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Colin Lee's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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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.

Colin Lee refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.

What is the Political Courage Test?
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.

Minnesota State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test

The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

a) Abortions should always be illegal.
b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
h) Other or expanded principles

State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.

Slightly Increase a) Education (Higher)
Slightly Increase b) Education (K-12)
Maintain Status c) Emergency preparedness
Slightly Increase d) Environment
Slightly Increase e) Health care
Maintain Status f) Law enforcement
Slightly Increase g) Transportation and highway infrastructure
Slightly Decrease h) Welfare
Slightly Decrease i) Other or expanded categories
Slightly Increase a) Alcohol taxes
Slightly Increase b) Cigarette taxes
Slightly Increase c) Corporate taxes
Maintain Status d) Gasoline taxes
Slightly Decrease e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000)
Maintain Status f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000)
Slightly Decrease g) Property taxes
Maintain Status h) Sales taxes
Maintain Status i) Vehicle taxes
Maintain Status j) Other or expanded categories
Yes 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales?
No 2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget?
No 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
Correctional facilities should not spend $37,000 per year per inmate to imprison drug addicts when better and cheaper options are available. I would also seek to eliminate No Child Left Behind, which costs half of our state's Department of Education budget.
I would seek to balance our state's annual "tax incidence" study. According to Governor Pawlenty's own budget studies, Minnesota is a regressive tax state. Taxpayers who make less than $130,000 per year pay the largest percent of their incomes in state taxes and fees. Everyone should have to pay their fair share regardless of whose campaigns they donated to.
If we solve the health care problem with an affordable and effective statewide solution, jobs will come and tax revenues will rise. There should never be a need to raise taxes as long as we bring in living wage jobs. The Apollo Project has an excellent plan to create green jobs. Minnesota has been falling in both education and business rankings. If we reverse this trend and attack the pork barrel politics that has invaded our Capitol, then there is already plenty of money to make our state return to first place in education and "disposable" incomes.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

Yes a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Minnesota governors?
Yes b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Minnesota state senators and representatives?
Yes 1) Individual
Yes 2) PAC
Yes 3) Corporate
Yes 4) Political Parties
Yes d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
Yes e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns?
No f) Should Minnesota participate in the federal REAL ID program?
Yes g) Should Minnesota allow homeowners whose mortgage is in foreclosure a one-year deferment on their primary residence?
Minnesota has the most lobbyists per capita because corporations and special interests know the cost of lobbyists is repaid many times over. We need further tightening of campaign finance rules. Minnesota should use Maine's method of public financing to enforce the rules on those candidates who refuse spending caps. An equal amount of free, public airtime should be made available for campaigns to explain their positions without negative attacks. We should have instant runoff voting, election holidays, open source voting, and Minnesota should sign on to the "popular vote" movement for direct election of the president.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
b) Establish the death penalty in Minnesota.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
X d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
X e) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
X g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws.
h) Support hate crime legislation.
I support giving our law enforcement all the tools they need to prosecute crimes, except those which violate our Constitution. When a police organization acts outside ethical boundaries, it lowers the high respect held for police officers throughout this great country. We must find rehabilitation options that work for the crime, not lock young offenders in a school of crime and limit their options until they cannot work an honest job.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

X a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs.
b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
X c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students.
X d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
X g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
X h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers.
X i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of Minnesota to pay in-state tuition at public universities.
Our state used to have the highest graduation rate and the best education. We need to increase accountability to return to this status. That means that we need to ensure that teachers are properly observed and that they maintain effective techniques that include every child in the room. No Child Left Behind provides punishments without useful, corrective remedies. We must not allow policy to fall victim to theorists without understanding of education reform. The real solution is to provide school and district administrators with the tools and the incentives to apply strong management and leadership in classroom techniques.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

X a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market.
b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector.
c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
X d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
X f) Increase the state minimum wage.
g) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will.
X h) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
X i) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
X j) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
The top reasons why many companies are going out of business today are skyrocketing health care and energy costs and decreased consumer spending due to foreclosures. If we can save companies and bring jobs to Minnesota, increased tax revenues will follow. The only way we will become a top state for businesses again is to solve the health care problem. The solution must reduce the number of layers of health care companies expecting increasing profits or else health costs will continue to double every eight years.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

X a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc).
X c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
X d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
X e) Support funding for improvements to Minnesota's power generating and transmission facilities.
X f) Support funding for open space preservation.
X g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
X h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
America must produce its own fuel and energy or it will fail to compete in the global marketplace. That energy solution has three requirements. It must be: 1. abundant 2. affordable 3. clean Several solutions meet this need. Wind power is cheaper than nuclear and traditional sources. Minnesota is also very rich in wind. Switchgrass and algae can be grown without using cropland, but switchgrass can produce 13x as much ethanol per acre as corn. A company in Carthage, MI has been producing oil from trash for five years at reasonable cost. We need effective technologies, not welfare for Exxon.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

Yes a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
Undecided b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
No c) Should a license be required for gun possession?
Yes d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
Yes e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
The second amendment guarantees a right to keep and bear arms. I will respect that. We also have a need to make sure that guns are owned and operated safely by responsible individuals. I will enforce that where possible.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

X a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
X d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs.
X e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality.
f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Minnesota.
X g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
Voters have overwhelmingly told me that health care is the most severely broken area of American government. We need a solution that controls costs and provides high quality care to American businesses and consumers who are too crippled to compete in our economy at today's health care prices. HMOs and mandates are not the solution and neither is socialized medicine. I support the Minnesota Health Plan endorsed by the Senate Health Committee.

['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']

Yes a) Should Minnesota recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
Yes c) Should Minnesota provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples?
Yes d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools?
No e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools?
Yes f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
No g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
No h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions?
Yes i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions?
Yes j) Should Minnesota continue affirmative action programs?
Yes k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research?
Yes l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research?
Undecided m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it?
Federal law clearly defines a right to pray in public schools. I support the status quo which does not allow teachers or parents to compel students to pray.
My top priorities if elected are: 1. Reduce political corruption, sweetheart deals, and earmarks through reforms which have succeeded in other states and countries. 2. Make health care accessible and affordable to every Minnesotan using a single health care plan to pool resources and lower red tape. This will be funded with existing Federal Medicare funds and premiums on a sliding fee scale. By an 8-3 vote, the Senate Health Committee believes this system is the most effective option on the table. 3. Pursue cheap, affordable, and abundant energy sources which will make our state competitive.

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