Amy Roeder's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (ME) - District 23, Democratic
Key
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Maine State Legislative Election 2024 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 (e.g. Medicaid) for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support a wealth tax in order to pay for public programs in your state? | ||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for violent crimes? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| In r/e children being tried as adults: If it's appropriate, yes. We must very carefully research youth development, mental health and the impacts of disenfranchisement on the child's life to determine appropriateness as well. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth (e.g. grants, tax incentives)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector (e.g. for business or the environment)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage in Maine? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support government spending on affordable housing projects in Maine? | ||
| I support reducing state government regulations on the private sector, but I couldn't answer yes to the question given the examples used. There are needless license requirements, outdated regulations and duplicative/contradictory rules that need to be weeded out, obviously. What we shouldn't do is relax regulations that protect the health and safety of people, communities and the environment. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards (e.g. Common Core) in Maine? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Maine? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants in the United States who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities, regardless of immigration status? | ||
| In r/e federal education standards... Again, I do not think that painting this issue with a broad brush is helpful. Some uniform standards are needed but the best educational outcomes for children happen when we free our teachers to TEACH CHILDREN instead of teaching children to take a standardized test. Also, I am in favor of charter schools but I reject vouchers as a way to make education more equitable. I support a parent's right to send their child to a private school or homeschool, as well, but I don't believe the government should subsidize those choices. Lastly, immigrants already have in-state tuition in the University of Maine system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I cannot say only yes or no to drilling on public land. WHICH public land and WHERE that land is located is very important. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the implementation of ranked choice voting in Maine? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support replacing the current Maine state flag with a new design? | ||
| I support verifying the identity of voters. I do not support the ID requirement because so many people aren't able to get a state issued ID without expense and trouble. I have helped two individuals get state IDs recently because they were unable to afford the fee and couldn't find a way to get to the DMV to complete the process. I think of the many seniors in my district who do not have reliable transportation to get to a DMV office to get an ID, the lower income folks who don't have spare cash to pay the fee and folks like the people who live in the sober house next to me who have recently gotten out of jail and are trying to rebuild their lives. If this was an equitable thing, I'd be all for it. | |||
| 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 Maine? | ||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a government-run (e.g. single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for-All? | ||
| Yes | c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die (e.g. those with a terminal illness) through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support mandating vaccinations (e.g. for school or employment)? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support banning the sale of flavored tobacco products in Maine? | ||
| In r/e vaccinations... I believe that public schools have a right to protect the health of their students. As to employment, I really do not think that we have a right to dictate company policies to a private company. As to public employees outside of schools, I would like to see the unions representing those employees negotiate this. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Maine's state government in closing gender, racial, and other wage gaps? | ||
| Housing: with the shortage of housing in Maine, we need increased housing production for all income levels. Currently, some communities are doing better than others in production of units because they have developed relationships with housing developers and have city governments and staff that work with the state to make new construction happen. Many, many communities do not have a municipal government that has the capacity, experience or will to do this. Any incentives that the state puts forward should have clawback clauses in case a municipality does not deliver on the project. Any time the state funds a study for a municipality and that municipality does not heed the recommendations of that study, the funds should be refunded. We have done so much at the state level to clear the way for municipalities to act decisively to build homes and some municipalities (that have the ability and capacity) just don't do it. Support for substance use disorder: My day job is running a peer run recovery center for people with mental health diagnoses and/or substance use disorder. Our primary clientele is lower income. The recovery community is strong and resilient as are the nonprofits that serve them. What would help is a statewide coordinated entry program that works with existing organizations to get people the help they need and facilitate warm handoffs between organizations. We have a mechanism in place to fund recovery community centers, so it would be great to have permanent funding for this, too. The current mechanism involves using some of the cannabis tax and that also seems to be a good funding vehicle for this. Homelessness: We already have money for housing first programs in the budget, but not all municipalities have shovel ready housing first projects underway. Using some housing first money to build out a coordinated entry program for the unhoused would be helpful as would increasing funding to traditional shelters and low barrier shelters. |
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