Ronald Saunders III's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Ronald Saunders III has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Indiana 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? | ||
| My stance is that the decision should be solely up to the woman seeking the procedure. No barriers should be put in place to prevent women from obtaining a safe abortion because it causes more psychological and emotional damage (and sometimes physical), especially to a woman who is forced to carry and birth a baby that results from a sexual assault or incest. A woman should be able to freely make that decision with the medical consultation of a physician of her choosing and the emotional and spiritual guidance of anyone that she allows to give it to her. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I believe those in our highest tax bracket can and should be taxed at higher rates to help generate revenue that will assist in balancing the budget. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| f) Do you support abolishing the role of Township Assessor? | |||
| We should have an independent commission that can keep community interest together while being able to draw fair district lines--politicians should not be able to pick their voters. All eligible voters should be automatically registered upon their 18th birthday. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 Indiana? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| The execution of capital punishment has been overwhelmingly administered to people of color and that sole reason is enough for me to be against the death penalty. Prosecuting minors as adults completely circumvents the idea of rehabilitation for a young person who has barely lived. Mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders keep our prisons crowded which is a drain on our tax dollars. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 Indiana? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the establishment of a work share program in Indiana to assist access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| It is in the State's interest to invest into Hoosiers as a healthy workforce is good for the Indiana economy. There is a requirement of revenue that will have to come from taxes but they shouldn't overburden the workforce and responsible portion of the State's funds should be appropriated for the health of Hoosiers. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Indiana? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Indiana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Indiana high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Investment into our public schools and teachers should be a top priority. State funds should be first funneled to our public schools to ensure that they receive the needed resources before private or charter schools do. There also needs to be an incentive to draw and keep talent in our public schools to teach our Hoosier students which is why our teachers' salaries need to be competitive and respectful. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Indiana is ripe to be a leader in renewable and clean energy. We have innovative minds and the land to invest in alternative power to uncuff us to fossil fuels. This will help stave us from further damage to our environment and curb the negative trajectory we are heading regarding climate change. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need common sense gun reform: background checks; empowering police and family members to stop gun violence before it happens through extreme risk protection order; funding for school based threat assessment teams and to help our educators recognize the signs of violence, suicide, and social isolation; child access prevention laws and universal background checks to prevent people with certain felony or misdemeanors convictions from obtaining firearms. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Indiana'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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I would ensure that our health programs, specifically Healthy Indiana Plan, are being used to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including children and individuals with mental health concerns. Indiana has been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis; our legislature needs to be working to solve the underlying issues that drive people to opioid use, including mental health. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Indiana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Indiana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Indiana state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Should gender be a required piece of information on Indiana driver's licenses? | ||
| Hoosiers deserve the fullest protection of our laws, especially from people who would do them harm simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, or race. There is work to do to strengthen our bias crime bill into a comprehensive hate crimes bill that has some teeth for enforcement with a list of protected classes. | |||
| Indiana continues to lag behind its neighbors and the rest of the country on cannabis policy. It's one of only 23 states that still imposes jail time for simple possession of cannabis and one of only 17 that lacks a compassionate medical cannabis law. I support not only the decriminalization of cannabis but also the full legalization of it. Legalization of cannabis would provide more tax revenue for the state, reduce the prison population significantly (thus saving the state money), and bring Indiana in line with its neighbors on this issue. Indiana is losing out on millions of tax revenue. | |||
| I understand law enforcement and respects the men and women who fulfill those duties. As a black man, have also experienced and witnessed the racial inequalities in our country. I would propose legislation that has been proven to reduce police violence by up to 72%, including: banning chokeholds and strangleholds; requiring de-escalation; requiring warning before shooting; requiring exhausting all alternatives before shooting; making it a duty to intervene (require officers to intervene and stop excessive force by other officers as well as report incidents to supervisors); banning shooting at moving vehicles; having a use of force continuum; requiring comprehensive reporting. |
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