Joana Scholtz's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Joana Scholtz has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Kansas 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Women's health organizations should get public funding for all services except abortion: unless the abortion is for rape, incest, or the mother's health. Under other circumstances, a woman's decision to terminate an unplanned pregnancy is "absolutely" private, and should be privately funded by the person or through private donations. The use of public funds for abortions (not due to rape, incest, or the mother's health) could possibly be a gateway for government involvement in women's private medical decisions. The role of the legislature should not be to control or deny women's constitutional rights to safe and legal 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support lowering the state sales tax on groceries? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the creation of a tax on internet streaming services? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support prohibiting the reallocation of funds designated for highway projects? | ||
| Rather than increasing taxes we should be looking for new sources of revenue. Our neighbor states have benefited from licensing and tax revenues by legalizing medical marijuana. Rather than looking to increase taxes, we need to get as many Kansans working with work relief programs that are more attractive than unemployment benefits. We should consider re-enacting programs like a modernized version of the Civilian Conservation Corps to help cleanup public lands, maintain and build-up our waterway systems, and develop alternative energy programs to assist with anti-global warming programs. | |||
| 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? | ||
| d: Government issued ID at the polls is redundant because we have to use a government issued ID to register to vote. e. Citizens should be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. | |||
| Yes | 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 Kansas? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| a: Capital punishment should only be used for the heinous crimes and should have a waiting period to be certain that we have the right person. b: As a general rule, I do not believe that children should be prosecuted as adults or ever given capital punishment; however, I am open-minded about heinous crimes. c: I believe that the roles of state and local police are the protection and enforcement of local laws. We have federal agents to do the work of upholding federal laws. d: I have some reservations about private prisons. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 Kansas? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| No | 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 legalization of mobile sports betting and wagering? | ||
| a: I only support government spending for promoting economic growth by the creation of job programs for relief of unemployment. We need to get Kansans working! g: I support giving small businesses and non-profits financial relief during a national emergency like COVID-19. I would have to be convinced that it is in the best interest of Kansans to extend that financial relief to corporations. h: Legalization of mobile sports betting and wagering could provide a viable short term source of revenue to help us recover from COVID-19 economic impacts. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Kansas? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Kansas? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Kansas high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| a: We need to standardize education throughout the country because families are mobile. b: I am "not" against charter schools and believe that they can be used to offer unique learning experiences. I think that any school(s) that receives state funding should have to follow the same rules as public schools. d: I support Dreamers, however undocumented graduates cannot prove they are citizens, so they would have to be treated like other students from foreign countries, and not be eligible for in-state tuition. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Renewable energy should be a high priority for Kansas and our country. Global warming is one of our greatest threats and needs to be addressed by every level of government, immediately. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| a: I support gun safety legislation. b: I support expanding background checks for all gun sales. c: Rather than adding to the responsibilities of teachers, we should be doing more to teach conflict resolution to students at all grade levels, and hire more trained security personnel in schools. d: Gun ownership is a constitutional right of all Americans and requiring a license adds an undue burden on state and local governments. I think it is better to invest our resources in background checks to keep guns out of the hands of unsafe people. | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Kansas' 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| a: I think states need to sue the pharmaceutical companies for the money required for treatment of facilities to combat opioid abuse because companies knew the risks and did not disclose the scope of the danger to the public. c: Healthcare costs should be based on income and everyone should be required to have it and pay their share based on their income. d: We euthanize pets so they won't suffer, but we force terminally-ill patients and their families to suffer through agonizing deaths. e: Medical leaves related to Covid-19 should be funded by Federal Relief Funds. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Kansas' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Kansas' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Kansas state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support expanding anti-discrimination laws to include hair textures and protective hairstyles? | ||
| Equal rights is the foundation of our democracy. Gender, sexual orientation, or hair styles do negate constitutional rights. We do not discriminate on collecting taxes from LGBT citizens or citizens who have hair textures or protective hairstyles. I think its archaic that men and women are not getting equal pay for equal work. | |||
| I support building a new Home for Veterans in Northeast Kansas on land at the Eastern Kansas VA Center in Leavenworth. Our current homes are outdated, have long waiting lists, and are located three or more hours away from the largest concentration of veterans in our state. | |||
| My top legislative priority is expanding Medicaid for working Kansans. We will fund the majority of the program with the money from the federal government that we have been refusing because the majority of our legislators have not wanted to comply with the Affordable Care Act rules. I will work with other representative to develop a bipartisan plan to cover the rest of the cost of the program. |
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