Garrett Westhoven'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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Garrett Westhoven has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Ohio 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? | ||
| We need to ensure that women's reproductive healthcare is protected so that her health needs are not determined by politicians but by she and her doctor. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support tax credits to promote the purchase of electric vehicles? | ||
| We need to overhaul our tax structure to eliminate our regressive sales tax and convert that revenue into income taxes to ensure that the wealthiest among us pay their fair share. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | f) Should judicial candidates list their party affiliation on general election ballots? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 in Ohio? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| No | f) Do you support eliminating the statute of limitations on cases involving rape? | ||
| No | g) Do you support requiring state-issued licenses for law enforcement officers? | ||
| We need to seriously reevaluate how we do police work, and what we expect our police forces to handle. Whether you are a Black or Brown individual, an immigrant fearful of being deported, or a rape victim who fears they will not be believed, it is clear that police forces are failing the needs of arguably a majority of citizens who do not feel they are being served and protected. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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 Ohio? | ||
| 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? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Ohio? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Ohio? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Ohio high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| We need to ensure we are properly funding public education, and stop our failed experiments with for profit charter schools that have just siphoned money from public education. We also need to ensure that while K-12 is important, we must also ensure affordable in state tuition for Ohio colleges and universities, ensure we have sufficient trade school funding, as well as adequate training opportunities for adults whose careers are being automated away. Finally, we need to implement a universal publicly funded pre-k program for all children to ensure everyone has a equal access to education. | |||
| 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 repeal HB-6 which is one of the worse energy bills of the century. We need to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency. There are also over 100,000 jobs in clean energy in Ohio, and to move Ohio forward we need to ensure that these jobs are kept and expanded. Also, to bring things local, climate change increases the risk of poor maple syrup production. If maple trees either produce less, or have a harder time surviving in our area, the industry we are famous for could be devastated. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| e need to implement sensible gun control solution as soon as possible. Guns were invented to kill people. While our constitution does permit us to bear arms, many seem to disregard the "well regulated" portion of the 2nd amendment. Creating a structure similar to what we have with motor vehicles, where every firearm is registered, and gun owners are required to have a license which also requires the passing of a test. How many people need to die in a school, or outside a bar, or at a concert for gun owners to accept some inconvenience. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Ohio's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| No | g) Do you support legislation that prohibits gender reassignment surgeries for individuals under the age of 18? | ||
| ealthcare costs are going up far beyond the rate of inflation. The insurance industry is a profit motivated enterprise whose top priority is not ensuring someone gets the best possible healthcare, but making sure they continue to make more money. There are a number of steps we can improve the overall health of Ohioans. This is also a point we could use to discourage young people from leaving the state. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Ohio's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Ohio's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Ohio state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support expanding anti-discrimination laws to include hair textures and protective hairstyles? | ||
| We need to pass legislation to ensure that who you love or identify as is not a viable reason to lose your job. Keeping Ohio's best and brightest in our state means making sure we treat everyone equally. We need to recognize that racism is a public health crisis, and that whether it comes to medical care, policing, housing, or employment that the color of one's skin should not hinder their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. | |||
| We should implement ranked choice balloting. Our voting system, first past the post, is version 1.0 of democracy, and entrenches 2 party systems and discourages voters whose views do not neatly align with them. Ranked choice (AKA the alternative vote, or instant run-off) will all people to vote for who they are truly interested in and encourage more engagement in our democracy. | |||
| Making it easier to vote and properly funding our education system are my top 2 priorities. These can be funded by closing corporate tax loopholes and by raising taxes on those who make more than 200k/year. |
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