Steven Holt's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (IA) - District 12, Republican
On The Ballot: Running, Republican for State House (IA) - District 12
Key
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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.
Iowa State Legislative Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Life begins at conception. I do not believe that the unborn child should be punished for the sins of the father. A life that comes from a rape is just as precious and special as any other life. Science profoundly demonstrates that life begins at conception and therefore, the unborn person in the womb has the same Constitutional protections as every other American. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Iowa'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.
| No | a) Tapping into Iowa's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| All or none of the proposals mentioned might be necessary, depending on the anticipated shortfall. There are a myriad of other options available to balancing the budget. Iowa's budget is currently balanced and the reserve and emergency funds are full. This is a result of responsible budgeting practices that include: Not spending more than the state collects, not using one time money for ongoing expenses and not intentionally underfunding programs. If we follow responsible budgeting practices the budget will remain balanced, and none of the drastic proposals mentioned will be necessary. | |||
| Increased funding does not ensure greater success. EDUCATION: Increase parental choice through vouchers & Educational Savings Accounts. Move to a system in which the funding follows the child. Public Education needs competition. HEALTH CARE: We must return to private sector solutions and get government out of the health care business. The current system is unsustainable. LAW ENFORCEMENT: Funding in Iowa has been reduced too far and must be increased soon. WELFARE: We must reform welfare, which in its current form is breaking the bank and removing the incentive to achieve. | |||
| I support elimination of the Income Tax and adoption of a simplified consumption tax in which everyone pays their fair share based upon their purchases. Iowa has a tax system that is not friendly to business. We need to reduce taxes, which will ultimately result in economic growth, more jobs and greater revenue. INTERNET TAXATION - We need to determine as a country how we will tax online purchases. The current system is not fair to Main Street America, placing brick & mortar businesses at a disadvantage to online retailers. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I believe that contributions to political candidates amounts to free speech. We must take great care in how spending limits might impact our ability to let our voices be heard in elections. VOTER ID - Voting is an incredibly important responsibility. To maintain the integrity of the system, it is common sense to require VOTER ID. I support a no-cost to individual VOTER ID requirement, thus removing any burdens for low income citizens. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| We need to reform our laws as it pertains to seizure of assets by law enforcement, as abuses are taking place. However, I cannot support a blanket delay of seizure of assets in all cases until after conviction, particularly those involving illegal drugs and large amounts of cash. | |||
| No | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| MINIMUM WAGE - I believe it is a false narrative to say to employees making minimum wage that the answer to improve their economic situation is to increase the minimum wage. When the minimum wage is raised too high jobs are lost and prices for nearly everything increase, resulting in less opportunity for those on the lower end of the income scale. The real answer is simple: Education, initiative and a strong work ethic result in employees moving up the income scale, not artificially mandated wage numbers from government. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Iowa high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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 Iowa's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| No | g) Do you support passing additional regulations on the agricultural industry in order to reduce water pollution? | ||
| GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - I support common sense regulation, not unrealistic programs that do not improve air quality and destroy the coal industry, such as the current Clean Power regulations proposed by the EPA. In general I believe the private sector does it better and government programs that offer incentives are better than mandates. | |||
| 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 citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I will work for State Constitutional recognition of the right to keep and bear arms. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support allowing terminally ill patients to utilize experimental treatments that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration? | ||
| MEDICAL MARIJUANA - I support the use of marijuana for medicine once it has been tested by the FDA using the same evidenced based process as is used for every other drug we designate as medicine in the U.S. I do not support going outside normal medical protocols for any drug, including marijuana. EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS - I would support this as long as the dangers are made clear to the patient, and at least some evidence exists that the drug in question might be useful. | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Iowa's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Iowa's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Iowa? | ||
| I believe that creating "protected classes" of citizens, although done with the best of intentions, creates discrimination against those who are not protected. The Constitution protects us all. | |||
| I ran for office to fight for the restoration of our Founding Values: FAITH IN GOD, SELF RELIANCE & LIMITED GOVERNMENT. With those goals in my mind, here are my priorities: 1) Protection of Religious Liberty in the public square 2) Welfare & Entitlement Reform 3) Balanced Budget 4) Improved care for veterans |
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