Carol Higgins' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Carol Higgins has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Michigan State Legislative Election 2016 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I support expanding age-appropriate sex education and believe it should include all birth control options and how hormones make abstinence difficult. It should also include information about "date rape" and healthy relationships. I believe the best way to reduce unwanted pregnancy is to provide birth control products at no charge. I also believe unmarried men should bear more of the responsibility for children conceived by their sexual encounters. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Michigan's budget.2) State Spending: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.3) State Taxes: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.
| Yes | a) Tapping into Michigan's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| The cost of a college education is out of reach for too many families, partly due to cuts from the state. I support a shift in the way we sentence drug offenders. I believe we should focus on rehabilitation instead of incarceration which research shows reduces recidivism and reduces costs. These changes will allow us to decrease state spending for law enforcement/corrections. | |||
| Fuel taxes should be expanded to include farm fuel, but at a smaller amount per gallon. Roads in agricultural areas are often damaged by farm equipment and trees are trimmed or removed to accommodate large equipment. Sales taxes should be expanded to include ticket sales to college and pro-level sporting events and entertainment to help pay for infrastructure. Sales taxes should also be applied to single-serving beverage containers. These containers waste resources and are often disposed of improperly. Tax loopholes allow the wealthy to reduce their taxes in ways that are not available to most income types. | |||
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? | ||
| I believe candidates for state house should be state funded. Since the term is so short, fund-raising is constant and is a major distraction from the responsibilities of a legislator. Citizens hate the amount of money in politics. I believe we should reward candidates who show the ability to run an effective campaign on a small budget. They will be our best bet for keeping the state budget under control. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| Research is not convincing that capital punishment is a deterrent to violent crime. Research does suggest that the legal costs for seeking the death penalty far exceeds the cost of life in prison. We need to decriminalize marijuana which is far less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol, and prescription drug overdoses. Adding a tax to the sale of marijuana should fund substance abuse treatment. If we believe a person is innocent until proven guilty, there is no place for the seizure of assets until after a conviction. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| Programs to improve energy efficiency and safety in our housing stock would keep construction workers on the job and help low-income families reduce their energy costs. I support lowering taxes on the poor so that they have more to spend on products which will help the economy grow. I do not support "trickle down" economics. Expanding high speed rail and renewable energy would bring new business to the state. I do not support reducing environmental or safety regulations. But I do believe there are some that over-reach their purpose. I do not believe small business should pay unemployment taxes. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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 Michigan high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| No | h) Should the state of Michigan continue to oversee the Detroit public school system? | ||
| Vouchers and charter schools are contributing to re-segregation of our schools and increasing instability for families and school districts. Allowing for-profit companies to run any part of the services provided by public and charter schools creates the potential for abuse and neglect of employees and students. Cyber schools are failing to meet educational needs. Home schooling should be regulated to ensure students are being educated appropriately. Our best teachers should be working with our most difficult students but the suggestion of merit pay takes away all incentive to do so. The "3rd grade fail bill" is not adequately supported financially. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| 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 Michigan'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support extending the mandate that 10% of Michigan's energy comes from renewable energy sources? | ||
| We need to get serious about climate change. Therefore, I support incentives for renewable energy and removing incentives for fossil fuels. We will fall behind other states if we do not mandate an increase in our renewable energy portfolio. I believe we should help utilities reduce the cost of delivering energy by supporting funding for new technology. I also support funding to help communities install electric car charging stations. Protecting our environment is imperative for our future. We must minimize the harmful chemicals we place in water, air and soil and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I believe there should be universal background checks, and mandatory permitting for carrying a concealed weapon. I also believe guns should be treated like other consumer products and be subjected to safety assessments. In addition, we need to make it easy to do independent research on gun violence and enact regulations that support the results of the research. All of this can be done without infringing on 2nd amendment rights. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | |||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I believe we must do more to keep medical costs in check and to prevent chronic disease. Our prescription drug industry is making the cost of medicine out of reach for too many and forcing all to pay unreasonable amounts. I believe it is fair to ask all who don't want health insurance to pay a fee to support the program. But, I would prefer universal health care with strict controls over costs. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Michigan's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Michigan's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| There is no legitimate reason to oppose same-sex marriage from a governmental perspective. Obviously, any religious group is free to oppose conducting ceremonies between same-sex couples. | |||
| My top priority is to reduce poverty. I firmly believe poverty is directly connected to crime, low test scores, poor diets and poor health. I would create a program that supports small business with a wage and benefit floor to make it more desirable to work than to receive welfare. Benefits need to include paid, family leave and paid vacation. I would pay for added costs with welfare savings and progressive tax changes. Another priority is to adequately fund and support public education, avoid privatization, and change teacher evaluation, with additional dollars for high risk students and colleges/universities. |
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