David Smith's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
David Smith has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Oregon 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Balance the budget by cutting spending and open bidding contracts to all qualified applicants. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Being a citizen in a Democratic Republic carries a responsibility to be informed and to be active in the governmental process. The legitimacy of our system must be maintained by doing everything possible to eliminate voter fraud and corruption within the system. Only citizens should be allowed to vote and they should be required to have ID proving who they are. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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 Oregon? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased penalties for individuals who cover their faces during unlawful assemblies? | ||
| Those individuals who riot, viciously attack people, burn, loot and destroy property, attack the police should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Those who conduct a peaceful protest should be allowed to express their grievances without interference from law enforcement. Elected officials such as mayors and governors must be held accountable when lawless riots are allowed to continue in their jurisdictions. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Oregon? | ||
| 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) Should stores be required to accept cash payments? | ||
| Government produces nothing. The only way government promotes economic growth is by redistributing money from one sector of the economy to another sector of the economy through taxation. It is not the governments job to pick winners and losers. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Oregon? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Oregon? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Oregon high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support allowing college athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support restricting the use of aerial pesticides in outdoor public spaces (e.g. parks, schools)? | ||
| e) 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| The 2nd Amendment, private gun ownership, and the right to bear arms "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED". | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Oregon'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: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Oregon's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Oregon's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Oregon state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| No | d) Do you support expanding anti-discrimination laws to include hair textures and protective hairstyles? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My top priority is to provide property tax relief for retired seniors on their primary residence. I wrote a petition which was approved by the Secretary of State and their legal department. The petition is #38 and is available for public review. My second priority is the fix Oregon's educational system. Oregon ranks 47th in the quality of our education and the number of student drop outs. It is not because we don't spend enough money on education. I believe it is because of structural issues with the system and the power of the teachers union. | |||
| Government has become a glutton for money and continues to demand more and more taxation which takes money out of the economy. Seniors are forced to make decisions about paying their property taxes or deciding what to eliminate from their needs such as medical needs, food, insurance, payments for utilities, personal care, etc.. The money returned to the seniors would be spent back into the economy and help create economic growth which in the long term would increase tax revenue to the state. Other funding would come from cutting some programs in the state budget. |
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