John Toplikar's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
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.
Kansas State Legislative Election 2018 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| b) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| b) When the crimes of incest or rape are committed the baby is completely innocent and does not deserve the death penalty. Science proves that a baby is not a part of the man or woman but is a distinct person with their own DNA. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Kansas's budget.
| No | a) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees? | ||
| c) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients? | |||
| No | d) An income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Cut wasteful spending. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support any limits on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | |||
| No | b) Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? | ||
| c) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | |||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| b) Do you support lowering state taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | |||
| c) Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| No | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Kansas? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support setting a maximum interest rate lenders are permitted to charge on payday loans? | ||
| e) unless the applicant is on a prescription medication which might skew the test results | |||
| a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Kansas? | |||
| b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | |||
| c) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Kansas high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| d) Do you support increasing funding for the state education budget? | |||
| d) depends on whether there are more children in school than previous year. School boards must show some common sense and stop paying superintendents and administrators outrageously high salaries ($300,000), and share the payroll with starving teachers, instructors, paras, food servers, maintenance workers, and other school employees. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | |||
| c) We must ensure drinking water is safe and clean. We must take care of the environment. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | |||
| c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom? | |||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| We must protect our children in schools through better security. | |||
| a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | |||
| b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Kansas'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Should able-bodied Medicaid recipients meet a work requirement to be eligible for benefits? | ||
| f) I would think that a young "able-bodied" person, as you say in the question, would have a job already. I am not currently in state government but I would think that would already be required. | |||
| a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Kansas's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Kansas's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Kansas state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| These seem to ask whether state government can enforce human thought or attitudes toward specific "orientation" and "identity" groups. I would not support requiring the disclosure of sex and personal issues on employment applications, government assistance requests, and other records. I would not support government mandated culture change as it applies to sex (not race). Social engineering is something best left out of government record requirements, regulation and enforcement. There are federal laws that have already covered workplace EEOC issues concerning gender and race. Employers should pay everyone a fair wage for the work they can do, no matter what. | |||
| Great business climate for the creation of more jobs through less needless regulation, without reducing workplace safety Continue quality public schools and focus on better salaries for teachers (non-administrators), and school employees Continue support for Kansas School for Deaf and Community Support health insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions, and lowering the cost of prescriptions |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.