Diane Canada'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.
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Diane Canada has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Tennessee State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| In extreme cases, such as incest or rape, I would probably support the morning-after pill. But I do not support abortion. I'd like to build a St Jude-type facility to support women from prevention through post-delivery with financial, emotional, and adoption support in order to make it easier to choose life. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I do not support tax increases and I feel that with being fiscally responsible, we should not have to. | |||
| 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Tennessee? | |||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I am for criminal justice reform for non-violent offenders. When it comes to private prisons, I will need more information in order to give an answer. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| 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 Tennessee? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Some businesses cannot withstand paying for paid family leave. I think this should be a voluntary benefit/perk to attract good talent, but it should not be a requirement, especially if it would put undue hardship on small businesses. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Tennessee? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Tennessee? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Tennessee high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring transgender athletes to compete in intramural and interscholastic sports that match their biological sex? | ||
| No | f) Do you support allowing college athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| d) 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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Tennessee's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I am for helping people rise out of poverty, not perpetuating it via Medicaid expansion. When it comes to covid19 paid medical leave, many businesses do not agree with the shutdown and yet are forced to close. They may not be able to financially withstand paying leave in an already financially crippling climate. So, no, I am not for "requiring" them to pay it. The government, however, should help as they have been. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Tennessee's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Tennessee's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Tennessee state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| I believe that in our modern society, there are perceived gaps, but I think it is hard to pinpoint that it is due to gender. I am a huge advocate for women in the marketplace, but I think there are other factors that contribute to pay gaps that cannot be proven as strictly gender-related. | |||
| I have "pet projects" surrounding veterans; reducing veteran suicide by changing the out-processing system in order to address PTSD prior to their separation date; eradicating human trafficking in TN by putting our retired Special Ops to work in a new task force, solely focused on search and rescue, with arrest capabilities before handing the operation off to law enforcement. | |||
| My top legislative priority is reducing veteran suicide and I will fund it by restructuring VA pharmaceutical treatments around PTSD. |
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