Paul Stoddard's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Paul Stoddard has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Illinois 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 additional taxes on single-use plastics like styrofoam, grocery bags or straws? | ||
| I support the Fair Tax Amendment that will be on the Illinois ballot this fall. This will give us some additional flexibility in rethinking our revenue structure, which I believe could use a complete overhaul. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I would like to see campaigns receive a large majority of their funding locally, i.e., from within the district. Elected officials need to represent their district and be beholden only to their constituents. | |||
| Yes | 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 Illinois? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support prohibiting the use of law enforcement gang databases for non-law enforcement purposes? | ||
| On capital punishment - only if guilt is known beyond a shadow of a doubt, and if the convicted person is non-repentent. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | 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 Illinois? | ||
| 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? | ||
| These are blanket statements, and my answers would generally be dependent on the circumstance, especially for questions a, b, c, and f. a and b) - during a recession, yes. c) I support revisiting regulations to assess their effectiveness and to evaluate unintended consequences, and eliminating those that are not working as intended. f) I think small businesses might have to be exempt. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Illinois? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Illinois? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Illinois high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| No | e) Do you support allowing college athletes to be compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness? | ||
| d) - Do they (or their parents/guardians) pay state taxes? | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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 Illinois' health care programs? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support limiting the number of patients that can be assigned to a registered nurse? | ||
| c) I understand the rationale for this requirement, but I'd prefer a system based on choice and incentive. i.e., have a guaranteed set premium for life, with the level of premium based on how young a person is when enrolling. e) I actually support the religious exemption, but it has been abused to the point of threatening the safety of other children. I'd prefer a way (undetermined at this point) to end the abuse and continue the exemption f) Large businesses, yes. Small businesses, yes, but with assistance. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Illinois' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Illinois' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Illinois state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Institute power sharing between parties - divide committees up proportionately between the parties, rather than winner-take-all. Term limits on leadership positions. State matching of small campaign contributions. Fair map redistricting. A "one-hat" rule - to wit, you can hold a high leadership position in the legislature or in your party, but not both. Local funding of campaigns (money raised for a political campaign should come from within the district). All of these are designed to make the legislature more accountable to the voters, rather than parties and outside special interests. | |||
| The power sharing idea is the most important, in my opinion. I don't believe either party has a monopoly on good ideas. This proposal gives the minority party a real voice in governing, thus making them a true partner rather than an obstructionist bloc. On the DeKalb County Board, where I've successfully implemented this idea, has become much less partisan, with few party-line votes. Most decisions are reached by consensus. This would require no funding (but a lot of convincing of the powers that be, to be sure). |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.