John Hillyer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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John Hillyer has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2024 Political Courage Test.
Alaska State Legislative Election 2024 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 (e.g. Medicaid) for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Life begins at conception. A medical professional's assessment of medical necessity involving the disposition of a Mother's health and welfare and that of her unborn child constitutes a medical exception. | |||
| Yes | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support limiting state government spending on social programs (e.g. SNAP, TANF)? | ||
| Yes | 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 an annual increase in the amount received from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend? | ||
| We will work to place the PFD formula in the State Constitution to eliminate the annual time-consuming process to determine the PFD amount. We will integrate a spending limit based upon a percentage of Alaska's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This will incentivize the Legislature to focus more on local businesses and develop a more vibrant local economy for our State. There is a limited audit and quality assessment capability for historic year-over-year legislative spending. Current legislators admit this critical assessment piece is missing from their budget analysis each session. We will vigorously advocate for the proper audit of prior-year spending, to include an assessment of the actual effectiveness and performance of prior-year funding/expenditures. This assessment will be used to inform current-year and future-year funding allocations. Measures of Performance and Measures of Effectiveness will be required to validate spending. We will continuously pursue an audit and assessment of state agency productivity and efficiency to right-size your state government. Government should not be growing when our Alaska population is declining. A "Sunset Commission" would serve to validate spending effectiveness and would eliminate agencies/funding that do not prove effective or beneficial for the State. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for violent 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of private prisons? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders? | ||
| Despite what is published in the biased media, we have seen an increase in crime and drug-related deaths. We need to reestablish law and order across our Nation and State and provide enthusiastic support to all of our law enforcement personnel. We will develop illegal immigration legislation--similar to the highly-effective policies established by Florida--to protect our Alaska citizens from the current surge of illegal immigration. | |||
| 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)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage in Alaska? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support government spending on affordable housing projects in Alaska? | ||
| With approximately 85% of state revenue from Federal sources, Permanent Fund earnings, and oil & gas, there is little incentive for the Legislature to incentivize the local economy. We will integrate a spending limit based upon a percentage of Alaska's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This will incentivize the Legislature to focus more on the State economy and local businesses, and ultimately develop a more vibrant local economy for Alaska. Increasing the minimum wage would create higher product costs for all Alaskans and force businesses to reduce the number of employees to manage higher business costs. The minimum wage worker would be the first to lose their jobs. Wages should be terms set by employers and their employees -- not by government. We need to keep government out of businesses and allow the free-market system to flourish. We support the portfolio of housing initiatives developed by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (Senior Housing, First-Time buyer, affordable housing, rural, Veteran, et.al.). Budget reforms in other areas of limited benefit to Alaskans will facilitate continued AHFC funding. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards (e.g. Common Core) in Alaska? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Alaska? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants in the United States who graduate from Alaska high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities, regardless of immigration status? | ||
| Education standards should be managed at the state and local levels. Alaska's public schools have some of the worst test scores in the Nation, but our charter schools have been particularly effective. We need to facilitate more charter school initiatives--not hinder them. Additionally, we need to establish charter school-type boards at public schools to empower parents and provide them with budget, policy, and curriculum authority. This will integrate the parent's role much more effectively than the current School Board construct. At nearly $22,000 expended per Alaska student, budget reforms in education must occur to ensure existing funding is actually following the student. When properly managed, funding can be used to improve teacher salaries. We strongly support School Choice -- to include fully funding our Correspondence Schools. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Government investment for the development of renewable energy has proven to be largely unsuccessful. The private sector should develop renewable energy to ensure the viability of this energy sector in Alaska. Hydroelectricity is a practical renewable program with significant potential in Alaska that should be further explored/developed by the private sector. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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 the implementation of ranked choice voting in Alaska? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support eliminating both the open top-four primary and ranked-choice voting general election system first implemented in 2022? | ||
| Automatic voter registration has led to inaccurate voter rolls and a lack of voter integrity. Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) has led to voter confusion, diminished transparency, lengthy processing times, and decreased confidence in the voting process. RCV should be eliminated. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation (e.g. red flag laws, closing the boyfriend loophole)? | ||
| No | 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 Alaska? | ||
| I do not generally support gun-control legislation but do support efforts to keep weapons from known violent offenders. Restoring law and order and having the justice system actually hold criminals accountable is the proper first-step in minimizing crime involving weapons. We vehemently support the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die (e.g. those with a terminal illness) through euthanasia? | ||
| No | d) Do you support mandating vaccinations (e.g. for school or employment)? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave benefits (e.g. maternity leave)? | ||
| No | f) Should the government be able to regulate the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| The private sector should compete to offer quality, affordable healthcare. This will result in better access to preferred doctors, more transparency and certainty in the system, and lower prescription drug costs. An individual with terminal illness should consult sound professional medical advice and development an appropriate end-of-life-care. Family leave and medical leave benefits are terms negotiated between the employer and employee. | |||
| No | a) Do you support inclusion of sexual orientation in Alaska's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Alaska's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Alaska's state government in closing gender, racial, and other wage gaps? | ||
| Race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability are sufficient protected classes in Alaska. Sexual orientation and gender confusion should not be included. Wages are negotiated between employers and their employees. | |||
| Protect and defend all citizens' rights to maximize our life, liberty, and freedom per the U.S. and Alaska State Constitutions. Reinvigorate natural resource production to resolve the Kenai Peninsula�s immediate energy needs and to posture Alaska for a national resurgence in energy production and independence with a more permissive national administration. Mandate intelligent government spending for Alaskan�s immediate requirements, demand fiscal accountability for past, present, and future expenditures, balance the budget, and aggressively support efforts to right-size government. Implement a spending limit, constitutionalize the PFD, and mandate performance-based spending through Measures of Performance / Measures of Effectiveness. A "sunset Commission" would scrutinize all spending and terminate inefficient agency operations/spending. Rejuvenate our local economy through incentives as Alaska�s natural resource production surges Revitalize our local schools by increasing school choices, strengthening parental involvement, and by focusing resources to maximize student benefit and educators. Parents will be empowered through a charter school-like construct and provided budget, policy, and curriculum authorities. Support School Choice and fully fund Correspondence Schools. Cultivate, secure, and defend our traditional American values of patriotism, faith, family, community, and the rule of law. Eliminate CRT, DEI, gender confusion, boys in girls sports, Wokeism; support law enforcement. |
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