Lawrence Finnegan'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.
Lawrence Finnegan refused to tell citizens where he/she stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
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.
Maine State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| The government (state, local or Federal) should not be involved in legislating personal health decisions. All efforts to promote a 'pro-life' agenda (gov't, private, religous) should be directed at preventing unwanted pregnancies thorough sex education, maternal support, adoption services, etc. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate 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.2) State TaxesIndicate 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.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Maine's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Maine's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Maine overall, and Washington County in particular, need to focus on economic development. This is critical for the long-term success of the state, county and its citizens. Recent efforts have had only marginal success, much more has to be done. | |||
| We need to focus on reducing taxes, IF at all possible, certainly there should be no increases. Some tax reforms are probably desirable, which could result in some taxes decreasing, others increasing, but any reform must be revenue neutral. | |||
| We probably need to reduce the total number of state employees, but being careful to prioritize functions and services to minimize the impact on citizens as much as possible, minimize long-term liabilities to the state (retirement benefits), and protect functions and services that are essential to long-term economic growth, such as education, infrastructure, and the environment. | |||
c) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| Yes | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Maine governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Maine 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing sex offenders to petition for removal from the sex offender registry? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| None of these issues lend themselves to simple 'Yes' or 'No' answers. All require more explanation and understanding of the details and effects. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| All of these issues deserve more discussion than a simple 'Yes' answer. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Once again, more discussion is needed for all of these questions. State support for charter schools, probably does not work for rural Maine, college students already get 'state financial aid' if they attend a public university or community college, anything relating to illegal immigrants is a highly charged topic, but if the student (and their family) has been a state resident for many years and the family is part of the Maine economy (works, pays real estate, income, sales, etc. taxes) that student is not any more of a burden than any 'legal' person in the state. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| 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 providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Maine'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? | ||
| Once again, far more discussion is needed. The state needs to be very guarded in what it provides financial incentives/state funding for. By far, most of these initiatives need to be privately funded, the state should only be involved where needed to promote jobs or to incubate a critical technology. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| I support sports, hunting and self-defense uses for guns. Anything beyond light caliber, non-automatic, or semi-automatic weapons probably should be restricted (no large caliber machine guns, automatic assault rifles, etc.) | |||
| 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) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support placing health warnings on cellular phones? | ||
| No | g) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Maine? | ||
| No | h) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Maine allow same-sex couples to form domestic partnerships? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| These are more complicated issues than indicated by a simple answer. State funding for stem cell research is very limited because of state budget restrictions, affirmative action is not much of an issue in Maine, there are some unintended side effects relating to gender identity and sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws. I would generally support these in anti-discrimination laws, but any legislation would require great care to not have undesirable side effects. | |||
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.