Newspaper Survey House GOP 2008 Session
1-Which issue do you believe is the most important issue for the Legislature to address in 2008?
_____ Education
_____ Jobs and the economy
_____ Health care
_____ Taxes and state government spending
_____ Crime and drugs
_____ Immigration
_____ All of the above
_____ None of the above
2-Iowa’s Right to Work Law prevents workers from being forced to pay union dues or join a union to get or keep their job. The is a plan in the Legislature which will force public employees, including teachers, to pay union dues even if they do not belong to the union. If they refuse, they will be fired.
Do support this effort?
_____ Yes
_____ No
3-Repairs to Iowa’s roads and bridges are supported by the tax we pay on gasoline. The gas tax money is constitutionally protected and can only be spent on road and bridge repairs.
Do you support raising the gas tax to help pay for these repairs?
_____ Yes
_____ No
4-Do you support raising driver’s license fees to help pay for these repairs?
_____ Yes
_____ No
5-Do you support raising car and truck registration fees to help pay for these repairs?
_____ Yes
_____ No
6-Do you support some combination of these things to pay for these repairs?
_____ Yes
_____ No
7-If the Legislature was to reduce taxes, which tax should it reduce?
_____ Income taxes
_____ Property taxes
_____ Sales taxes
8-Today in Iowa all 99 counties have approved a local option sales tax for school buildings and construction. Which of the following is closer to your opinion on this issue?
_____ It is time to make those local option sales taxes a permanent statewide sales tax and spread the money out over all school districts
_____ We shouldn’t make the those local option sales taxes permanent because voters should be given the opportunity to vote every 10 years to decide if they still want to pay the higher sales tax.
9-Iowa’s law banning gay marriage was recently thrown-out by the courts. How should the Legislature respond?
_____ The Legislature should pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage thereby preventing future court challenges.
_____ The Legislature should allow the courts to decide if gay marriage is legal in Iowa.
_____ The Legislature pass a law that allows gay marriages in Iowa.
10-Do you support an amendment to the Iowa Constitution prohibiting gay marriage in our state?
_____ Yes
_____ No
11-What should Iowa be focusing its immigration efforts on:
_____ Stopping illegals from getting government benefits
_____ Finding and deporting illegals
_____ Helping them find jobs and become contributing taxpayers
_____ Punishing employers who knowingly hire illegals
12-The Legislature will be deciding whether or not to build a new prison at a cost of over $300 million. What should the Legislature do?
_____ Build the new prison, public safety is that important even if it requires borrowing the money.
_____ Better utilize current facilities before building a new one.
13-Which of the following concerns you most about what the legislature does…
_____ They spend too much money.
_____ They are too willing to raise taxes.
_____ They don’t address the state’s important issues.
_____ They don’t communication with residents what they’re doing.
14-What is the best way to help property taxpayers?
_____ Lower property taxes by having the state pay for more local education costs.
_____ Limit the growth of property taxes to the rate of inflation.
_____ Require local government officials to take a public vote on every increase
15-Should the Legislature enact a statewide ban on smoking in public areas or should that be left to local governments and local business owners? their city limits?
_____ I support a statewide ban.
_____ It should be left to local governments
_____ It should be left to local business owners
16-Last year legislative Democrats repealed statewide education standards that required 4 years of English and 3 years of Math, Science and Social Studies for every high school student. Should these standards be reinstated?
_____ Yes
_____ No
17-Currently in Iowa teachers are paid based on length of service. Do you think teachers should be paid based on performance? That is should the best teachers be paid more?
_____ Yes, performance based pay is way to go
_____ No, seniority is the best way to pay teachers
18-There is plan in the Iowa Legislature that requires every Iowan to purchase health insurance. Is this the right thing to do?
_____ Yes, everyone has a responsibility to have health insurance.
_____ No, some people can’t afford health insurance and some people choose not to be insured.
19-Should the law prohibiting sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or childcare facility be repealed, changed or left alone.
_____ Repealed, while sex offenders don’t deserve sympathy, this law leaves them without any place to live.
_____ Changed, it is impossible to enforce.
_____ Left alone, I don’t care about the rights of sex offenders
20-Should the Iowa Legislature allow citizens to vote by mail in lieu of going to the polls on election day?
_____ Yes, we already vote by mail through absentee ballots.
_____ No, there is too much opportunity for fraud to take place with mail ballots.
21-Should the Iowa Legislature pass a law requiring voters to show a government issued picture ID before they are allowed to vote?
_____ Yes
_____ No
Please mail or email responses to the following address:
Tom Sands
House of Representatives
Iowa State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319