Kristian Poncho's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Kristian Poncho has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2019 Political Courage Test.
Louisiana State Legislative Election 2019 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| As a practicing Methodist, it is of my belief that all life is sacred and that abortion should not be common or accepted in society. We must do everything as elected officials to lower the number of abortions across America. I do not believe in abortion and that in the case of medical emergencies it should be a last resort. I also believe that everyone should be pro-life for the whole life through taking care of each person and uplifting them. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Louisiana's budget.
| Yes | a) Do you support local governments' say over the Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP), which allows approved manufacturing companies to be exempt from paying local property taxes for up to ten years? | ||
| No | b) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | c) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | d) An income tax increase on any tax bracket | ||
| I believe that fiscal responsibility means that if our state is facing a massive budget crisis and all other avenues of fiscal cutbacks have been explored that raising a tax is an option. However, once the budget issue has been solved I do believe we owe it to taxpayers to cut the raised taxes back to their original amounts. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| I believe that participation in the democratic process is a God-given gift that we should all take part in as American citizens. Because of this belief I believe that as elected officials we should go above and beyond our duty to encourage every citizen to become involved in the political process. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Should a minor 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 legislation that would ban holding cell phones while driving? | ||
| We must have better programs that seek to get our youth off of the streets and prepare them for a better life. I favor funding at-risk youth programs to better our state�s future. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Louisiana? | ||
| No | g) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| No | h) Do you support using toll revenue to help fund a new bridge over the Mississippi River? | ||
| Louisiana does not currently have a set state minimum wage, I answered yes to that question because I do believe Louisiana should set a minimum wage rate. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Louisiana? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | c) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Louisiana high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legalizing sports betting for the purpose of funding early childhood education programs? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, 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? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Louisiana's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Louisiana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Louisiana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Louisiana state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My highest priority is to protect public education funding, fund our school district, particularly in rural areas, as well as continue to work towards higher pay for public school teachers and support staff. I want to go to Baton Rouge to work with like-minded individuals who truly want to help rural areas. Rural Louisiana needs stronger, better representation and I want to work towards that. | |||
| As of right now, I have my sights set on adding an additional tax credit bracket to the Louisiana Film Tax Credit program that would incentivize films to shoot in rural parishes. These films would create residual income through tourism as well as create jobs for rural parishes such as the ones in District 32. I would also like to work on expanding broadband internet access to rural areas across Louisiana, particularly in my district. I would want to take a proactive approach with the telecommunication businesses to allow for this expansion. |
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