Arabella Holzapfel's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Arabella Holzapfel has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where she stands on the issues she may face if elected.
Vermont State Legislative Election 2012 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Medical decisions should be between an individual and their healthcare provider, without interference from the government. | |||
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 Vermont's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Vermont'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 | ||
| Unemployment benefits should be extended when economic conditions make it appropriate. Appropriate legislation (for example, decriminalization of marijuana, and early education programs) to enable law enforcement and corrections to function well without increased expenditures. Pre-K education is not on this list, but is important for many reasons - See http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/essential-growth-strategy-investing-early-childhood-education | |||
| Sales taxes should be increased in a targeted manner, not across the board. Likewise, "corporate" taxes should be targeted so they do not negatively impact small businesses. | |||
| Public workers account for a significant part of the employed population. Decreasing the wages of public workers could negatively impact the economy more than wage reductions would help the budget. | |||
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? | ||
| Public financing of campaigns is the best way to get the influence of money out of public service. | |||
| 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) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | |||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I don't feel I can make blanket statements about "minors" in these questions. My response would be different about a 16-year-old minor than about a 10-year-old, and would also depend on the crime. Regarding decriminalization of marijuana - I have served for several years on Court Diversion review boards and understand the amount of time and energy that State's Attorneys, police, and the courts spend on cases involving small amounts of marijuana. It is also not right that young people with small amounts of marijuana become ineligible for student aid and suffer other consequences of criminal prosecution. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | |||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Vermont high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| There has been extensive "mission creep" for public schools over the last many decades. The curriculum in publicly funded schools should focus on developing the skills and knowledge necessary for young people to grow into engaged and well-functioning citizens. Other funding sources and diverse educational venues can be developed to meet other needs, such as specific job skills, requirements for entry into college, etc. | |||
| 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 state funding for improvements to Vermont'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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the construction of mountaintop wind turbines? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support closing the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant? | ||
| The main focus of our energy policy needs to be conservation - we need to stop using as much energy as we have been in the last decades. As far as alternative energy goes, it is much more practical to focus on community-scale energy production (solar hot-water heaters, rooftop solar panels, small hydro projects, ...) than industrial-scale mountain-top wind farms. Further, we would get a bigger payoff in terms of carbon footprint reduction by focusing on alternative means to heat homes and businesses instead of electrical generation since most electricity in Vermont is already from low-greenhouse-emission hydro sources. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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 fully support the rights of hunters to purchase and possess guns appropriate for hunting. With regard to the other questions, the problem is not with owning a firearm, but with aiming and discharging one. There have been too many accidents and close calls involving the discharge of a firearm when the individual firing the weapon did not comprehend the distance the bullet would travel and what might be in its path. Firearm safety education, and licensing that documents it, seems prudent. | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide for those with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live? | ||
| Health insurance and the provision of health care is a complicated topic and I do not feel informed enough to answer some of these questions. My guiding principle is that health care is a right, not a privilege, and the US needs to join the rest of the world in providing this basic right to its citizens. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Vermont continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Vermont's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Vermont's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| A marriage license is basically a contract between two people and the state. This particular contract implicitly confers hundreds if not thousands of other contractual obligations, responsibilities, and privileges to the couple. Any committed couple deserves the opportunity to enter into such a legal contract. With respect to other forms of discrimination - discrimination in any form against any group is wrong and should be prevented. | |||
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