Dennis Galvin's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Dennis Galvin has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Question (a) is a bit too broad. I support Roe v Wade because I believe it reflects the realities of our current times. At the same time I support alternatives to abortion and would advocate and recommend them. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State Taxes:Using the key, indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Massachusetts's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Massachusetts's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Health care spending is growing at significant rates and threatens to consume most of our state budget. Rising health care costs, consolidations by health care providers, increasing insurance mandates and premiums on business are causing serious financial impacts on our businesses hence our ability to develop economically. These rising costs must be dealt with and controlled. | |||
| I believe in John F Kennedy's adage, if you want more revenue, lower taxes. When taxes are as high as they are in Massachusetts, it deters people from coming here and doing business. People spend less and economic activity grinds to a halt. To free up this situation, the overall tax burden, particularly on business must be reduced. | |||
| The focus of budget stabilization should be eliminating the waste and fraud in the state budget. This includes patronage. In the past five years 10,000 new state employees have been hired. The number of public employees must be reduced. The level of benefits must be reduced. State Contracts must be better administered. There is also sufficient revenue available due to increased tax receipts that can be utilized . | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Regarding minors accused of violent crimes. In some cases ( murder) they should be but not as a general rule. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Massachusetts's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| State funding for alternative energy would come through grant programs. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I do support prohibitions on the purchase of automatic weapons. Concealed weapons should be allowed through licensing. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| No | h) Should terminally ill patients be able to legally end their lives? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My priorities are as follows 1.) Expand economic opportunity by reducimg taxes so that industry can be attracted to locate and build in Massachusetts. 2.) Shift state priorties to better support the towns in my district. Each community must be given a sufficient and equitable share of state aid in order to maintain the quality of their schools and public safety services and to keep property taxes stable 3.) Trust and confidence in the state government must be restored. Legislative proceedings must be more open and individual legislators must be held accountable for criminal and unethical conduct. |
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