2010 Rhode Island Governor Selector
Answer the following questions to see which candidate for Rhode Island's next governor best shares your views. You may select a position for every issue or just select issues important to you. The candidates' positions, shown on your results page, are based on their statements in the public record.
1. CITIES AND TOWNS Check the position(s) with which you agree
Repeal many of the costly state mandates on cities and towns.
Regionalize services such as schools and public safety to reduce costs and eliminate bureaucracy.
Regionalize public safety, but not schools.
Regionalizing results in some savings and some efficiencies according to a study done by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, but it is not a panacea to our economic challenges. I will keep an open mind to any savings but I do want to make decisions based on facts.
Against regionalization.
2. MARIJUANA Check the position with which you agree
Opposes decriminalization of marijuana
Favors decriminalizing of marijuana
3. EMPLOYMENT Check the position(s) with which you agree
Attract employers and jobs by being cost and tax, and competitive with our neighboring states in complying with regulations, etc.
Support small business development.
Set up a 501c3 non profit corporation to build the world's largest Aquarium here in the Ocean State to create jobs in tourism.
Expand and simplify small business loan programs, having targeted tax incentives to promote job creation.
Make education a centerpiece of our economic strategy. Job training is vital so that workers can gain new skills that will allow us to attract companies to our state, and develop the high tech, clean tech and bio-tech jobs of the future.
Advocate the dissolution of the Davis–Bacon Act, the federal law which established the requirement for paying prevailing wages on public works projects.
4. IMMIGRATION Check the position(s) with which you agree
Would keep Gov. Carcieri's executive order that cracks down on illegal immigrants.
Would repeal Gov. Carcieri's executive order that cracks down on illegal immigrants.
Would revise, not rescind, Gov. Carcieri's executive order that cracks down on illegal immigrants.
I am for E-Verify.
I am against E-Verify.
I support a Rhode Island version of the recent Arizona illegal immigration bill.
I oppose a Rhode Island version of the recent Arizona illegal immigration bill.
5. SAME SEX MARRIAGE Check the position with which you agree
Favors same-sex marriage.
Opposes same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage should be decided by the state’s voters.
Define all marriage as a religious institution. Allow domestic partnerships regardless of sexual orientation.
6. STATE BUDGET & TAXES Check the position(s) with which you agree
Impose a 1 percent sales tax on items that are currently exempt to help close persistent budget deficits.
Lower sales taxes.
Cut state spending.
Cutting state spending means less state aid to cities and towns. That means increased local property taxes because most municipal budgets go to schools, which are essentially a fixed cost. Specifically, where would my opponents make cuts? Are they going to let the murderers out of the correctional institution? Are they going to put Granny and Grandpa out of the nursing home? Are they going to close a state park or two or three?
Offer a state bond, those that participate in this plan to get a property tax freeze.
Downsize correctional facilities, renegotiate pensions.
Lower business taxes, legalize and tax prostitution and marijuana, lower sales tax on RI made products, institute a flat income tax, tax processed foods.
7. PENSIONS Check the position(s) with which you agree
Dismantle the current state worker pension system, and replace it with a government-style 401(k) plan, exempting older state employees.
Institute a combination 401(k) and fixed-pension hybrid plan, exempting older state employees.
Institute a combination 401(k)-style and fixed-pension hybrid plan, for newly hired state employees only.
Adjust the minimum retirement age upwards similar to the federal pension program. So, for example, an employee would have to wait until age 68 to get a 100% pension. Those retiring at an earlier age would get a reduced pension.
The 3% COLA destroys the pension math. COLA's should be indexed to inflation.
Reimburse (based on the existing
funds at hand) state workers for the money they paid into the pension system so they may reinvest into individually chosen, private, for profit, alternatives.
8. ENVIRONMENT Check the position(s) with which you agree
I support alternative energy that makes financial sense. Wind power costs five times more than current energy.
I oppose the proposed container port at Quonset Point and against Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers operating in our Bay.
Develop an urban policy that favors intensive development over sprawl. Purchase and preserve open space
I believe that publicly traded companies should assess and disclose the risks they face from global climate change.
9. GAMBLING CASINOS Check the position with which you agree
Approve casino gambling in Lincoln and Newport.
Do not approve casino gambling in Lincoln and Newport.
10. HEALTH CARE Check the position with which you agree
Support a lawsuit to block the new federal health-care legislation.
Do not support a lawsuit to block the new federal health-care legislation.
11. ABORTION Check the position with which you agree
Pro-Life
Pro-Choice
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