Cathy Spahr's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Cathy Spahr has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2022 Political Courage Test.
Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2022 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? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) Do you support raising taxes on any income or on any entity, to promote economic growth? | ||
| I support pursuing bipartisan legislation that will help people verses wasting everyone�s time and tax dollars pursuing extreme legislation that will go nowhere. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Pennsylvania? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Pennsylvania? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Pennsylvania? | ||
| d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Pennsylvania's high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| I left d) undecided because I would like to learn more about the topic before I give an answer. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need to tax the frackers to ensure they pay their fair share instead of just a one time impact fee. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the regulation of campaign contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring voters to physically appear at a polling place on election day? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Currently a license is required for concealed carry. I am not opposed to expanding this further. In addition, I support gun safety laws like universal background checks, extreme risk violations, and safe storage laws. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a government-run (single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for All? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | d) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave opportunities? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support lowering the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| Insurance companies should be required to cover people who show up at an addiction treatment center seeking help, regardless as to whether they have drugs or alcohol in their system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Pennsylvania's state government in closing gender, racial and other wage gaps | ||
| d)Other or expanded principles: | |||
| The fabric of democracy is being ripped apart- even at the County level. We need to elect people who support democratic norms and will continue to speak the truth. We need to ensure that our democratic processes are transparent and easy to follow. We need to educate people on what disinformation is and how to find reliable information. Leaders and elected officials need to be honest and stop sowing seeds of distrust and fear to feed their base. It�s time to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. | |||
| We need to expand renewable energy by developing a plan followed by implementation. This can be funded by taxing the frackers who currently only pay a one time impact fee. PA is the only state in the country that does not tax the frackers. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.