James Tosone's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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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.
James Tosone 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.
New Jersey State Legislative Election 2021 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| The only way to reduce state taxes and debt is to reduce state spending. The only way to reduce state spending is through substantial reform to the big-ticket items in the state budget. Public sector pensions is one of the three biggest items in the state budget. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in New Jersey? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| We need to decriminalize all drugs for adult use, as Portugal has successfully done, and as Oregon has recently done. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state taxes on businesses as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of New Jersey? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in New Jersey? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in New Jersey? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from New Jersey high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring instruction on racial discrimination, social justice, diversity, and inclusion in New Jersey public schools? | ||
| State spending on education is one of the three biggest items in the state budget as well as 2/3 of our property taxes. I believe this money should be divided up and sent to the parents, who can then choose whether to spend the money on a traditional public school, a charter school, a for-profit private school, or a not-for-profit private school. Choice and competition are the best ways to provide quality education at an affordable price. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state government regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| No | d) Do you support prohibiting single-use plastics in New Jersey like styrofoam, grocery bags and straws? | ||
| Private sector companies are leading the way in providing renewable energy products at decreasing costs. We should reduce regulatory barriers to the development and deployment of these products. The term "single-use plastics" is misleading in that many Styrofoam, grocery bag and straw products can be recycled. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| The only way to reduce the amount of money spent on campaigns and lobbying is to reduce the size, scope, and power of government. We should make it easy for people to register to vote, but they should have the choice as to whether or not they want to register. | |||
| No | 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 a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| I believe that there is an individual right to keep and bear arms. A person could be denied a gun license if they are a terrorist or have been convicted of a violent crime involving a gun. The burden of proof should be on the state to deny a license, not on the individual to justify the reason for wanting a license. Most gun control legislation being proposed today does not meet the judicial standard of strict scrutiny for laws involving a fundamental right. | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through New Jersey's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid medical leave? | ||
| One of the key drivers of opioid abuse was the government's ban on no-opioid products like CBD and cannabis. The state needs to get moving on letting dispensaries get up and running, and to legalize homegrow. Medicaid is one of the three biggest items in the state budget and outcomes studies have shown it to be relatively ineffective in improving health outcomes. We need to figure out why this is and reform the program. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Jersey's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Jersey's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by the New Jersey state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legislation that would hold guardians liable for damages caused by their child's bullying offenses? | ||
| The market, in the form of employers and employees agreeing on a salary, is how pay should be determined. | |||
| In the following area, please explain in a total of 100 words or less, any additional priorities of your campaign that have not been covered in these questions. | |||
| My top legislative priority is to reduce state taxes and debt by reducing state spending. The only way to do this is by substantial reform to the three big-ticket items in the state budget: public sector pensions, education, and healthcare. The only funds this would require our those associated with identifying the specific reforms. The savings would be orders of magnitude greater. | |||
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