Eric Rigard's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
California State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| 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? | ||
| My preference is for no exceptions, however, I understand when women might be in this situation, and I will support them, and pray that everything works for her mental health moving forward. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should businesses with over 500 employees be taxed for every employee they have? | ||
| I think the payroll taxes would suffice. Not necessarily reducing salaries, but more so pensions. | |||
| 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? | |||
| I would prefer to have some form of proof of the person being registered to vote. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in California? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I think private prisons are open to fraud and possible corruption. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 California? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the creation of multi-housing in areas previously zoned for single family housing? | ||
| e) Only because the state has become so unaffordable. f) only where the federal government has instituted a plan for relief, and distributed that through the state government,. I do not believe the state government should be involved in that decision. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in California? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in California? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| c) however, I believe administrators are top-heavy and should be reduced, and this money can be used for teacher salary increases. As a general rule, I believe that the money should follow the children, whether they are in public, private, charter, or home-schooled. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state regulations on fuel economy standards? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support allowing homeowners to buy into a shared community solar energy system? | ||
| A) however, as additions to, and not to the exclusion of current fuel sources. C) I believe we have good quality drinking water in California. E) homeowners, yes, developers, 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? | ||
| A) I am definitely for background checks on all gun purchases. D) but if you are planning to carry a gun, should require a carry permit. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through California'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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | |||
| A) and for mental health. D) I do not believe in euthanasia. F) My worry is the abuse of this leave - there would need to be appropriate limits in place. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| c) Do you support greater efforts by California state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | |||
| C) With equal education and experience, there should be no pay gap between men and women. | |||
| On the state level, we must employ better resource management, whether that is building new power plants, or rebuilding the forestry industry in California, or with water, which is being flushed out to the Pacific Ocean. I believe our water needs can be met within the state. | |||
| 1) Affordability of senior housing. 2) reducing homelessness in California. 3) better resource management. I think all three of which can be funded by public/private partnerships, which can help with funding in all three of these areas. |
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