1998 Legislative Issues Survey - House District
15
Quality of Life
1. Ten years from now, the quality of life
in this state will be: (circle one)
| 1. Better |
36%
|
| 2. About the same |
32%
|
| 3. Worse |
25%
|
| 4. Not Sure |
7%
|
2. List the top five (5) areas which you believe
the legislature should be concentrating upon at this time.
(Rank the five areas in
order of importance with 1 having the highest priority and 5 being the
lowest.)
_____1. Growth/urban sprawl/too many people
_____2. Pollution/environment
_____3. Jobs/unemployment/lack of opportunity
___1_4. Taxes
___2_5. Budgeting/government spending
___4_6. Roads/highways/transportation
___5_7. Education/higher education
_____8. Water/water rights
_____9. High cost of living
____10. Housing
____11. Poverty/lack of social programs
____12. Crime
____13. Problems of the elderly
____14. Unfounded state/federal mandates
____15. Private property rights
____16. Guns/gun control
__3_17. Government expansion/government intrusion
____18. Other (Please specify)__________________
Education
3. The quality of education in Colorado in
the next five years will be: (circle one)
| 1. Better |
4%
|
| 2. Somewhat better |
14%
|
| 3. About the same |
29%
|
| 4. Somewhat worse |
46%
|
| 5. Much worse |
1%
|
4. Are you familiar with the charter school concept?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes (If yes, answer question 4-A) |
96%
|
| 2. No (If no, skip question 4-A) |
0%
|
| 3. Not Sure (If not sure, skip question 4-A) |
4%
|
4-A. Do you favor the expansion of charter schools within
Colorado? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
85%
|
| 2. No |
11%
|
| 3. Not sure |
4%
|
5. Should school district boundaries be redrawn
every ten years (reapportionment) to allow for
changes in population
density? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
68%
|
| 2. No |
21%
|
| 3. Not sure |
11%
|
6. Are you familiar with educational vouchers?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes (If yes, go to question 6-A) |
96%
|
| 2. No (If no, skip question 6-A) |
0%
|
| 3. Not Sure (If not sure, skip question 6-A) |
4%
|
6-A. Do you support the school voucher concept? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
89%
|
| 2. No |
7%
|
| 3. Not sure |
4%
|
Judicial Reform
7. Are you familiar with term limitation? (circle
one)
| 1. Yes (If yes, go to question 7-A) |
100%
|
| 2. No (If no, skip question 7-A) |
0%
|
| 3. Not sure (if not sure, skip question 7-A) |
0%
|
7-A. Would you support limiting the terms of office for all justices
and judges to two-six year terms for
Supreme Court, Court of
Appeals, District Court Judges and three-four terms for County Court
judges? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
79%
|
| 2. No |
7%
|
| 3. Not sure |
14%
|
8. Would you support reducing mandatory retirement
requirements for justices and judges from 30 years
in office and/or 67 years
of age, to 24 years in office and/or 61 years of age? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
57%
|
| 2. No |
25%
|
| 3. Not sure |
18%
|
9. Are you familiar with the current judicial appointment
process in Colorado? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
86%
|
| 2. No |
0%
|
| 3. Not sure |
14%
|
10. Is our judicial appointment process adequate?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes |
18%
|
| 2. No |
75%
|
| 3. Not sure |
7%
|
11. Would you support requiring Senate Judiciary confirmation
of all judicial nominees? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
89%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
7%
|
12. Should the criminal records of violent juvenile offenders
be opened to the public? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
89%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
7%
|
Taxes
13. Would you support a reduction in state income
taxes from 5.0 percent to 4.5 percent? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
89%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
7%
|
14. In lieu of reducing the state's flat rate
to 4.5%, would you support a change in the state tax code
allowing taxpayers
to exempt a portion of their interest income? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
46%
|
| 2. No |
29%
|
| 3. Not sure |
25%
|
15. Would you favor reducing the federal "add-back" amount
on the state tax form to compensate
state taxpayers for
the federal "marriage penalty" tax? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
81%
|
| 2. No |
0%
|
| 3. Not sure |
19%
|
Government Spending
16. Government spending in Colorado over the next
five years will? (circle one)
| 1. Increase |
92%
|
| 2. Decrease |
0%
|
| 3. Remain the same |
4%
|
| 4. Not sure |
4%
|
17. Budget projections estimate a surplus of $1.8 billion
over the next five years. How should the excess
revenues be spent?
(circle one)
| 1. Entirely for social programs |
0%
|
| 2. Entirely for law enforcement |
0%
|
| 3. Entirely for roads, highways, and bridges |
4%
|
| 4. Entirely for education/higher education |
4%
|
| 5. Entirely for taxpayer refunds |
56%
|
| 6. No single item to be funded entirely |
36%
|
| 7. Not sure |
0%
|
18. Which of the following areas would you favor
distributing the excess revenues among? (circle one)
| 1. Education and transportation |
21%
|
| 2. Education and social programs |
0%
|
| 3. Education and law enforcement (prisons, etc.) |
4%
|
| 4. Transportation (roads/highways) and social programs |
0%
|
| 5. Transportation and law enforcement |
14%
|
| 6. None of the above |
61%
|
19. How should the excess revenues be distributed? (circle
one)
| 1. 100% to taxpayers |
72%
|
| 2. 33.3% to education/33.3% to highways/33.3% to law enforcement
(prisons) |
7%
|
| 3. 33.3% refunded to taxpayers/33.3% to education/33.3% to highways |
7%
|
| 4. 33.3% refunded to taxpayers/33.3% to law enforcement/33.3%
to education |
7%
|
| 5. 33.3% to taxpayers/33.3% to law enforcement/33.3% to highways |
7%
|
Gun Control
20. Do you or a member of your family own a firearm?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes |
64%
|
| 2. No |
36%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
21. Would you support amending the state constitution
in order for concealed carry permits to be
recognized statewide?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes |
81%
|
| 2. No |
7%
|
| 3. Not sure |
11%
|
22. For which of the following reasons would you support
the ownership of firearms? (circle one)
| 1. Hunting |
4%
|
| 2. Collecting |
4%
|
| 3. Competitive Shooting |
4%
|
| 4. Defense of self, family, and home |
16%
|
| 5. Defense of state and nation |
0%
|
| 6. Constitutional right |
68%
|
| 7. None/Don't support |
4%
|
Private Property
23. Are you familiar with the concept of "takings"
laws? (circle one)
| 1. Yes (If yes, proceed to question 23-A) |
93%
|
| 2. No (If no, skip question 23-A) |
0%
|
| 3. Not sure (If not sure, skip question 23-A) |
7%
|
23-A. Under current law, citizens accused of participating in
illegal activities such as drug possession,
distribution, etc.,
may have their property seized and sold at auction by law enforcement agencies.
Do you support such
laws? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
57%
|
| 2. No |
32%
|
| 3. Not sure |
11%
|
24. Colorado Revised Statutes provide for the seizure
and sale of any tangible asset (private property)
for whom an individual
is suspected of committing a crime (probable cause) and having said property
sold at auction without
a formal hearing (due process). Do you support such legislation?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes |
96%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
25. Should accused property owners be afforded
due process (via a formal judicial hearing) prior to the
selling of any privately
owned property? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
96%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
26. Should authorities be required to present property
owners with an "Intent to Seize" notice? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
89%
|
| 2. No |
11%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
27. Should seized property be held in abeyance
pending the outcome of a formal trial or hearing? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
96%
|
| 2. No |
4%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
28. Should authorities be required to compensate property
owners for the loss of their property when
acquitted or found "not
guilty" by a court of law? (circle one)
| 1. Yes |
93%
|
| 2. No |
0%
|
| 3. Not sure |
7%
|
Right to Work
29. Are you familiar with the "Right to Work" concept?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes (If yes, proceed to question 29-A) |
89%
|
| 2. No (If no, skip question 29-A) |
7%
|
| 3. Not sure (If not sure, skip question 29-A) |
4%
|
29-A. Should union employees be forced to contribute to union political
activities as a condition of employment?
(circle one)
| 1. Yes |
0%
|
| 2. No |
100%
|
| 3. Not sure |
0%
|
30. Would you support legislation requiring
union bosses to gain permission from workers prior to funding
any political activity?
(circle one)
| 1. Approve |
89%
|
| 2. Disapprove |
4%
|
| 3. Don't know |
7%
|
|