Kristine Howard's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (PA) - District 167, Democratic
On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for State House (PA) - District 167
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
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.
Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| Yes | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Pennsylvania's constitution does not allow a progressive income tax. I believe we should amend our constitution to allow for a progressive income tax. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| No | f) Do you support reducing the number of representatives in the Pennsylvania General Assembly? | ||
| No | g) Do you support limiting disaster declarations to 30 days unless approved by the legislature? | ||
| I believe a reduction in the number of legislators in Pennsylvania would come at the expense of women and minorities. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | 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 in Pennsylvania? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to publicly disclose use-of-force data reports? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Pennsylvania? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| I generally support financial relief to businesses and some corporations but it must be on a case-by-case basis and meet predetermined criteria. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Pennsylvania? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Pennsylvania? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the taxation of natural gas drilling? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences on gun-related crimes? | ||
| I do not support mandatory minimum sentences period. I do not believe we should take away the discretion of judges and juries. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Pennsylvania's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| I support requiring people to purchase health insurance but believe it should be means tested and adjusted on a sliding scale and there must be a public option if we are going to require it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Pennsylvania state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Among my goals in office is to make improvements and increase funding for the foster care system in Pennsylvania; do work force development for facilities that provide housing and mental health care to people in residential treatment and care homes; implement reforms to Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system; enact further reforms making pardons and expungements of criminal records more accessible to people who are seeking a fresh start. | |||
| I believe we need to increase funding for our foster care system in Pennsylvania. I would advocate using a portion of the funds generated by legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. |
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