Michael Pratt's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Michael Pratt submitted the 2016 Political Courage Test after the official deadline.
South Carolina State Legislative Election 2016 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Item c - my YES response would include only incest. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing South Carolina'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 South Carolina's "rainy day" fund | |||
| Yes | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | |||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| b) Education (K-12) | |||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| d) Health care | |||
| e) Law enforcement/corrections | |||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| g) Welfare | |||
| h) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| a) Alcohol taxes | |||
| b) Cigarette taxes | |||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| d) Small business taxes | |||
| e) Gas/Oil taxes | |||
| f) Property taxes | |||
| g) Sales taxes | |||
| h) Income taxes (low-income families) | |||
| i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | |||
| j) Income taxes (high-income families) | |||
| No | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| l) Other or expanded principles: | |||
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 | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| a) I feel it more important to have capital punishment for crimes against children. Capital punishment is not a right the government has. Governments are not put upon this Earth to murder their citizens. this is a difficult subject for most. d) sometimes. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| a) within time/dollar limits. g) within time/dollar limits, always with payback. i) a) within time/dollar limits. | |||
| 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 South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) initially, but not long-term. f) the problem with this concept is that for every $ 100 given to the student the potential for colleges to raise costs by $ 120 always seems to be an issue. The system is somewhat gamed to the favor of the colleges. | |||
| 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 South Carolina'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? | ||
| c) but not giveaways to energy companies. | |||
| Yes | 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: | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| c) regional interstate vs cross-regional. f) but leaning more towards LARGE sum minimums vs small sum minimums. g) medicial marijuna is too susceptible to scam presiptions and scam doctors that never see a prison. I am more supportive of a Colorado type law. It has more logic to it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Based on the religious beliefs of the owners, should businesses be allowed to refuse services to their employees and/or customers? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
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