Tom O'Dea's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (CT) - District 125, Republican Deputy Republican Leader
Key
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Tom O'Dea has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2024 Political Courage Test.
Connecticut State Legislative Election 2024 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds (e.g. Medicaid) for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I am Pro-Life but I support the compromise the Hartford Archdiocese and Planned Parenthood reached that was passed the Freedom of Choice Act in 1990 on a bipartisan basis codifying Roe v. Wade so a pregnant woman?s right to choose is not an issue here in Connecticut. Since the Freedom of Choice Act was passed, there has never been a debate on the floor to take away that right. The federally elected Democrats under President Obama in 2006 could have codified Roe v. Wade when they had complete control of the federal government, including a filibuster-proof Senate. In fact, the federally elected Democrats passed Obamacare without a single Republican vote but chose (pun intended), to leave abortion as an election issue. According to Lt Gov Bysiewicz "Here in Connecticut, abortion remains safe, legal, and protected". https://www.wshu.org/connecticut-news/2024-01-23/roe-v-wade-ct-abortion Anyone who is pro-choice has nothing to fear in Connecticut because, unlike the federally elected officials, who have been complete failures in many areas, including abortion and immigration, we work on a bipartisan basis here in Connecticut. | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support limiting state government spending on social programs (e.g. SNAP, TANF)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a decrease in income taxes in order to promote economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support a wealth tax in order to pay for public programs in your state? | ||
| I have proposed eliminating taxes on social security, gifts, estates, and pensions to make Connecticut one of the best places to retire. Those tax cuts would initially cost about 2% of a $26 billion budget but would result in increased property values and tax revenue over time, producing a positive impact on the budget after the first couple of years. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for violent crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth (e.g. grants, tax incentives)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector (e.g. for business or the environment)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Connecticut? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support government spending on affordable housing projects in Connecticut? | ||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating the lower minimum wage assigned to hourly employees who earn tips and instead establish a single minimum wage that would apply to all workers? | ||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards (e.g. Common Core) in Connecticut? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Connecticut? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants in the United States who graduate from Connecticut high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities, regardless of immigration status? | ||
| We are failing our urban students. Everyone admits it so the question is how do we fix it? According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I support school choice and money following the child. It has worked everywhere it has been implemented. I propose to allow any charter, private, parochial, or Catholic school that accepts additional students beyond those who attend in the school year 2024-25 (so effective July 2025) to be given 1/3 of the monies that went to the district where they live and said district gets to keep 2/3 of the state funding. That would produce more money per pupil for the school district while allowing some state funding to go to charter, private, parochial, or Catholic schools. Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport can educate students for about $8,000 and they have a 100% graduation rate. Let's help more students go to Kolbe. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state governments allowing permits for drilling on public lands? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| We need to expand the Mill Stone nuclear plant output and re-institute the natural gas expansion program that was cut short. We need to keep green energy initiatives out of our electric bills and back into the general fund. | |||
| Yes | a)Do you support limiting campaign contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent or bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the implementation of ranked choice voting in Connecticut? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support eliminating restrictions on absentee voting in Connecticut? (e.g. Connecticut No-Excuse Absentee Voting Amendment) | ||
| If we pass no excuse for absentee voting, then we don't need early voting which is problematic and expensive. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation (e.g. red flag laws, closing the boyfriend loophole)? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the right to concealed carry in Connecticut? | ||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a government-run (e.g. single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for-All? | ||
| No | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die (e.g. those with a terminal illness) through euthanasia? | ||
| No | d) Do you support mandating vaccinations (e.g. for school or employment)? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave benefits (e.g. maternity leave)? | ||
| Yes | f) Should the government be able to regulate the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| Yes | a) Do you support inclusion of sexual orientation in Connecticut's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Connecticut's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Connecticut's state government in closing gender, racial, and other wage gaps? | ||
| In addition to school choice discussed above, other top priorities include continuing to fix the police accountability bill to make our roads and communities safer; addressing the broken family court system; and continuing to improve the economic environment for individuals and businesses. Regarding fixing the Police Accountability Bill, we need to allow an immediate appeal of any denial of qualified immunity before trial so officers will return to active policing if they can be vindicated before trial if they act reasonably under the circumstances. Also, allowing consent searches again and permitting the observed smoking of marijuana as probable cause for a vehicle stop. All the above will make our roads safer. For fixing our family courts, we need better oversight of fees (court approval); a status conference in days not years when requested; and better automatic disclosures by parties. Lastly, we need to do a better job with judicial training. Finally, to improve the economic environment for individuals & businesses, we need to maintain the 2017 Republican fiscal guardrails as intended. They?re why our budget has been balanced and why our debt burden is finally decreasing. I will also advocate reducing the tax burden on everyone, particularly on seniors. If we eliminate the tax on social security, pensions, gifts and estates (about 2% of the current budget), we will be one of the top states to retire in and our property values will increase. |
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