Randy Spitzer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Randy Spitzer has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Washington State Legislative Election 2016 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? | ||
| Choosing to end a pregnancy is one of the most difficult decisions a woman may have to make. I support the right of a woman, in consultation with her health care provider, to make that decision without interference from the state. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Washington's budget.2) State Spending: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.3) State Taxes: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.
| Yes | a) Tapping into Washington's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Sales taxes | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| In 2008 our country and our state faced the worst economic crisis since the great depression of the 1930s. With rapidly falling tax revenues, we were forced to make difficult decisions in order to meet our constitutional obligation to maintain a balanced budget. While I would have prefer NOT to furlough or layoff workers or dip into our rainy day fund, we really had no choice. On the other hand, cuts to higher education have made reentry into the workforce more difficult for our citizens, and we have a moral obligation to retirees to retain pensions and Medicaid benefits. | |||
| While funding for these state programs is challenging, I believe investments here will help our citizens recover from the lingering recession and, as a result, help us produce more tax revenue. | |||
| Washington is the most regressive state tax system in the nation putting more pressure on those at the bottom than is fair. We need to reduce the burden on the middle class, seniors and the working poor, and create greater tax fairness. | |||
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? | ||
| Our citizens deserve to know who is financing political messages. While current limits on individual donors seems fair, there is still entirely to much "dark money" flowing into the state. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| Our approach of getting "tough on crime" has not worked. The cost of incarceration is skyrocketing and the likelihood of offenders re-offending is entirely too high. Our focus should, instead, be on helping offenders learn how to become productive, law-abiding citizens by providing them with the life-tools that give them a chance at success once they have been released. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| While government regulation is needed to ensure the safety of our citizens, we need to do a better job of considering the impact on small business of having to comply with regulations from multiple state and federal agencies. Complying often becomes so onerous as to threaten the very survival of some businesses. We need to do a better job of balancing our need to protect the public while enabling these businesses to survive and thrive. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Washington high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support increasing funding for public education in accordance with the McCleary court decision? | ||
| Tenure for teachers, while ensuring teachers with a stable future in the profession does not "produce" effective teachers. Effective teachers are produced with good teacher training along with a supportive and high-expectation work environment that pays competitive salaries attracts and retains the best teachers. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| 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 Washington'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Washington State should be moving aggressively toward sources of renewable energy moving away from traditional domestic energy sources that create greenhouse gasses. There are plenty of market incentives to support development of existing traditional domestic energy sources. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support the second amendment. Yet, I also recognize that we have a significant gun violence problem in this country. To that end, I support sensible gun regulations. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Access to healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. No one should have to forego necessary medical treatment simply because they lack the money to pay for it. Medical providers should be help accountable for damages due to malpractice, including the loss of their license; yet we need to put a check on the cost of malpractice insurance (due to artificially high malpractice damage awards) that is pushing many medical practitioners out of the profession. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| All citizens deserve equal rights and protection under the law. | |||
| The legislature is currently in contempt of court in two areas very clearly spelled out in our state constitution: funding education and mental health care. This is because the cost of fully funding is in the billions of dollars. Washington State is the most regressive tax system in the country taxing our poorest citizens at a rate seven times higher (as a percentage of income) than our most prosperous citizens. In order to fully fund these two areas without decimating the rest of our state budget, we need comprehensive tax reform. |
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