Anna Grabowski's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Anna Grabowski did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 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.
Tennessee State Legislative Election 2016 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? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Tennessee's budget.2) State Spending: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: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.
| a) Tapping into Tennessee's "rainy day" fund | |||
| b) Decreasing funding for public universities | |||
| c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | |||
| d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | |||
| e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| l) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Reduce salaries and benefits for state elected officials. Remove the prohibition on state income tax and institute a progressive state income tax while eliminating all taxes on food other than food prepared in restaurants. Accept funding offered by the federal government for increasing Medicaid benefits. No tax incentives or spending for private schools. No tax incentives or spending on businesses with assets over $500,000. No spending to send legislators to meetings, conferences or other gatherings organized by ALEC, AFP or any other groups that attempt to influence state laws. Increase sales tax on luxury goods. | |||
| No funding for private schools or private businesses. No funding for legislators to attend conferences or other meetings that are organized by any group that has any paid lobbyists. No healthcare benefits or other benefits for state legislators. | |||
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? | ||
| Campaigns should not be allowed to spend money on signs or other advertising. Media should be required to cover all candidates and campaigns equally. There should be one mailing sent to all voters by the state, listing all candidates and their contact information, including any links to social media or websites. Spending on internet campaigning should be severely limited, with candidates encouraged to use media that is free and available to all individuals. Candidates should be encouraged to participate in free and open public forums conduced by non-partisan groups such as the LWV. | |||
| 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) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support additional funding for programs intended to reduce drug addiction in Tennessee? | ||
| Police and Sheriff's departments should not be allowed to accept military vehicles or other military equipment from the federal government or anyone else. Police and Sheriff's departments should not have military equipment or weapons. There should be citizen oversight panels for every police and Sheriff's department. Any action resulting in physical harm or death to a citizen that is committed by an officer of a police or Sheriff's department should be investigated by a neutral party from outside the jurisdiction. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| Minimum wage should be $15.00 per hour with regular increases that keep pace with any increased cost of living. Businesses that organize as cooperatives, controlled democratically by employees, should be given tax incentives, and this form of business organization should be given expedited attention regarding any requirements from any state agency. Unless the federal government provides basic banking services through the Postal Service before the state acts, the state should organize and provide affordable, non-profit basic banking services through the DMV or other state agency with local branches in each county. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Tennessee high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I support national standards, just not the Common Core. Curricula should be aligned with the highest possible national standards, and state and local authorities should not attempt to interfere with curricula because of religious, political or other non-pedagogical reasons. Teachers and other public school employees, including Universities, should be able to form and join Labor Unions. The civil rights of students should be protected and not violated, including the right of free speech and assembly, as long as such speech and assembly is not with the purpose of violating the rights of others. | |||
| Yes | 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Tennessee'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Fracking should be outlawed. Funding for environmental regulation and environmental agencies should be increased. Water quality regulations should be stronger. Funding for state parks and wildlife areas should be increased. The hunting of Sandhill Cranes should be prohibited in Tennessee. Livestock operations should be monitored more closely to ensure against water pollution and animal cruelty. Any industry, business or other enterprise that negatively impacts water, soil or air should be subject to the strictest scrutiny. A method should be instituted for citizens to reject any such environmental liability by referendum, with a simple majority being required. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| No | e) Do you support allowing concealed carry on public college campuses in Tennessee? | ||
| Any owner of private property should be allowed to prohibit firearms on their property. Firearms should be prohibited in public schools, except as lawfully possessed by an officer of a state-authorized law enforcement agency, and when that officer is on school grounds on official business. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| My first preference is for a national single-payer health care, a Medicare-for-all program, in which the profit motive is removed from healthcare, which is a human right. Pharmaceutical companies should be more tightly regulated and monitored and should not be allowed to charge prices that are not in keeping with the actual costs of the medicine. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Tennessee's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Tennessee's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My first priority for Tennessee would be to accept the money being offered to us by the federal government to expand Medicaid, until such time as the nation catches up with the rest of the industrialized world and institutes a single-payer, universal healthcare program. My second priority would be to support public education and deny taxpayer funding to private and charter schools. My third priority would be to fight income inequality by raising minimum wage and working to begin a progressive income tax, also eliminating sales tax on food. I would increase sales tax on luxury goods. |
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