continue to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
h) Other or expanded principles

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.
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.
h) Other or expanded principles
1. Education funding across the State is not equitable because the Geographic Cost Differential factors that have twice been identified and studied under legislative contract have not been incorporated into the school Foundation Formula. 2. We must find a mechanism to fairly fund the debt of the State run PERS/TRS System. The current method of only raising employer contribution rates is unsustainable if services are not going to be drastically curtailed. 3. Municipal revenue sharing or Community Dividends are a necessity if we wish to have sustainable communities. However, we need to establish an automatic and sustainable revenue stream or the State will cut this vital program first in time of fiscal constraint.

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