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Vivian Watts' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Vivian Watts has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2021 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.

Virginia State Legislative Election 2019 Political Courage Test

Pro-choice a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
Yes b) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
No c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions?
I believe the very complex decision of when life begins is deeply personal, moral decision. I will continue to defend that position in all of the challenging and complex ways that it comes before the Virginia General Assembly, including birth control; in vitro fertilization; and a women's right to make healthcare decisions under Roe v. Wade.

Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Virginia's budget.

Yes a) Do you support a state regulated and taxed sports gambling system?
No b) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions?
No c) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees?
d) An income tax increase on any tax bracket?
Fiscal integrity and our AAA bond rating must be maintained. Open processes and actuarial projections are essential to expose "blue smoke and mirrors." d) Given historic income disparities and how regressive the sales tax and local property taxes are, we should do more to make the Virginia's income tax more progressive. I favor further increases in the Standard Deduction and/or adjusting tax rates, personal exemption, and the Standard Deduction with inflation.
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?
e) Do you support automatic voter registration?
c) While it may not be perfect, I support the proposed constitutional amendment passed in 2019 as the only way to ensure that the 2021 redistricting is done by an independent commission. If the General Assembly doesn't pass the identical language in 2020, it can't be approved by the voters in November 2020 and the 2021 redistricting will continue to dilute minority voices (racial, regional, political) by packing them into as few districts as possible. d) Government-issued is too narrow; however, even if expanded, lack of photo ID discriminates against longtime elderly citizens and the low-income.
Yes a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
b) Should a minor 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?
d) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana?
Yes e) Do you support banning the use of cell phones and other handheld communication devices while driving?
a) While I believe that capital punishment should be extremely rare, require competent counsel, and allow un-restricted appeals, I have voted for it. b) Virginia's current laws are over-applied in some jurisdictions and should be revised. d) I support decriminalization of marijuana and development of regulated sales as we do for alcohol to allow the public to make informed decisions on potency.
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?
c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
Yes d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
No 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 Virginia?
Yes g) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave?
a) I strongly oppose government cash up-front give-aways that drove the Amazon HQ2 national bidding war. Therefore, I was comfortable that Virginia's proposal was based on expanding graduate-level higher education degrees and 25,000 permanent new jobs that pay over $150K. In Southwest Virginia, I hope to support developing reclaimed strip mined areas to as sites for green energy production. c) I support maintaining health and safety regulations. d) Virginia should adopt the exception used by other states to include the most recent quarters of work.
No a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Virginia?
No b) Do you support state funding for charter schools?
c) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Virginia high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
c) ... if the student is applying for legal status and the family has been paying Virginia taxes.
Yes a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, 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?
Reducing global warming is critical.
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?
No d) Should a license be required for gun ownership?
Every day 3 Virginians die from gunfire - 2 are suicides. Measure taken after the 2007 VA Tech mass shooting put us ahead of most states in protecting schools; however, we are 3rd from the bottom in mental health services for children. We must fund more school counselors who will not be focusing on testing and college admissions. It's also crucial to recognize that half of school security concerns involve suicide; that too many children are more in danger of gunfire in the community; and that domestic violence is a leading cause female homicides.
Yes a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse?
Yes b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Virginia's health care programs?
Yes c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance?
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?
a) Medicaid expansion expanded drug addiction treatment in other states and significantly reduced hospitalizations. b) In Virginia's first year, we realized $1.75 Billion in savings through payment for health services that had been borne solely by the state. These savings allowed us to fund mental health ($40 million), increase public school funding ($73 million), and freeze college tuition ($52 million). c) I support individual subsidies tied to percent of income, but it is essential to have an inclusive pool to support full coverage. d) Yes, with proper provisions to ensure that the right to choose is not subject to duress.
Yes a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws?
Yes b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Virginia's anti-discrimination laws?
Yes c) Do you support greater efforts by Virginia state government in closing the pay gap between men and women?
I truly believe that the Commonwealth � the well being of us all � is strengthened by everyone being enabled to live up to their full potential.
We must get more people into fewer cars to reduce CO2 emissions by giving commuters cost-effective options, including walkable development, bike routes, and all forms of transit. Carpools/vanpools serve sprawling stream valley development. Bus service needs commuter lots or urban densities for ridership. Metrorail and VRE are the core. Time is key and 55% of Beltway and I-95 Express lanes are now HOV users - and ride free! But all need an efficient road network. Years of work documenting our needs paid off when we got a carefully crafted $400 million a year NV package into the 2013 state bill.
The NV regional transportation funding went beyond large state/federal projects to address a backlog of 1000s of safety issues, bottlenecks, bad intersections, and transit links. Incredibly, addressing those long-standing needs was gutted in 2018 when over $100 million a year was diverted to newly recognized need for Metrorail maintenance. I am determined to restore comprehensive regional funding by passing the tax paid by seller's of property (grantor's tax) and increasing hotel taxes which would still be far below D.C.'s. Both of these sources of funding were supported by a majority of members but were then eliminated on a partisan maneuver.

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