Chris Benton's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Chris Benton 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.
Georgia State Legislative Election 2020 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I don't personally support abortions, but I trust women to make their own healthcare decisions. Eliminating abortions is done by stopping unwanted pregnancies. We do this through healthcare, education, and faith. That's why I support the work of the Heritage Pregnancy Center in my hometown of Thomaston. At their '19 fundraising dinner, speaker Kim Ketola said that if we banned abortion tomorrow, women would still have them; that the challenge is to reach their heart and mind. If you ask me how do we stop abortions, my answer will always be healthcare, education, and faith, not by passing a law. | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| Yes | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Balancing the budget can be done organically by stimulating the economy. I do nor support cutting worker's salaries, and ideally would not like to raise taxes either. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| I support secure and fair elections. Instead of a photo ID, however, I would prefer a thumbprint, just like unlocking a mobile phone. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Georgia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the indefinite electronic tracking of individuals with multiple sex-offense convictions? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Georgia? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| In response to G, I support relief for small business, not large multinational corporations. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Georgia? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Georgia? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Georgia high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support allowing home school students to participate in extracurricular activities offered by public schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Should public colleges and universities be able to deny funding to student-led religious, political, or ideological groups? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| In regards to (c), we must assist with communities that have been affected by coal ash, while going after the companies that are responsible. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| We have the 2nd amendment for a purpose. I do support smart reforms like closing the "gun show loophole." | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Georgia's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Georgia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Georgia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Georgia state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My 4 priorities. 1) Rural high speed internet access 2) Supporting public schools 3) Affordable healthcare 4)Ending cannabis prohibition | |||
| My top legislative priority is to expand rural high speed internet by empowering our rural co-operatives to become ISPs. Two things are needed. One is the ability to bundle electric and internet billing. Something currently prohibited by the same law that allowed rural cooperative the ability to become Internet Service Providers ? a provision added at the urging of lobbyists working for large, corporate ISPs. The second thing needed, is funding. High-speed rural internet will require a collective and coordinated investment into the required infrastructure. This will be sourced by a combination of federal funds and from the general budget. |
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