Q&A: Senate District 19 (R) – James P. White

Candidate questions
1. If the state’s revenue downturn persists, would you favor trimming state spending or increasing taxes as a primary response? Please specify which cost-cutting or revenue-generating measures you would prefer.
2. Do you support or oppose raising New Mexico’s minimum wage, currently $7.50 per hour? If so, by how much?
3. Do you support or oppose the current policy of including student achievement as part of teacher evaluations? If you support the policy, what percentage of the evaluation should achievement account for.
4. Do you support or oppose legalizing recreational marijuana use in New Mexico?
5. Current state law requires early-grade reading intervention. Coupled with that, do you support or oppose legislation that would automatically require some third-graders without adequate reading skills to repeat the grade level?
6. To provide more money for early childhood programs, do you support or oppose taking more money out of the state’s largest permanent fund on an annual basis? If you are in support, what sort of accountability measures would you favor?
7. Would you support or oppose the creation of a state ethics commission that publicly releases complaints and holds open hearings?
8. Do you support or oppose making New Mexico a so-called right-to-work state, by changing state labor laws so that nonunion employees would not have to pay union fees as a condition of employment?
9. Do you support or oppose banning abortions after 20 weeks in New Mexico?
10. Do you support or oppose a law banning coyote-killing contests? Do you support or oppose banning trapping and poisons on public lands?
11. Do you support or oppose updating the current prohibition in the law on assisted suicide in order to allow aid-in-dying under certain medical circumstances?
12. Do you support or oppose a change that would earmark the state’s existing vehicle excise and gasoline tax revenue for state road projects?
13. Do you support or oppose allowing retired law enforcement officers to return to work while still collecting pension benefits to shore up department staffing, if the program protects the solvency of the retirement fund?
14. Do you support or oppose opening the state’s primary elections to voters who aren’t affiliated with either major political party?
15. Do you support or oppose expanding the state’s three-strikes law for repeat violent offenders?
16. Do you support or oppose enacting a “cooling-off” period before former lawmakers could lobby the Legislature?
17. Do you support or oppose passing a law that would allow local governments to impose curfews on minors under the age of 16?
18. Do you support or oppose archiving webcasts of all legislative meetings for public access?
19. Do you support or oppose establishing a salary for legislators?
20. Should public employees, including teachers, be prohibited by law from serving in the Legislature? Please explain.

Personal background

1. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens?
2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding?
3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.