Ed Johnson's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Ed Johnson has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Montana State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | 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 the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I am staunchly pro-life. I believe that in the extremely rare cases where the life of the mother is deemed by medical professionals to be terminally threatened, and after all other possible options of saving both mother and child have been exhausted, then and only then, should it be legal for doctors to act in this way. Motherhood is a beautiful capacity that women posses and it should not be thrown lightly away in favor of being more like men. Motherhood, in any circumstance, should be highly supported by our society. | |||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| We need to find areas within the state government where we can be more efficient and take and spend less tax dollars from hardworking Montanans. Money can be shifted around to support programs currently in place. However, the government simply fulfills the role of providing for a time, services and support to society that the private sector can't or won't provide. I think that the time has come for us to look at those more efficient public and private solutions that will move our society towards more freedom, less taxes and better communities for all. | |||
| Whereas the economic principle behind the taxation of alcohol and tobacco is sound, I don't believe we should punish those with substance addiction by further increasing the prices they will have to pay for something that they have inelastic demand for. That sound principle is that taxation helps to force things gradually out of the marketplace that are undesirable. I like people from every economic class, businesses and gas for my truck and think we should decrease the tax burden on all of those. Property taxation is philosophically repugnant to me and I think it should be eliminated wholly. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Individuals can be publicly scrutinized for their contributions to campaigns, but I don't think those contributions should be limited. PAC's and corporations are entities representing many people and far too often disconnect the public from the real provider of money to a candidate and should be limited. Political Parties should have the freedom to donate to candidates from their party from their treasury as much as they want, as long as individual donations to the party are also made public. b) Encouraged, not required. c) absolutely; transparency d) Yes. No gerrymandering, please. e) Yes, everyone should have a photo ID. | |||
| 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 legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | 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 the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | g) Do you support increased driving regulations? | ||
| a) I think if we are to support life in all stages, capital punishment must end. In addition, on average countrywide, it costs more to states put someone on death row and go through the legal procedures than to keep them in jail for life when you consider what life is worth. b) yes, we can do a better job c) Yes, but ONLY if studies over an extended period in economics and community health impact say that taxed and regulated marijuana would benefit the state. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Government assistance to the private jobs sector should be limited to decreasing the tax burdens and regulations that individuals and small businesses face. Public works projects and other government sectors can provide employment for the purposes they were created, with the preference of contracting service provision and construction etc. to private entities. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Montana high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| More merit based teaching and educational alternatives is good for the point of the whole educational system which is to produce well-educated and inspired-to-learn individuals. Or at least that should be the goal rather than to produce pieces for the predetermined system. Schools should support innovation and creativity rather than standardization and uniformity. Financial aid for underprivileged students who qualify could go to both high school and college students for education if mass public education spending was decreased. As to illegal immigrants graduating from Montana high schools? How does that even occur without notice? | |||
| 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 Montana's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Government's role in energy and environmental issues should be present BUT minimal (i.e. research grants to universities and conservation groups that study these issues and tax credits to R & D departments of any energy company). More often than not, it is the private sector's innovation that comes up with better ideas to be more energy efficient, cost effective, and pollute less. That said, I think regulations in place that punish entity B for effecting by pollutant entity A, are a necessary part of government's role in protecting individual property rights under the law. To d) define open space? | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support Montana's continued tradition of firearm ownership, sportsmanship and gun safety awareness. Guns are a part of our society and that can't be changed; so we should seek ways to effectively educate citizens about their proper use. I don't support regulations on firearms any more than I support regulations on the size of edged or blunted weapon you can carry. It all depends on who is using the tool. Instead of regulating weapons, we as public servant-leaders should promote a society where peaceful resolutions to conflict are first and foremost to be pushed forward. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | 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 Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| a) No. b) Reform of a private service industry should not be mandated by government c) States and neighbors can come up with more effective healthcare solutions for them than can the federal government. d) No, I believe their are better ways to improve health care overage and access. e) No. f) Yes, we can't send healthcare providers underwater for what may have been one mistake. g) Yes, but I believe there needs to be more public and visible scientific and economic studies on the societal impact of medicinal and recreational marijuana. This issue needs to cease being taboo. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I think that anti-discrimination laws for hiring etc. of employees do little to protect people from potential abuse by co-workers, bosses etc. I think this is a societal issue and one that needs to gain for societal momentum towards acceptance and non-discrimination. That all said, I believe marriage or a union between two people should be between them and their God and not a tax write-off opportunity mandated and mediated by government. But, it is no skin off my nose if two people of the same-sex want to have the law join them and give them a tax-write off too. | |||
| My legislative priorities can be summed up into four main points. First, Education. I believe that students should come before all else in education and we should tailor policies that work best for them. Second, Conservation. We need to promote policies in Montana that will help better manage and conserve our outdoor heritage. Third, Privacy Rights. Montanans should be protected from state invasions of personal information both in the real and virtual worlds. Fourth, Innovative Ideas. I bring a young and courageous face to Montana politics and I won't back down on finding better solutions than what we currently have. |
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