Dustin Wilcher'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.
Kentucky State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within 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) Should an ultrasound be required prior to an abortion? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | i) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| I support terminating a pregnancy within the first month (4 weeks). At this time a baby's heart, brain, and spinal cord develop and that, in my mind, is what defines a human from another cell of the body. I believe this takes care of any instances of rape. Abortion is NOT a form of contraceptive and should only be approved on a rape or woman endangerment basis. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate 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.2) State TaxesIndicate 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.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Kentucky's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Kentucky's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Education is the basis for all other issues in our state. Education provides motivation to children to lead productive and happy lives into adulthood. With a proper education and motivation from parents, teachers, and faculty many of our other problems could become a thing of the past. State spending should be about using hard earned tax dollars appropriately and responsibly, it's time the Commonwealth got back to those principles. | |||
| Taxes on items should go back to the drawing board. We need to figure out what we are taxing, why we are taxing it, does it make sense, and do we need to? Tax law and codes in KY have been only built upon with legislation over the years rather than lawmakers sitting down and taking the whole thing back to basics. It's hard work absolutely but that's what lawmakers are hired for. | |||
| Kentucky's budget should be ran as simply as a citizen's checkbook, either you have it to spend or you don't. In today's economy I think it would be a good idea to look into all possibilities to include the "rainy day" fund. Citizens are hurting, government is mis-spending, and it all adds up to bad financial policy. | |||
c) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| No | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Kentucky governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Kentucky state legislators? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | d) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Term limits should be based on if the electorate re-elect a legislator/governor/etc. If a legislator is doing well and the people choose to re-elect him or her then they should have the choice. Democracy (the people's choice) should not be stunted. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | |||
| d) Should minors accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as adults? | |||
| No | e) Should minors who send sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| The punishment of laws can only be viewed on a case by case basis and while I believe the broad punishment for crimes should be set by the law I believe that the decision of how to punish should rely with elected judges and juries. Legislators should primarily be concerned with law while punishments should be second. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| No | g) Do you support capping interest rates and fees on payday loans? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support permitting video lottery terminals at horse racing tracks? | ||
| Capitalism is what should drive our economy, it has proven to work for over 200 years for our country. True, government does need to step in to create a balance so that business does not run amok but sometimes they get too involved which does more harm than good. Government should look to business fixes before law and government intervention. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | |||
| c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | |||
| d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Kentucky high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| Education in KY needs to be looked at from the ground up, the bottom line is we aren't concentrating on the primary focus, children. The kids of Kentucky are not getting the education and motivation they deserve from the school system and I am open to absolutely any ideas from bringing in outside advisors, reworking how we license teachers and administrators, recreating tests, anything. I don't care what must be done or if I get re-elected as long as the kids of Kentucky come away with more ambition, higher education levels, and greater motivation. THEY are the future of KY. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | 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 providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Kentucky's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Our environment, especially in KY, is a treasured asset. It is an amazing feature that also creates revenue for our state and it needs to be protected. I want KY to be a leader in the future of energy as it will create so many opportunities for jobs and revenue. At the same time we cannot just up and "pull the plug" on our coal industry as many Eastern Kentuckians rely on this as their only source of income. I suggest not a cut of jobs but gradual transition of these employees to future energy sources. | |||
| a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| The Second Amendment of the Constitution grants all citizens the right to bear arms. It is that simple, citizens may possess firearms. I believe that just to own a firearm does not make a person more likely to become a criminal, if they are a criminal they were one long before they purchase a gun. Guns can be used in a variety of harmless ways to include hunting (responsibly) and at the range. I do believe that a background check, licensing, and registration are an extremely small price to pay for the amount of safety and responsibility they provide though. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Kentucky? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| No | h) Do you support Medicaid coverage for smoking cessation programs? | ||
| Health Insurance has been a major issue on the federal stage and I think they botched it unfortunately. In saying that I do believe something needed to be done but what we got was just too much government intervention. Health insurers need to be allowed to sell wherever they want in the country and should not be limited. Capitalism typically makes for better product and lower cost and as of now health insurers are guarded from having to do either of these things. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Kentucky allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | |||
| d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | |||
| e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | |||
| f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Kentucky's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Kentucky's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| Regarding same sex marriage it is an issue that affects only two people, those two wanting to get married and as far as everyone else goes it is really none of their business as the choice does not affect them. I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman but that doesn't mean that I have the right to push that view on others. Regarding stem cell research I would like to see more to find out why, what it can do, where it can go, etc. before I can make a competent decision. | |||
| Improve all realms of education from K to college to include vocational education and adult education. Bring back responsibility and accountability to not only the government but the budget as well. Make government work for the constituent, ensure that I always work for those who elect me and not specialty and interest groups. Kentucky needs a change from politicians to statesmen/women. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.