Brian Suojanen's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Brian Suojanen has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2015 Political Courage Test.
Virginia State Legislative Election 2015 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Abortion is a deeply personal and private matter, to be addressed privately between a woman and her doctor. Because it's a personal and private matter, it must be funded privately without public money. Regarding minors, parents should always be aware of, and consent to, medical procedures performed on their children. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Virginia's budget.2) 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.3) 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.
| No | a) Tapping into Virginia's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| h) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| a) Alcohol taxes | |||
| b) Cigarette taxes | |||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| k) Other or expanded principles: | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering 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 increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | h) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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? | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Virginia high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Virginia's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| 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 ("Obamacare")? | ||
| 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? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My top three priorities are to (1) increase prosperity, (2) expand individual liberty and (3) expand equality under the law. Working together, we will diversify and grow Virginia's economy. We will do this by making it easier for small businesses to start up, and by making Virginia more attractive to larger employers. This will require cutting taxes, licensing, and regulations for businesses both big and small. With prosperity comes peace, and tolerance and fairness will inherently follow economic opportunity. |
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