Mark Andre's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Maine State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| For a) I recognize the need for abortion services and do not support the overturning of Roe v Wade. I do favor life as a choice. I believe in limiting late term abortion services and insuring that public funds are not used for the provision of abortion services. Believe encouraging life through policies that give mothers the financial means to choose life is important. For c) A poorly worded question. Believe organizations should be eligible for funds so long as there is a clear distinction that public funds are not being directed toward abortion services. | |||
| Yes | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the creation of a tax on internet streaming services? | ||
| I am running for State not Federal office. Maine must maintain a competitive tax rate with other States and regions around the country. Our tax rates are already sufficiently high so as to moderately discourage investment and relocation to Maine. Our future prosperity is dependent on attracting new residents and businesses to Maine. I therefore do not support any tax increases at the State level. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| E) is a broad issue that needs better definition to answer. So long as voters may opt out of automatic registration, my answer to e) is yes. This is important because voter registration may effect a voter's residency for tax purposes. Generally, I favor increasing the security of our election system. There is currently little communication between State election systems. As a consequence, many voters are in fact registered in multiple States. This is why unsolicited mail in ballots can't work without a National Voter Database. People would receive multiple ballots. Elections should not be reliant on an "Honor System". | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Maine? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| For b), only in extreme cases. For instance, many gangs use underage members to carry out violent acts in cases where they cannot be punished to the same degree as adult members. The law must recognize and discourage this practice. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| No | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Maine? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| No | h) Do you support legalizing sports betting in Maine? | ||
| No | i) Do you support legalizing tribal gaming in Maine? | ||
| For a), no except for that which the State should already be spending money on, such as proper highway infrastructure, etc. For d), good idea in concept but 1) Which drugs? 2) How do we insure that children are not collateral damage in removal of benefits? For e) not beyond that which was already passed. Favor removal of the higher minimum wage for waitstaff which has actually been a net loss to their income. For f) This law could arbitrarily bankrupt many small Maine businesses based on the health and age of employees. Unintended consequences to certain demographics when hiring. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Maine? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Maine? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| These questions are based on a false narrative that State regulation and the subsidizing of non-competitive power sources are the best way to resolve the climate crisis. Americans want to be environmentally friendly, but we have yet to build a practical and cost effective product for them to buy. R&D is the key as once a product is developed that Americans want to own, they will buy it. This should be done at the federal level by allowing investment in R&D free of capital gains exposure. Maine produces less carbon emissions in a year than Bejing does in a day. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| For c) While this may sound good in theory as it may have saved lives in several of the most recent school shooting events, I don't think arming teachers is the way to go. Kids are pretty smart and they'll get wind of teachers who are arming themselves. There is no guarantee a student might not forcibly take possession of one of those guns in a classroom. In short, the gun, which otherwise wouldn't have been in the school, might become the locus of a school shooting. | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Maine's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| For a), Curbing prescription of opiates should lessen addiction, making current funding levels adequate. For b), Medicaid expansion increases private insurance costs which subsidize the program through differential hospital billing. For e), We have a daughter we believe to be vaccine injured. I will not vaccinate my other healthy child because he has several of the same markers she had. Where there is risk there must be choice and my children have a right to a free public education. The Maine law also severely oversteps by regulating the vaccine policy of charter and private schools. For f), Governments responsibility. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Maine state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support inclusion of the Equal Rights Amendment in the state constitution? | ||
| c) This a big rabbit hole to go down. The data is unclear as to whether the pay gap referred to even exists today. | |||
| Property Tax Fairness. In 2019, Colby College's Total Valuation was $148,120,300 and they paid $136,721 in property taxes to Waterville, for an equivalent tax rate of 00.92. Waterville residents paid a tax rate of 25.76, a rate 28 times higher than that paid by Waterville's wealthiest institution. Tax policies that force residents on fixed incomes to subsidize City taxes in this manner are both unfair and unsustainable. In 2018, I circulated a petition (over 1,700 signatures) that requested Colby address this disparity through a voluntary contribution to City taxes. It fell on the deaf ears of a College controlled Council. | |||
| Property Tax Fairness. City Councils are often controlled by the interests of large NFP's. State Legislative action is required to insure residents' rights to Fair Property Tax Policies. Recommend the following two actions: 1) An immediate State audit of all large NFP's to determine compliance with State non-profit tax regulations. For instance, it appears that Colby College is currently managing commercial lease space from offices listed as NFP. An audit will determine whether or not these spaces may in fact be taxable. 2) Pass legislation that would remove property tax exemptions for large NFP's (defined by top executive pay rates). |
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