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Bill Wielechowski's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Bill Wielechowski did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.

What is the Political Courage Test?
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.

Alaska State Legislative Election 2006 National Political Awareness Test

The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

a) Abortions should always be illegal.
b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that advocate or perform abortions.
g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors.
Abortion should be safe, legal and rare

State Budget: Indicate the funding levels (#1-6) you will support for the following general categories. Select one level per category.State Taxes: Indicate the tax levels (#1-6) you will support. Select one level per tax.

a) Education (Higher)
b) Education (K-12)
c) Emergency preparedness
d) Environment
e) Health care
f) Law enforcement
g) Transportation and highway infrastructure
h) Welfare
Maintain Status a) Alcohol taxes
Maintain Status b) Capital gains taxes
Maintain Status c) Cigarette taxes
Maintain Status d) Corporate taxes
Maintain Status e) Gasoline taxes
Greatly Decrease f) Property taxes
Maintain Status g) Vehicle taxes
No i) Should the state tax Internet sales?
No j) Should accounts such as a “rainy day” fund be used to balance the state budget?
No k) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget?
All fiscal priorities will be analyzed according to budget realities. My priorities are public safety, education and transportation.
We need to reevaluate the PPT
I do not support an income tax or sales tax. I do support property tax relief. We should save some of our surplus and look to cut government waste.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?

Yes a) Do you support the current limit of terms for Alaska governors?
Yes b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Alaska state senators and representatives?
Yes 1) Individual
Yes 2) PAC
Yes 3) Corporate
Yes 4) Political Parties
Yes d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
Yes e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state level political campaigns?
Yes f) Do you support adopting statewide standards for counting, verifying and ensuring accuracy of votes?
Undecided g) Do you support prohibiting media exit polling of voters until all polling locations in Alaska are closed?
h) Should Alaska recognize civil unions between same-sex couples?
Keep big money out of politics. We must restore the public's faith in our government by passing stronger ethics and disclosure laws. We must stop lawmakers from being paid lobbyists.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

X a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff.
b) Implement the death penalty in Alaska.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
X d) End parole for repeat violent offenders.
X e) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
f) Support recriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
X g) Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
X h) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
i) Require that crimes based on race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation be prosecuted as hate crimes.
X j) Increase state funding for community centers and other social agencies in areas with at-risk youth.
X k) Strengthen sex-offender laws.
X l) Support the restriction of the sale of products used to make methamphetamine (e.g. tablets containing pseudophedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine).
Zero tolerance for gang members destroying our communities

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

a) Support national standards and testing of public school students.
b) Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any public school.
c) Provide parents with state-funded vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
d) Increase state funds for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure).
X e) Increase funds for hiring additional teachers.
f) Support teacher testing and reward with merit pay.
X g) Endorse voluntary prayer in public schools.
X h) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams.
X i) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries.
X j) Increase funding for Head Start programs.
X k) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable.
X l) Support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods.
m) Support abstinence-only sexual education programs.
I support charter schools, vocational education and parental choice in educating children. I support home schooling.

Employment: Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.Affirmative Action: Should race, ethnicity or gender be taken into account in state agencies’ decisions on:

X a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that retrain displaced workers and teach skills needed in today’s job market.
X b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
X c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses.
X d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families.
e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families.
f) Include sexual orientation in Alaska's anti-discrimination laws.
X g) Increase the state minimum wage.
h) Support replacing the state's retirement system with privatized 401(k)-type accounts.
i) Support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex partners of public employees from receiving benefits.
j) Other or expanded principles
a) Public employment
b) State college and university admissions
c) State contracting
I support having a level playing field. There are some instances where we must right a historical wrong. I support the concept of a color blind society.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

X a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
X b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, and oil).
X c) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned.
X d) Increase funding for improvements to Alaska's power generating and transmission facilities.
e) Support funding for open space preservation.
f) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law.
g) Other or expanded principles

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the natural gas pipeline.

X a) Require oil companies to guarantee the construction of a gas pipeline as part of a contract with Alaska.
b) Support 20 percent state ownership in the gas pipeline.
c) Tax oil companies if they do not build a gas pipeline or sell the gas they have under lease.
d) Freeze oil taxes for 30 years as an incentive for building the gas pipeline.
e) Freeze gas taxes for 45 years as an incentive for building the gas pipeline.
f) At what rate should Alaska tax oil profits?
g) At what rate should Alaska tax oil production?
We need to revisit the PPT bill that taxes net profits,.This bill wrongly allows BP to write off tens of millions for corrosion repairs and allows Exxon to write of hundreds of millions to develop Pt. Thompson.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.

a) Maintain and strengthen the enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
b) Ease state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
c) Repeal state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
X d) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
e) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows.
f) Require a license for gun possession.
I support the right to bear arms. Criminals who commit crimes with guns should be dealt with severely

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

X a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary.
b) Transfer current Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
c) Limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
X d) Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
e) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Alaska.
X g) Continue to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes.
The cost of health care is hurting our economy and businesses. We need to find a solution that allows Alaskans to afford health care.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare.

X a) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients.
X b) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients.
X c) Increase access to public transportation for welfare recipients who work.
X d) Redirect welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations.
X e) Use federal TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) funds to extend health and child care subsidies to the working poor.
X f) Support marriage promotion programs for welfare recipients.
g) Eliminate government-funded welfare programs.
h) Other or expanded principles
The natural gas pipeline is my top priority. There are hundred of billions of dollars of natural gas on the North Slope. If done properly, it will provide billions in additional revenue to Alaska, low cost energy, increased PFD checks, 10,000 Alaskan jobs, money for property tax relief, a world-class education system, increased public safety and improved roads and infrastructure. We must all work together, cut through the partisanship and get this gasline built now.

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