Ricardo Ortega's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Ricardo Ortega has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2024 Political Courage Test.
California State Legislative Election 2024 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 (e.g. Medicaid) for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe that women should control all their healthcare decisions, including determining how, when, and if they should have children. | |||
| Yes | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support limiting state government spending on social programs (e.g. SNAP, TANF)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a decrease in income taxes in order to promote economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support a wealth tax in order to pay for public programs in your state? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support raising taxes by 0.75% for high-income earners to help fund pandemic prevention and early detection? | ||
| As we've seen in the past, simply lowering taxes does not always mean economic growth. I do fully support lowering taxes on middle and lower income Americans, while moving upper income and corporate taxes back to the rates that even Ronald Reagan thought were fair. The nurse at the local hospital, or the teacher in your Child's school should not be paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes as those with incomes over a million dollars a year. It's not right, it places to high a burden on families trying to figure out how to pay for their children's educations and eventually retire. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for violent 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders? | ||
| Criminal justice is a complicated and messy subject. The US is the wealthiest country on earth, but also the most violent. Our criminal justice system is not very effective at keeping violent individuals in jail, reducing recidivism, or preventing crime. Privatizing our prison system isn't the answer, is often more expensive than state prisons, opens up inmate populations to exploitation, and reduces the incentives for states to actually lower crime rates and invest in reforms that work. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth (e.g. grants, tax incentives)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector (e.g. for business or the environment)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage in California? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support government spending on affordable housing projects in California? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support lowering the supermajority requirement to 55% for local special taxes in order to fund housing and public infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support a state initiative that would prohibit limitations on local rent control? | ||
| I believe that state and local governments are best at directing economic development. Environmental rules are important, but so is business growth, and a balanced and sensible approach is best. At the same time, wages have not kept up with the cost of living, and the cost of housing is making it almost impossible for young people to continue to live and work in the communities they grew up in. Affordable housing is critical to answering our states housing crisis. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards (e.g. Common Core) in California? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in California? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants in the United States who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities, regardless of immigration status? | ||
| I believe that California needs to aim at better than federal standards for education. Our educational system in the United States is not keeping pace with other countries, and we need to do better. I believe that Charter Schools are taking funding away from public schools, without having the same educational standards that public schools face, and studies have shown that traditional public schools students perform better and are more prepared for college than their charter school peers. Their are some benefits to some charter school models, especially those focused on closing the learning gap with minority students, that public schools should adopt, but all that said, their is no overall benefit to directing funding away from public schools. If a Child grows up in California, completes high school in California, and is able to get into a university, we should treat like like any other resident of California, regardless of decisions made by their parents. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state governments allowing permits for drilling on public lands? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Alternative energy is the future whether we like it or not. Fossil Fuels, or any non-renewable energy source, will eventually be gone and are polluting, and it only makes sense that we should be preparing for a future that doesn't include these sources of energy, or saves them for necessary things like transportation needs. Making smart choices when it comes to the environment or the future of energy production shouldn't be controversial, its simply a matter of long term sustainability. Public lands are just that, public lands. Public lands should not be used for private industry profit. Especially for industries that impact that environment, disrupt the land, or forever alter the landscape. Safe drinking water is also something that shouldn't be political. We all need it, our lives literally depend on it. | |||
| No | a)Do you support limiting campaign contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent or bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the implementation of ranked choice voting in California? | ||
| I do not support limiting campaign contributions from sources that face reporting requirements. I do support limiting or eliminating political funding from dark money sources. Redistricting should only be done by bipartisan or independent groups to avoid gerrymandering. We already must provide documentation and proof of citizenship when we register to vote. I should not be turned away at the polls if I lost my wallet or my identification, or if my drivers license is expired. Yes, all Americans have the right to vote, voter registration should be easy, and all voters should be encouraged to educate themselves and vote. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation (e.g. red flag laws, closing the boyfriend loophole)? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the right to concealed carry in California? | ||
| Common sense gun control legislation is necessary. Background checks are an important step in insuring that people who should not have guns don't get them. People who are mentally ill, have domestic violence convictions, other violent felonies need to not have easy access to firearms. There have been many studies that show that open and conceal carry laws actually increase gun violence, turning what could have been a minor altercation into a violent scene because of simple immediate access. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a government-run (e.g. single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for-All? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die (e.g. those with a terminal illness) through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support mandating vaccinations (e.g. for school or employment)? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave benefits (e.g. maternity leave)? | ||
| Yes | f) Should the government be able to regulate the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| Mandating vaccinations is a touchy subject with a lot of people, and I think adults for employment purposes should have the right to chose, but I also believe that employers have the right to provide a safe and healthy work environment for ALL of their employees. So, employment mandates should be left to employers. Public schools also have a responsibility to protect ALL the children in their classrooms, so yes, vaccinations should be mandated. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by California's state government in closing gender, racial, and other wage gaps? | ||
| We all should have the ability as individuals to decide for ourselves who we are, without having to face discrimination. That's the foundation for individual rights and freedom. Yes, I support California's efforts to close the gender, racial, and other wage gaps. Equality should not be a concept, or an ideal. I support California in its efforts to make it reality for all Californians. | |||
| Infrastructure. Economic Development. Healthcare. There are 3 key areas where my district is lagging behind, and I will fight to make sure that my district gets our fair share of these dollars. It's about priorities, finding partners in the state legislature with other similar issues in their districts, and make sure that our needs are met in the budget appropriations process. The 34th Assembly district is not that different from most mixed suburban and rural districts in this state. By working together with other representatives from similar, and often neighboring districts, we can work together to form coalitions that will equal the power of larger urban areas. The whole role of a state assembly representative is supposed to be to speak to the needs of the specific communities we serve, and that voice is often dimmed when people are more focused on their partisan believes over the public interest. I will stay focused on the goals of my community. |
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