Jeff Fager's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Jeff Fager has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Iowa 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? | ||
| In order to decrease the number of abortions, we must decrease the number of "unacceptable" pregnancies. That can be done in three proven ways. 1. Provide easy and affordable access to women's healthcare. 2. Provided easy and affordable access to contraceptives. 3. Provide high quality sex education. Research has shown that each one of these decreases the number of abortions. Prohibitions only lead to botched "back alley" abortions. | |||
| 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 in progressive income taxes because, in our economic system, higher incomes and wealth allow individuals to accumulate even greater income and wealth. Thus, those in the higher socioeconomic brackets benefit more from our system. They, therefore, have a greater responsibility to support our system. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Democracy thrives when more people's voices are heard. We should make the process easier--not harder--to participate in elections. For Iowa, this includes restoring voting rights to felons that have completed their mandated sentences. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| 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 Iowa? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support establishing independent task forces to conduct the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement of state and local governments in cases related to law enforcement misconduct? | ||
| Question (b) is complicated, and decisions should be made on a case by case basis. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 Iowa? | ||
| 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 work requirements for participants in the state Medicaid program? | ||
| Yes | i) Should cities and counties be allowed to prohibit housing voucher discrimination? | ||
| c) Again, this is complicated. While I believe that regulation is required to prevent the abuse of consumers, occasionally there have been regulations that have unintended consequences without the intended benefits. f) We need to join the rest of the developed world and support families as if we truly believed in family values. We also need to protect small businesses. Some government subsidies may be required. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Iowa? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Iowa? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Iowa high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| a) I believe that educators should set educational standards. I also believe that teachers should be allowed to teach. As a retired educator, I know that "teachable moments" might distract from the "standards," but true education meets students' needs--not necessarily national (or even state) expectations. At this point, I do not have confidence that standards actually benefit students in the long run. | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| In the early days of our Republic, there was plenty of gun control. (I prefer to call this "access control.") I also believe in the WHOLE 2nd Amendment, which include the clause "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, . . ." For about the first 150 years of our nation, there was no controversy over gun control; the courts understood that the 2nd Amendment did not guarantee that ANYONE could buy ANYTHING he or she wanted. We need rationality to prevail. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Iowa'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? | ||
| f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | |||
| f) Health care is a public good and should be supported by public funding. Providing insurance coverage (and other health care benefits) through employment is leftover from WW II and the attempt to get around wage freezes. It has outlived its usefulness. However, that must be tackled at the Federal level. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Iowa's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Iowa's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Iowa state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that prohibits sexual orientation conversion therapy for individuals under the age of 18? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Being from a rural district, I am very concerned about rural health care. Our rural hospitals and health care providers were struggling, then the management of Medicaid was handed over to private, for-profit corporations. That has been disastrous and must be reversed. Our rural citizens must gain access to broadband internet connections so they can participate fully in the 21st century. Agriculture is the primary driver of our local economy. It is multifaceted and requires research driven solutions. The recent derecho has underscored our vulnerability to forces beyond our control. We must be prepared for more such events. | |||
| I believe the foundation for a secure and thriving future is an educated citizenry; therefore, my top priority is the support of education from pre-K through university (including education in the trades.) We know that investment in education (at all levels) provides a fourfold to sixfold return. Intense strategic planning must be used to prioritize state spending (and education must be a priority.) Return on investment analysis of the tax credits being issued to large, out of state companies would yield hundreds of millions of dollars. We must consider a progressive income tax for Iowa. |
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