Dan Schmidt's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Dan Schmidt has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Idaho 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? | ||
| e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | |||
| f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Parental consent/ notification needs to be considered on a case by case. As a physician, I always strongly encouraged parental involvement, but in some situations it would not be appropriate (abuse/ incest/ emancipated). State mandates can make this consideration less flexible. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Idaho'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 Idaho's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| Stable funding for state functions is crucial, and it needs to be addressed on a policy basis. But when the revenue tanks, the budget needs to be balanced; The state cannot do deficit spending. I am currently studying the policy for reserve fund balances. | |||
| We are currently decreasing funding for Corrections, through Justice Reinvestment Act and decreasing the number of inmates. Idaho is a low wage state and for us to be able to fund state services we need to increase what each Idahoan earns. | |||
| Sales taxes need to have all exemptions studied to consider broadening the base, thus might be able to lower the overall rate. Corporate tax rate could be lowered if base was broadened. Income tax structure also has very steep brackets, with the top bracket maxing out at 7.4% when individual income is over $11K/year. The 2006 shift in education funding from property tax to sales tax has dramatically hurt school funding; we need to repeal, and re-institute an equalization formula to support tax base poor districts. | |||
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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | |||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| I support raising wages in Idaho, but I do not believe legislating a higher minimum wage will necessarily accomplish this. We need a robust market for strong employees in this state. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Idaho high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| All criteria for in state tuition should be applied fairly, based on time of residence, not country of origin. I have yet to see a fair "merit pay" system for teachers developed by politicians. I believe local districts can have the will and courage to do this. Whether teachers are effective or not is the job of the local districts to be determining and supporting. | |||
| No | 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)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Idaho's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| The state should promote policies that encourage energy conservation and environmental preservation, but markets should be free to maximize value for producers and consumers. | |||
| a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support the Idaho Constitution, Article 1 Section 11 We have passed laws here in Idaho that have gone beyond this, removing the ability to regulate concealed carry. I do not see that the Idaho Constitution, or the US Constitution defines the right to carry a concealed weapon. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| How health care is delivered and paid for needs overhaul, since our current system is unsustainable, doing poor service for our citizens, consumers. The ACA reforms have not adequately engaged the market forces needed to bring costs down. We are currently wanting too much from our health care, paying too much for poor value. I support continued reforms and the states should have the opportunity to do experiments to address their individual needs. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Idaho's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Idaho's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 1. Expand Medicaid eligibility: would save general fund $20M and Counties(property tax) $30M 2. Develop strategy/policy for adequate reserve funding balances 3. Increase funding for K12 education/ vocational training, funded with collection of online sales taxes now due but not collected. |
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