Jerry Ortiz Pino's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- State Senate (NM) - District 12, Democratic
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Jerry Ortiz Pino has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
New Mexico 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? | ||
| Decisions about abortion should be made by the mother in consultation with her doctor, not by government. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support eliminating the state tax on Social Security benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support tax credits to promote the purchase of electric vehicles? | ||
| Our state income tax is no longer progressive. That caused a loss of revenue that has been made up by increasing gross receipts tax rates--a decidedly regressive system. We need to restore progressivity to the income tax and reduce our dependence on the gross receipts 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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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 New Mexico? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| I believe our crime problem is a product of our drug and alcohol problems. Public safety would improve if we dealt realistically with drug and alcohol addiction instead of jailing people for such conditions. Medically supervised safe injection sites are worth trying on a pilot basis to reduce drug habit crimes: selling drugs, stealing property, selling one's self sexually, fighting over drug turf. And we need far more and far more diverse treatment resources. | |||
| 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 New Mexico? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Responding to economic stagnation with governmental austerity will drive us deeper into recession. We need to use governmental spending on badly needed services to stimulate economic activity: poor people spending money on necessities will spark economic growth immediately. And as those funds circulate through the economy, they will lead to hiring, further investment and greater prosperity. Conversely, reducing government spending slows economic activity and makes recovery more difficult. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in New Mexico? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in New Mexico? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from New Mexico 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? | ||
| I favor establishing a clear timeline for replacing all fossil fuel generated electricity in New Mexico with 100% electricity generated by sustainable sources. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Assault weapons should be banned. Trigger locks should be required on all firearms sold in New Mexico. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through New Mexico's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| Genuine religious objection to vaccinations should be honored. However "philosophical" or "personal belief" objections are too easily-used as end-arounds a public health law and should be eliminated. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New Mexico's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by New Mexico state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of the phrase "In God We Trust" on all public buildings and license plates? | ||
| Putting "In God We Trust" on public buildings and license plates doesn't increase our trust in God and it doesn't increase the likelihood of people who read that motto becoming inspired to get closer to God. It is just a form of public religiosity that is smarmy and is intended simply to make non-religious people feel marginalized. | |||
| I propose to wean New Mexico from its addiction to revenue generated from oil and gas activity, particularly fracking and horizontal drilling. The boom/bust nature of our over-reliance on fossil fuel does two things: it prevents us from adopting responsible taxation policies able to produce sufficient non-petroleum revenue to finance basic governmental responsibilities, and it creates a "sacred cow" status for the oil industry that puts it beyond regulatory and environmental controls. | |||
| The widespread availability of cannabis tells me we need to find a way to regulate, license and tax its production and use in the same fashion that we regulate, license and tax alcohol and tobacco. I am working once again to legalize recreational use of cannabis by adults. Studies indicate this will generate as much as $70 million in tax revenue the first year (and much more subsequently), money that should be used for treating drug and alcohol addiction. |
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