Michael Harrington's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (NH) - Strafford 18, Republican
Key
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Michael Harrington did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 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.
New Hampshire State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | |||
| b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe abortion should be no longer allowed after viability. 26 weeks seems to be a reasonable time frame | |||
| a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | |||
| No | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | c) In order to fund education, do you support creating a state sales tax on electronics? | ||
| d) Do you support the development of a road usage fee in New Hampshire? | |||
| I think the present pension system must be preserved for those already employed by the state. For new hires however, we need to go to a fixed payment instead of a fixed benefit as almost all businesses have now gone to. If we get as many electric vehicles as predicted, we will need to look at a method in addition to the present gas tax to fund roads. We don't need more taxes collected but a different way of assessing them | |||
| No | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| A bipartisan commission could make recommendations on redistricting but final approval must come from the legislature as required by the NH Constitution | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| 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? | ||
| d) Do you support the use of private prisons in New Hampshire? | |||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| I think those under 18 should not be prosecuted as an adult unless the state can show a compelling reason to do so. The burden of proof should be on the state | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state income 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 requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| No | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of New Hampshire? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | |||
| We have to get real. We have a HUGE federal deficit and it gets bigger every day. We can not just keep printing money. There will always be some "good reason" for the government to provide financial relief to whomever but we just don't have the money | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in New Hampshire? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in New Hampshire? | |||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from New Hampshire high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Teacher salaries and benefits should be decided on the local level | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | |||
| No | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| d) Should the construction and expansion of landfills near state parks and federal lands be prohibited? | |||
| We have already spent billions of ratepayer and taxpayer money on renewable energy. No matter how much we spend , they always want more To the extent that GHG's are warming the planet, it must be addressed on a global issue. Nothing NH could do by itself will have any effect on climate change. It would however, raise energy prices in NH with no benefit | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| The gun show issue is a red herring. I have bought guns at gun shows and was always required to undergo a background check. NH a state with some of the less restrictive guns laws in the country yet we are also one of the safest . One only has to look at Chicago Il, that has some of the most restrictive guns laws in the country to see how ineffective gun control laws are | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through New Hampshire's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | |||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| The amount of funding made available for opioid abuse is very large. We should wait and see how this works before we spend more. Throwing more taxpayer dollars at every problem will not solve them I could support a law that would allow someone to commit suicide but I do not believe doctors should be assisting people to die | |||
| a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Hampshire's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Hampshire's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by New Hampshire state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| The first 2 questions are, both groups are already included under existing law. The so called pay gap is already being addressed in private industry and having more government involvement will just screw it up | |||
| My campaign slogan remains " More government is not the solution to every problem, sometimes it is the cause" I will continue to fight the special interest groups who lobby in Concord for special treatment rather than compete in the market place for customers. My only special interst group will be the residents of mu district | |||
| I have a strong background in energy markets and regulation ( 10 years as Senior Regional Policy Advisor and Commissioner at the NH PUC) so I will continue to work to keep the cost of energy in NH as low as possible. I will also continue to work on bringing a successful solution to the pollution problem in the Merry Meeting River caused by the state fish hatchery |
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