Card image cap

Nancy Turbak Berry'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.

Nancy Turbak Berry refused to tell citizens where she stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2010 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.

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.

South Dakota State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage 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.
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) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
Government should have only a limited role in decisions about human reproduction; very personal decisions are best made by those directly involved, not by strangers elected to Congress or state legislatures. Those who believe all abortions should be legal will never agree with those who believe no abortions should be legal. The best we can achieve is a compromise that respects sincere differences among good, decent people. Nine wise men (all with principled, religious, and relatively conservative backgrounds) carefully considered this serious issue and arrived at a compromise: Roe v. Wade. We should accept that, quit fighting, and move on.

State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.

Slightly Increase a) Education (Higher)
Greatly Increase b) Education (K-12)
c) Emergency preparedness
d) Environment
e) Health care
f) Highway patrol
g) Law enforcement
h) Transportation and highway infrastructure
i) Welfare
a) Alcohol taxes
b) Cigarette taxes
c) Corporate taxes
d) Gasoline taxes
e) Sales taxes
f) Vehicle taxes
Yes 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget?
3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
Clearly we underfund K-12 education, and have an approaching crisis with transportation infrastructure. However, until we (a) get a handle on state finances and (b) establish clear priorities and goals, it is impossible to know whether we should increase or decrease spending in most areas. There is a great deal of confusion, ambiguity, and secrecy about what we have in our state coffers; we need to understand what is available for schools, roads, etc. There is a tendency to focus just on spending levels, without asking what it is we are trying to accomplish; we should set clearer goals.
We should quit spending so much time complaining about taxes being too high (with the possible exception of sales taxes on basic necessities for poor families). In fact, South Dakota has relatively low state and local taxes; nationwide, we rank 49th in per capita state and local taxes paid by residents. Instead, let's ask constructively: what do we want to accomplish, and how can we accomplish it? E.g., the coming crisis concerning transportation needs requires re-evaluating all possible funding sources, including vehicle excise taxes, licensing fees, and fuel taxes; all sides must be open and cooperative to find a solution.
"Rainy day" funds should be used to balance the state budget when it's raining. Meanwhile, we should be careful not to keep stashing taxpayers' dollars in more and more funds -- whether labeled "rainy day" or otherwise -- without asking ourselves if those dollars are best invested in state bank accounts, or in some other form that would better serve our citizens. Roads? Schools? Programs to promote healthy lifestyles that reduce health care costs? It's wise to prepare for the future, but it's irresponsible to be so preoccupied with the future that we ignore needs and opportunities of the present.

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 South Dakota governors?
No b) Do you support the current limit of terms for South Dakota 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?
Undecided e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns?
Yes f) Should South Dakota participate in the federal REAL ID program?
Yes g) Do you support compiling state budgetary information on a single publicly available website?
h) Other or expanded principles

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

a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
b) Support the death penalty in South Dakota.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
X d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
e) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
X h) Support hate crime legislation.
We need to find a more cost-effective solution than continuing to lock up more and more prisoners and operating a revolving door system of "corrections." To get a handle on crime and incarcerations, we need to commit ourselves to dealing more effectively with alcohol and drug abuse. Whether any given minor should be treated as an adult depends on the individual circumstances of the case, including the age of the minor. State and local law enforcement officers might incidentally assist in enforcing federal immigration laws, but generally the federal government should provide the resources to enforce its own laws.

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

a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs.
b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students.
d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers.
i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of South Dakota to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
We should invest heavily in public education at all levels. Investing in education provides the best return on investment -- better jobs, lower crime rates, less poverty, fewer social problems, with the very best return likely realized on the earliest investments. I support state involvement in pre-K, but with a flexible approach open to private partnerships. We need to increase earnings of not only teachers, but other South Dakotans, too. I would like to see higher education more streamlined and focused, with more future growth in funding directed at individuals who otherwise could not afford post-secondary school.

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

a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today’s job market.
b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector.
c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
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.
f) Include sexual orientation in South Dakota's anti-discrimination laws.
g) Include gender identity in South Dakota's anti-discrimination laws.
h) Increase the state minimum wage.
i) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
j) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
k) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
l) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
Without question, we need to improve employment opportunities, improve the employability of many residents, and promote a major shift toward a population better able to support itself. Having more than 100,000 residents under the poverty level is not good for them or for the state and local governments expected to provide increased services to them. Each suggestion listed above may have some merit in contributing to a solution; however, I would want more input from those most knowledgeable and involved, and greater detail about the particular suggestion, before identifying any of those items as an important means to the end.

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, oil, etc).
X c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
X d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
X e) Support funding for improvements to South Dakota's power generating and transmission facilities.
X f) Support funding for open space preservation.
X g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
X h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
We have an obligation to be good stewards of the land, air, and water with which we have been blessed. South Dakota's natural environment is a key to the quality of life valued by our residents and by those visitors on whom our tourism economy depends. It also is one of the greatest attractions to promoting economic development (along with a strong work ethic and the lack of a state income tax). We cannot afford to discount the value of our natural environment, or shirk our responsibilities to protect it for the benefit of our children and grandchildren.

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

Undecided a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
Yes b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
No c) Should a license be required for gun possession?
Undecided d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
Undecided e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
Guns play such a huge role in recreation in South Dakota -- hunting, trap, skeet, sporting clays, collecting -- that we should be especially sensitive to the rights of citizens to own and carry guns. A "one-size-fits-all" approach to guns doesn't make sense in this country. I own several guns. I don't object to being required to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. However, I don't believe a license otherwise should be required to possess a gun. I don't know enough about background checks or the current level of restrictions to say whether I support them.

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.
X b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
X d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs.
X e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality.
f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in South Dakota.
X g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
h) Other or expanded principles

['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']

a) Should South Dakota recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
c) Should South Dakota provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
j) Should South Dakota continue affirmative action programs?
k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
We should quit fighting about divisive issues involving private matters of lifestyle, sexuality, or religion. I oppose people using government to try to impose their religious or personal mores on others. (My God is powerful enough in His right; He doesn't depend on me trying to use government to secure His domain.) I support the Constitutional division betwen church and state. I favor personal privacy (including access to birth control and related information) and stem cell reserch. I favor embracing and uplifting others, especially those who are disadvantaged; I favor loving thy neighbor, caring for the poor, healing the sick.
1. Responsible government. Put people and good ideas above political favors and party affiliation. Open up citizen access and participation. Get a handle on state finances, and direct resources to identified priorities. 2. People-friendly economic development. Increase working families' earnings. Provide stable funding for tech schools. Protect our natural resources. 3. Strong children, healthy families. Invest early to minimize problems; waiting too long wastes money and lives. Recruit and retain the best public school teachers; ensure quality and relevance from pre-K through college. Encourage healthy lifestyles; stop spending money on problems that should have been avoided in the first place.

Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.

arrow_upward