Bill Hinds' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
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Bill Hinds has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Delaware State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| I principally believe abortion is not an appropriate method of birth control and human life begins at inception. I also principally believe it is wrong for me to force my belief on others, and wrong for other people to force their belief on anyone else. This is why I am strongly against using public funds for abortion, there are many organizations an individual can donate money to share the costs of abortions without using our tax dollars. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legislation that would make the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundable in Delaware? | ||
| The state government like private enterprise must live within it's means if there is not enough revenue to support the state's goals and workforce than the cuts must be made. The state government needs a top to bottom audit and review to ensure every penny in the budget is wisely spent. If the government can reduce costs the saving should always be passed back to the citizens. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | |||
| The election rules are geared toward maintaining the two-party status quo, campaign contribution ceilings would level the playing field for all candidates and ideas. I would also like to see our state move to open primaries giving the currently disenfranchised unaffiliated voters a voice in primary races. I also firmly believe party affiliations should not be included in election ballots, voters should go to the polls knowing who they support before they vote. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 Delaware? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I believe capital punishment is immoral regardless of the crime. On youthful offenders, children are not fully matured and should not be prosecuted as adults regardless of their crimes. Immigration is managed by the federal government and the representatives our state sends to Washington, change in immigration policy should be made in the congress, not by local authorities. The drug war is the longest-running war in US history and the root cause of much social unrest between police and communities, we must admit it has failed and end it now. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Delaware? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | h) Should stores be required to accept cash payments? | ||
| This state caused many businesses to shut down much longer than was necessary and hurt many families, those people need help to get back on their feet contributing to the revenue base. I am a truly free market believer and if a business refuses to accept cash payments the consumers can cast there vote for or against that policy with their wallets. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Delaware? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Delaware? | ||
| d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Delaware high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| I believe in 2020 the public education system in Delaware has failed our families by not reopening. The money we spend on education should follow the child, not the districts, whether the parents choose a public school, a private school, a charter school, or homeschooling, the education choice should be made by the parents not the state. I would even support teachers creating learning pods and setting their own rates at whatever the market would bear. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Good ideas and technologies should stand on their own merits and not require the government to tip the scale for or against an industry. If you look at the numbers on greenhouse emissions in Delaware and the United States they are steadily going down as energy-consuming technologies improve organically. | |||
| 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 teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Every citizen has a right embedded in our national Constitution to defend themselves, police cannot be everywhere all the time, if criminals know there is the possibility of citizenry self-defense, that is a crime deterrent. The gun show myth is just that, a myth, background checks are run at gun shows now, so yes that practice should continue. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Delaware'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? | ||
| No | 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: | |||
| No | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Delaware's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Delaware's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Delaware state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| I answered no to all of these questions because I believe equal rights just that, equal right to all regardless of any labels or classifications. We are all human and we should treat each other fairly and equally under the laws we already have in place, we do not need a new law every time a new class of social distinction is created. | |||
| I will seek to curb the emergency powers of the executive branch of the state government to ensure the Governor cannot endlessly extend a state of emergency without minority legislative input. I will work to reform election ballots to remove party affiliations that create unfair advantages for major party candidates. | |||
| Reduce the burden of regulations for business startups allowing lower-income entrepreneurs to create new businesses expanding the state's revenue base. |
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