Paul Kinzelman's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
Paul Kinzelman did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
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.
New Mexico 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 don't need big government coming between a woman 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 eliminating the state tax on Social Security benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support tax credits to promote the purchase of electric vehicles? | ||
| We have to look at all avenues to balance the budget, these questions are too simplistic to allow a fair answer. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Campaign finance reform (ending legalized bribery) is at the top of my list of important issues, see www.VotePaulK.org | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 New Mexico? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| I support addressing the root cause of much crime by increased behavioral healthcare and early childhood education and help for parents, shown to reduce crime in the future. | |||
| 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 New Mexico? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Reducing government regulations on the private sector is not a yes or no answer, we would have to discuss which regulations are proposed to be reduced. And I support Covid relief for small businesses, not the big corporations that have had a windfall. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in New Mexico? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in New Mexico? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from New Mexico high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Gun control: really depends on the regulation. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through New Mexico'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| I don't support requiring health insurance, but I do support universal health care I support allowing personal choice with vaccinations, whether it's religious or not is irrelevant. Medical leave: depends on the size of the business. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by New Mexico state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of the phrase "In God We Trust" on all public buildings and license plates? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| I think the questions have covered a lot but yes or no answers don't give many questions the space needed for thoughtful presentation. Please view my webpage which lays out a lot of what I believe in: http://www.VotePaulK.org | |||
| Campaign finance reform doesn't require much funding, it's just coming up with rules preventing corporations from buying candidates. I would look to asking tough questions about funding projects around the state. I think there's a lot of waste that can be reduced. I'd also require sunshine for the Capital Outlay program so people know where the money is going. If it were public, perhaps less money would go to these programs. |
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