Catherine Sofikitis' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (NH) - Hillsborough 7, Democratic
Key
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Catherine Sofikitis 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 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe in education. There are too many abortions performed. We need to increase access to birth control and sex education. It would solve the issue of abortion. I believe that a woman should have complete control of her body and if the choice of birth control and education were widely available most women would avail themselves of that. I do not support parental notification for birth control and education. An Abortion ins a medical procedure which is why as an RN i support parental notification. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing New Hampshire'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 New Hampshire'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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Increasing revenue is the way to go. Perhaps legalizing marijuana and taxing it. Increasing the tax on cigarettes, gas, price of lottery tickets. We must find a bipartisan way to do the People's Work. It is what they are electing us to do. Political grandstanding, signing letters to obstruct even before elected, there are not the way to solve budget problems. It will take the greatest minds from both parties to come together and solve these problems. | |||
| Being for small government is not the answer. We need policies to strengthen all areas of out State. We need broad bipartisan support to solve these complex issues. | |||
| It is time for the high wage earners to pay their fair share. They have so many loopholes. We must all come together and come up with smart ideas for funding, if New Hampshire wishes to retain its no sales tax and no income tax status. "Live Free or Die" is the state motto. It does not mean that there is no middle ground. It was actually the most famous Greek call to war to end the long years of The Occupation of the Ottoman Empire, and the Greek Genocide. | |||
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 | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Big money in politics is the downfall of the American Democracy. Adding to that the gutting of the Voter's Right Act, individuals are at a loss to figure out what is going on. We need open, fair elections. I am frankly appalled at this election cycle. Purged voter lists, denied right to vote at the polls, decreasing polling places, decreasing early voting. And no one at the top of either party is enraged about it. It is the main reason my my choice of Presidential vote this year. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support additional funding for programs intended to reduce drug addiction in New Hampshire? | ||
| I believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. I think the rates of addiction and related crimes are signs of a systemic failure to deal with the base problems in the state. Poverty, and all its co-connected issues are not solved by incarceration. We must take the greatest minds from both sides of the aisle and put the People of New Hampshire first and find strong researched best practices and solve the State's multitude of problems. Hateful rhetoric and obstructionism are not the ground to build public policy upon. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| $7.25 is the New Hampshire minimum wage. No one can live on that. We must raise the minimum wage. To what? a livable wage of $15.00 per hour. The income gap is so wide. it is unbelievable that so many have so much and and so many live in abject poverty. I believe that solving the poverty issue will begin to solve other issues, and it is where we must start. The private sector, especially the corporations must start pulling their weight and stop the inversions to avoid paying taxes. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | 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 New Hampshire high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I believe that there is a "dumbing down" of American Education. My son was a REACH (Recognizing Extraordinary Activities in Children). The Nashua public schools could not meet his needs and he went to NCC at the age of 13. He did enjoy success at Bicentennial Elementary for grades 3-6. We at the state level must define what our children learn. it is, I believe a national disgrace that preferential visas are given to the best and brightest of other countries to take high tech jobs and scientific jobs because our children are not prepared to do so. | |||
| 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 New Hampshire'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? | ||
| The fracking must stop. So must the addiction on fossil fuels. We must do everything in our power to address Climate change now. Renewable energy is the way to go. I do not any pipelines at all. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Citizens should be afforded the rights afforded them by the second amendment. However, they should be licensed. I would go so far as to say new gun owners should have to take a class in gun safety prior to purchase. I do not believe in open carry. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I believe in single payer healthcare modeled after Medicare. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Hampshire's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Hampshire's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| I support getting big money out of politics. I want to encourage bipartisanship that puts the people of New Hampshire above political grandstanding and hateful and divisive rhetoric. We have come through a hateful campaign season. The leaders everywhere must set an example on proper civil discourse where all ideas are valued. We are badly divided now and for those who want to serve, must set the proper example civicilly to do the People's Work. |
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