Valerie Burd's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Valerie Burd has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Illinois State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I am not pro-abortion. I am pro-choice. I have had five children and those experiences were among the high points of my life. But I know that pregnancies can be life-threatening, stressful and are not for every woman. Each woman needs to have the right to make that decision for herself. | |||
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 Illinois's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Establishing a "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Illinois is $6 billion in debt. I would love to greatly increase spending in all the above areas, but the state can not afford it. We have to first get our pension system fixed and under control. Then we can reassess how we spend tax dollars. But now is not a time to cut the welfare support when we are emerging from a great recession and so many people still are struggling. Transportation/infrastructure spending encourages economic development so it provides a good return on any investment made. | |||
| Property taxes in my district are among the highest in the nation. Retirees are moving to other states because they can't afford to live here. Middle income residents are struggling. I am proposing moving education funding off of property taxes and on to a progressive income tax to alleviate this problem. Lower property taxes also will stimulate economic development because the taxes are tacked on to properties owned or rented by businesses. | |||
| I am not in favor of reducing salaries, or instituting pensions, but the state is $6 billion in debt and something has to be done, so I will vote for these if that is the only option found. If the money isn't there to pay the salaries, then the cuts will have to be made. I am against changing pensions of people already retired, but the state needs to revise pensions for current and future public employees to meet resources. The state can't pay what it doesn't have. | |||
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 | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I am for campaign finance reform that goes even further than what these questions suggest. I would like to see all certified candidates given a set amount of money from the state or federal government to provide information to the public. I would like radio and tv advertising to be public service announcements, giving all certified candidates the same coverage. We need to level the playing field. This will help keep our government from being bought by whoever has the most money. Campaigning should be limited to six months before an election. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I can not support capital punishment. There have been too many instances of juries convicting innocent people. The Navajoes believe that someone who kills has a sickness; if you then kill this person, you have gotten their sickness. I am an advocate of the law. I may not agree with all of our laws, but I believe they should be enforced until they have been overturned. I hope we pass new immigration laws soon. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| I support these ideas, but at the state level, Illinois doesn't have money to expand any programs right now. I am for any program that would aid people in getting back on their feet. Times are still hard for a lot of people. When you channel money to the middle and lower classes, they spend it. Their increased demand for products and services stimulates the economy. So increasing the minimum wage can only help our economy and make us stronger. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | 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 Illinois high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Common Core has run in to some stumbling blocks, but it is better than "No Child Left Behind." It needs to be improved in its implementation. Tenure doesn't produce effective teachers. It's designed to produce teacher security. Great teachers will be great teachers no matter what the system, but it would be good to reward them with higher pay. I am totally against vouchers and charter schools. We need to strengthen and improve the public school system, not undermine it by draining off its resources. | |||
| 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 Illinois'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? | ||
| Most Americans get that we have contributed to the major changes happening in our environment. We need to take drastic actions to get our emissions under control and try to repair some of the damage we have done. The polar ice is disappearing; the oceans are rising; the storms are getting more violent; the droughts are ruining some of our most populous states. We need to get out from under the influence of the wealthy business people who are controlling our government and start working on behalf of our country. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Illinois has a concealed/carry law in place so I need to support it as long as it is the law of the land. We have restrictions on who can drive a car, who can sell real estate, etc. If the state licenses all these activities, and requires people to show some understanding of how to drive, of real estate law, etc. before issuing licenses, then it makes sense that the same should hold true for the use of a potentially life-taking gun. I am for licensing preceded by some type of training in gun safety, use and maintenance. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Other industrialized nations have figured out how to make health care accessible to all their residents. It's time the United States moved forward to do the same. I don't like having to require everyone to purchase health care insurance, but it is the only way to make the ACA work financially. It needs to be broad-based. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Illinois's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Illinois's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| On the state level, marriage is a legal contract between two people. The Illinois law does not require any church to perform a same-sex marriage. That is for each denomination to decide for itself. The state needs to guarantee to all its residents the same rights under the law. I am against discrimination of any type. | |||
| My top two priorities will be pension reform and property tax reduction. Up to 70% of the state's tax dollars are now going to pensions. The state has only 30% to spend on infrastructure improvements and public services. One suggestion: make state pensions mirror Social Security so that no one draws retirement funds until age 65. Putting education onto a graduated income tax could reduce local property taxes by up to 70%. We would have to make sure than the money is not diverted and local control is maintained. |
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