Joel Block's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Joel Block has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
California 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 believe unwanted pregnancies and the consequent decisions on abortions, adoptions, etc. to be extremely difficult and complex. I believe those tough choices are best made by the pregnant woman and her choice of medical and/or religious professionals/advisors and her choice of relatives to consult. I believe these choices are best made without intrusive governmental interference and without economic pressures for or against one choice versus another. | |||
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 California's budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into California'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 | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| My highest funding priority is education because California has to catch up to the rest of the country and the world in its per/student expenditures. Our economic future as a state depends on increasing our investment in education. I favor changing the budget mix regarding law enforcement vs. correctional institutions by increasing funding for law enforcement and decreasing construction and operation of new correctional institutions. I favor low-cost conservation measures to preserve our environment, including water resources vs. massive new infrastructure projects. | |||
| I favor a complete re-examination of our state and local tax and fee structures to arrive at a simplified tax and fee structure. The structure should be more progressive to leave more money in the pockets of low and middle wage earners in order to improve the California economy. | |||
| I favor a complete review of fraud, waste, abuse and duplication in state and local tax and fee expenditures in California. I believe in providing economic and non-economic incentives to local and state employees and contractors to identify and eliminate fraud, waste, abuse and duplication of government resources. | |||
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? | ||
| We need to find new ways to reduce the impact of large-scale campaign spending and lobbying on our democratic political system. One approach to consider is de-centralizing political power and decision-making, where possible. By creating a more de-centralized political and governmental structure, we will decrease the incentive for large-scale spending on campaigns and lobbying. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring labels on foods that have been genetically engineered or contain genetically modified ingredients? | ||
| I favor de-criminalization of marijuana use, possession, farming, production and distribution. It should be restricted and controlled at least as much as alcoholic beverages; thus, I cannot answer unequivocally that I "support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana." It should not be "legalized" for many categories of persons and circumstances, including under-aged individuals, individuals operating vehicles and machinery, individuals performing work in the public service and many potentially dangerous private sector occupations, individuals handling fire-arms, etc. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| We need to carefully audit and monitor our public investments in the California economy in order to verify that those investments are providing a verifiable and suitable return. Government programs which cannot show demonstrable positive improvements in the relevant economy need to be replaced with alternative programs. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| While I support Common Core, it does not solve all our educational challenges and it needs to be carefully monitored for its effects. Standards for teachers need to be raised; teacher compensation also need to be raised through a combination of minimum pay increases and merit pay increases. Due process (tenure) protections for teachers and other school employees should be maintained, but discipline procedures should be simplified and transparent. More emphasis needs to be placed on peer-to-peer and mentor educational processes as part of the core curriculum. | |||
| 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)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to California'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? | ||
| California should lead the way in clean energy innovation and production, and in environmental protection because our economy depends upon it. We need to make California the most livable state in the union in order to maintain and attract high-tech sector businesses. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| It is time for our society to take a more realistic approach to firearms, just as the rest of the advanced democracies have done around the world. The United States has more privately-owned guns and gun deaths than any of the other 27 developed countries, according to a study publicized last year by ABC News. Realtistic restrictions on guns are compatible with both our democratic values and our need for improved public safety. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I support both a single-payer and a single-provider option for health insurance and health care. I believe additional options for health insurance and health care will help bring down costs and improve quality. We don't need to have interstate health insurance compacts if federal laws are modified to permit greater options but maintain minimum standards for health insurance and health care. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| My top three priorities are the three components of our educational system: pre-k, k through 12 and higher education. These require additional funding via cuts in prison construction/population/operational costs, reduction of fraud, waste, abuse and duplication in all State departments and agencies, and a progressive revision and simplification of our tax and fee structures. However, my first piece of legislation will be a bill to prevent the imposition of toll lanes on the 405 Freeway in Orange County. |
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