Chris deVries' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Chris deVries has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
South Carolina 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? | ||
| I support informed individual choice regarding reproductive health care as well as support policies which support and enhance the right to full and nondiscriminating access to reproductive health care. | |||
| 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? | ||
| It is oversimplistic to ask whether one supports an income tax increase as what is needed is tax reform that seeks to balance corporate taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, business licenses, and income tax in a fair and equitable manner that provides the needed income to the state, but does not penalize any one entity disproportionately. We also have to ensure we have recession-proof measures of taxation to ensure that funding streams are not wholly dependent on any one economic sector. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support limiting disaster declarations to 15 days unless approved by the legislature? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 South Carolina? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Should threatening harm against someone based on their race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national origin be considered a felony? | ||
| No | g) Do you support citizen's arrests? | ||
| I would note that Answer B depends on the violent crime and situation and that in certain situations with clear guidance applied equally - there might be exceptions to this statement. Similarly, for Answer F - I believe it is imperative that a Hates Crimes bill needs to be enacted in the state which would articulate the responses if a person was found guilty of a hate crime. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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 South Carolina? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | |||
| Many of these questions cannot be simplified to a yes or no answer. For example, in the discussion on lower taxes, there are instances where reduced taxes can stimulate economic growth, but we need to discuss what type of taxes, how the reduction would take place, etc. Or the question about government regulations, - there are some regulations that are outdated or need to be revised, but it is not a simple yes/no answer. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in South Carolina? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in South Carolina? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| State funding for charter schools is appropriate if they are held accountable to the same standards as public schools and if the state public school system has administrative control over the charter school. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support prohibiting offshore drilling off the coast of South Carolina? | ||
| e) 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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through South Carolina'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? | ||
| C) If universal health insurance coverage is through an individual mandate than yes - but if universal coverage is employed through another means - such as an employer mandate or other types of expansion of access - than an individual mandate is moot. D) The situation would need to be spelled out in the law - the circumstances and process. F) FMLA should be provided with government support to the employers. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by South Carolina state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support local governments having the authority, without review by state authorities, to remove certain memorials or monuments from public property? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 1. Health Care - increasing access to affordable quality health care services; rebuilding of the South Carolina's public health infrastructure, addressing the vulnerability of nursing home residents; 2. Economic Recovery and Viability - rebuilding our economy and strengthening our workforce that has greatly suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. 3. Elevating Our Education - prioritizing resources to fully fund public schools, inspire and reward innovation, promote best practices, reduce class size, and paying our teachers a competitive wage and benefits to address the shortage of professional teachers and other school personnel | |||
| There is one single issue that is more important than the rest. We have many serious problems - infrastructure, education, economic recovery, health care, environmental conservation - and I believe each one of them deserves direct, thorough, and immediate action. Unfortunately, many of these issues are challenged by the onset of COVID-19. It is the responsibility of our state representative to work hard on each of these issues, to consult with experts and stakeholders, and to do what�s best for the people of our district. Funding will need to be through the prioritization of needs of the people of SC. |
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