Ron Mendive's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State House (ID) - 5A, Republican
On The Ballot: Running, Republican for State House (ID) - 5A
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.
Idaho State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | 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 once heard a panel discussion comprised of "Children of Rape" panelists. They were grateful for the decision their mother chose allowing them the opportunity to live. Had they been aborted they would have been INNOCENT victims. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) In order to reduce property taxes, do you support increasing the Idaho sales tax? | ||
| I may consider shifting the tax burden from property tax to sales tax. However, government continues to involve itself in areas that are not the proper role of government. I believe the best option is to cut spending. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Idaho? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 Idaho? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Welfare should be a hand-up and not a hand-out. People with a drug problem need to be identified so help can be offered in overcoming their addiction. When the government declared some businesses "non-essential" they assumed responsibility for depriving these businesses the ability to survive. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Idaho? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Idaho? | ||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Idaho high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I supported the Governors career ladder increases for teachers last session. Now, in light of Covid 19 I believe we need to put everything on hold until we come to the end of this crisis. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| When the government chooses renewable energy projects to support, they stifle innovation. Small nuclear reactors are showing tremendous promise and they do not require battery backup which is expensive and totally impractical. The term greenhouse gas has become synonymous with CO2. CO2 is plant food. Plants will die without it. While the planet is 10% greener today than it was in 1980 that fact benefits humanity. Clean water is in everyone's best interest. We currently have many agencies that monitor water quality including Idaho's Department of Environmental Quality. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Some districts in Idaho have armed certain qualified teachers. This decision rests completely with local school boards. | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Idaho's health care programs? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Currently, the State is facing serious budget shortfalls and challenges due to COVID-19. Increasing funding for anything will be very difficult. The State needs to evaluate current programs and support those that demonstrate successful outcomes. I did not support expanding Medicaid. Various ideas were presented like establishing Health Savings Accounts that would allow personal responsibility in health care decisions. Any time a third party is paying the bill, the recipient is not as frugal as they would be if they were spending their own money. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Idaho's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Idaho's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Idaho state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that prohibits sexual orientation conversion therapy for individuals under the age of 18? | ||
| No | e) Do you support inclusion of the Equal Rights Amendment in the state constitution? | ||
| Concerning the pay gap between men and women: we see women mayors, police chiefs, bank executives, etc. Women have risen to the challenge and proven they are capable and are demanding the same compensation as their male counter parts. Government interference tends to complicate issues that the private sector can solve. | |||
| I believe the State needs to assume control of the Federal lands within our boundaries. | |||
| I have been working on legislation that would bring true parental choice for education in Idaho. A recent Supreme court decision opened that door. The State Constitution currently requires the state to provide a free education K-12. Funding is already provided but I feel that there is an opportunity to reduce the cost and yet provide an education suited to the child through parental choice. |
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