Victor Johnson's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Victor Johnson has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2022 Political Courage Test.
Texas State Legislative Election 2022 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| Texas needs to recalibrate. I believe forcing a woman or, worse, little girl to carry a rapist's child to term in a critical womens health issue that must be addressed. That is a decision for the woman, her physician, and her religious advisor not a politician to make. That said, a termination takes away all that a child could have been; all of the greatness, the happiness, the benefits to humanity, everything is gone and that is a step to be avoided it possible. | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) Do you support raising taxes on any income or on any entity, to promote economic growth? | ||
| I would support expanding the tax base to cover some areas that are not currently included, provided the funds are directed specifically to a) reduction of the residential tax rate and b) ending the "Robin Hood" funding of rural schools and teachers by specifically directing a portion of the increased revenue to that funding. The expansion would not involve either medicines or food. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I support the prosecution of certain individuals under 18 as adults in cases where the action was especially egregious and the result of planned, premeditated actions by the juvenile. I would not support such actions if the offender was 16 or younger, perhaps a fine point but an important one. If a 17 or 18 year old plans and conducts or attempts to conduct a mass casualty event, for example, that person should be prosecuted as an adult. The victims are not lesser if their murderer was a youth. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Texas? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| There are currently more than 700 jobs requiring a government approval in Texas. Our regulatory framework far exceeds that necessary to provide for safety, security, and equality. Government is best when local and responsive to their citizens rather than mandating a one size fits all approach. In the case of declared emergencies, the government should step in and provide assistance to businesses that were directly and provably affected by the crisis. That assistance should be temporary and targeted to providing relief for physical damages and loss of the ability to do business. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Texas? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Texas? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Texas's high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Education, like government is best when it is local. Education standards should be determined by the states and policies by local school boards. Parents concerns about the education of their children must be respected. Parents are ultimately responsible for the growth of their children into fine, upstanding citizens with the knowledge, skillls, and abilities necessary to thrive. Texas needs to hire and retain quality teachers at all levels and funding should not prevent that. Exceptional teachers must be rewarded however, we must not excuse lack of adequate performance. Schools exist to educate our children, not to employ teachers. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state government regulation of the energy grid in Texas? | ||
| I am very much in favor of the "all of the above" energy strategy. We must maintain a strong, resilient power grid and transportation infrastructure, while being environmentally mindful. While I strongly believe in the use of state funds in the research and development of new energy technologies I do not believe in spending government funds to favor the deployment of alternative products any more than I favor giving tax breaks to corporations as a lure. State and federal rules on emissions standards have been used as a cudgel against against traditional energy production and against their use. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the regulation of campaign contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| No | e) Do you support limiting local counties' ability to expand voting options in state and local elections in Texas? | ||
| As I have previously noted, I believe that government is best when least and local. I therefor believe that a city or county should have the ability to set voting options FOR CITY OR COUNTY elections only. They must adhere to the basic principles enumerated in the state Constitution and applicable state law, but their citizens should be able to set local rules for local votes. There is no longer an impediment to persons obtaining a government, or quasi-government photo identification. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| I support our Second Amendment and concur with recent SCOTUS decision making. The so called gun show exemption is a talking point designed to distort rather than illuminate. Under the law anyone in the business of selling firearms for profit needs a federal license. There are penalties under law for knowingly selling a firearm to someone, who is not allowed to own one. If one does not follow current law, why would they follow a new law? I would not support licensing firearm owners. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a government-run (single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for All? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | d) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave opportunities? | ||
| No | f) Do you support lowering the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| c) In terminal medical cases only. No human being should be required to suffer torture, even if inflicted by nature. e) The government should not be involved in mandating business practices such as leave and vacation policies. f) The government should not distort the marketplace. The United States is the leading worldwide developer of modern pharmaceuticals because it is humane and profitable. If the profit motivation is removed there would be a precipitous drop in R&D, the biggest cost in drugs. That could lead to less innovation or to government funding - a new, unaffordable tax. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Texas's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Texas's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Texas's state government in closing gender, racial and other wage gaps? | ||
| Yes | d) Do ou support requiring transgender athletes to compete intramural and interscholastic sports that match their sex assigned at birth in Texas? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| I will seek legislation to remove the governor's ability to renew emergency declarations on his own and ensure that it is a legislative decision. There will never again be an "emergency" that lasts over 900 days. I will seek legislation that ensures rational and humane living conditions for all in custody prisoners in Texas. I will work toward ending the "Robin Hood" system of education funding. It will be one of my goals to establish an Education Savings Account for Texas parents. | |||
| My primary goal, my priority is to ensure the financial health and well being of all Texans. My efforts will be guided by the principle that all Texans can work, put food on the table, gas in the tank, and a roof overhead. I will do this by fighting to lower taxes through reducing and controlling government expenditures and fighting against wasteful government giveaways of precious taxpayer dollars. We must work together to keep Texas a strong, free state where our children can enjoy a safe future. |
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