Amy Davidoff'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.
Amy Davidoff did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
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 2014 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 Maine's budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| a) Tapping into Maine's "rainy day" fund | |||
| b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | |||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| 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 | ||
| Supporting strong programs in education, providing access to affordable health care and protecting our environment, are all critical for our economic future and the health/welfare of our society. Welfare: I fully support increasing social services if needed, but there should be a critical assessment of the existing programs (i.e., goals and effectiveness) before increasing spending. Eligibility caps should be re-evaluated, such that people should be allowed to maintain certain levels of support as their income increases, as they gain independence. Law enforcement/corrections need to work synergistically with rehabilitation (e.g., educational opportunities) and drug treatment programs. | |||
| Large corporations should be the same effective tax rate as small business. Get rid of the loop holes, then corporation taxes could be reduced for all businesses. Property taxes: Taxes for a primary residence for people on fixed incomes (e.g., seniors) should NOT increase, once the residence is paid for. There needs to be another mechanism to fund public schools, other than property taxes. Poorer communities (i.e., where property values are low) should have access to excellent schools, as to more wealthy towns/cities. This may require more State investments in those poorer communities. | |||
| a) Tapping into the 'rainy day' fund depends on the reason for doing so. b) We need to keep public universities accessible to all. I am not sure where the balance should be, but ideally there would be a 'needs' assessment and tuition reductions according to need. c) Reducing salaries will not help attract and retain the best and the brightest, but there may need to be adjustments made to future pension commitments (no changes in commitments already made). e and f) Program goals and effectiveness need to be assessed before making a judgement for increasing/decreasing spending. | |||
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? | ||
| e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | |||
| I am a Clean Elections candidate, and I think if we are ever going to regain our democracy, we need to have significant campaign finance reform, such that public officials are beholden to their constituents and not donors. If legislators could spend more time on policy and less on politics, we would be much better off as a state and country. e) I support efforts to enhance access to voting, not hinder/restrict it. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I believe that state and local police should uphold federal immigration laws (hence supporting the United States of American), however I would like to see our immigration laws reformed. I do not have expertise in immigrations, but our laws should be clear and consistent with our goals. I don't think our goals have been clearly articulated. | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Expanding unemployment benefits must be finite (an end strategy must be put in place). Financial incentives for job creation must be clearly defined, targeted and have measurable outcomes. Government spending on infrastructure is an excellent way to promote economic growth and help society. Financial assistance for homeowners facing foreclosure should be given if the homeowners were subject to banking/mortgage lender fraud. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| Rather than merit pay for teachers, teachers should be paid a competitive salary and the competition would encourage attracting/retaining outstanding educators. Tenure does provide teacher protection from the whims of an administration or school board. However, there is no reason why post-tenure performance reviews can not be utilized to maintain excellence in teaching. Whether state funding should go to charter schools depends on the funding model and the community needs. There are examples of public charter schools that fill a niche for programs that are beyond the capacity of existing school systems. | |||
| 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 Maine'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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I fully support the concept of promoting non-profit health insurance, rather than for-profit insurance. This would ensure that company profits go back into the company and support patient wellness, rather than paying off shareholders. If reference to an interstate health insurance compact means that a state can not regulate coverage, then I do not support it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Sustainability is the key element common to all of my priorities. ?Sustainable? refers to ventures that can be launched and maintained indefinitely without damaging or depleting human or natural resources. We need to develop sensible legislation to help achieve these goals, and all legislative outcomes must be measurable, so we may evaluate whether it is effective. A. Sustainable education (health care providers, alternative energy sources, fishing and farming/agriculture) - supporting high quality, affordable and relevant education/training programs B. Sustainable economy/employment (fishing, farming/agriculture, tourism, health care providers, alternative energy resources (manufacturing)) C. Sustainable environment (fishing, farming/agriculture, ecotourism, alternative energy resources (manufacturing)) |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.