RJ Hernandez's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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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.
RJ Hernandez has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2014 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests.
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.
California State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | 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) Other or expanded principles: | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, 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.2) State Taxes:Using the key,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.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing California's budget by marking Yes (Y) or No (N).4) Public Pensions:To mitigate California's public pension shortfall, do you support:
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Tobacco taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| No | a) Tapping into California's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | a) Increasing contributions by current and future employees? | ||
| Yes | b) Hybrid retirement plans that combine guaranteed and privately-managed benefits? | ||
| No | c) Raising the retirement age for new employees? | ||
| Fire Prevention/Protection/Emergency Response Units | |||
| Closing of tax loopholes, particularly for items where California does not benefit | |||
| Maximize revenue bearing that is not dependent upon residents, have more services available but on an as needed basis and facilitate public/private partnerships | |||
| Cut six figure pensions and allocate funds to increase pensions for the rest | |||
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? | ||
| Government issued photo identification is not needed (nor can it be verified) for absentee/mail in voters so it should not be needed for polling places. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the California prison realignment program? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | e) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | f) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Federal immigration laws should be coordinated with state and local police as it is only the state and local police that are the closest to the issue. And regarding capital punishment, death is the easy way out. In self sustaining prisons, life in prison with no possibility of parole. These days, the lack of confidence in our judicial system would appear to support this position. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the high speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| I believe we need to maintain government regulations on the private sector but consolidate the regulatory bodies and staff them with knowledgeable personnel with a checks and balances system to ensure that resident's needs are being addressed without bias. As far as high speed rail, we need to build up our local infrastructure through this recession and beyond before we start creating new markets where competition for jobs and resources will increase thereby crippling our economic base. I support high speed rail in the long term. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Teachers work hard so to base their pay on the volatility & changing patterns of their student population is to not take into account the objective efforts put in by the teacher. I've had and seen teachers who became complacent with their tenure and robbed me of the high quality education others I knew, were having. We need predictability as government is a non profit. Charter schools should have the opportunity to receive state funding based on student satisfaction and graduation rates. Illegal immigrants can become citizens as part of an agreement for them to receive in-state tuition. | |||
| 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 state funding for improvements to California's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Regardless of how climate change is occurring, by reducing our footprint on the matter we will be in a ready position to decisively combat the threat of climate change if/when it occurs on a natural level and toward a negative outcome. We all love our families, they should not suffer because of our short sightedness. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support smart restrictions however the right to bear arms is a key right that we have as Americans. Some abuse that right. Training in the appropriate use of a gun should be key and the only prerequisite toward licensing. In a reactive fit of rage a weapon can be used to yield negative outcomes. However, it can also proactively protect. Educating people about other forms of combat and the proper usage of guns is a critical series of steps to achieving a consensus on the matter of gun issues. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| We all at least deserve the option to have publicly-administered health care. I've utilized public health services before and they made the difference. I take care of myself but not all people do, regardless I do not believe in requiring people to purchase health care. While I do not support monetary limits on damages, I do support monetary limits on punitive assessments. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| If I had to focus on just three priorities, I would elect job creation, education and budget/finance reform. I've created companies and jobs and as a state I know how we can do a better job to facilitate job creation, I've been publicly and privately educated in state & I know how valuable education is and we're making it harder to have an informed populace by pricing this out of reach & without opportunities to succeed, and I and we've experienced and seen what general budget cuts do, we need a scalpel not a blunt instrument. |
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