Erika Uyterhoeven's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (MA) - Twenty-Seventh Middlesex, Democratic
On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for State Senate (MA) - Second Middlesex
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the 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.
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.
Massachusetts 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? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 increasing the state gas tax? | ||
| I support raising the income tax and the gas tax on the condition that there are concurrently progressive exemptions or credits for low- and middle-income households, as well as funding directed towards environmental justice communities. One example of an exemption is the state's automatic personal exemption. | |||
| 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? | ||
| f) 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 Massachusetts? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support prohibiting the use of chokeholds by law enforcement officers? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 Massachusetts? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Financial relief to businesses should be progressive and prioritize relief funding for businesses with lower net income over businesses with higher net income or valuation. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Massachusetts? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Massachusetts? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support allowing college athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness? | ||
| f) 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? | ||
| 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 Massachusetts' 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? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Massachusetts state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| I support strengthening labor laws (such as preventing wage theft and protecting prevailing wage law) and protecting the right to organize legislation. I also support directly and explicitly addressing the legacies of racist policies and structural racism by equitably funding our public schools, implementing Medicare for All, ending the affordable housing crisis, and closing the wealth, income, and power gap between communities of color and white communities. | |||
| My top priorities are equitably funding public schools, a Green New Deal for MA, and investing in affordable housing development. I am focused on raising progressive revenue through raising the tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and interest, as well as raising the estate tax, C-corp tax, and S-corp tax rates. This combined with raising the income tax as well as passing the constitutional fair share amendment, the state can expand the annual budget by several billion dollars. Even merely restoring the income tax rate to 5.95% (the tax rate in the late 1990s) is estimated to generate $3.3 billion. |
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