Alan Sheldon

I do not believe that abortions should be allowed. That said, I do support medical procedures to save the life of a pregnant mother should her life be in imminent danger. I would look to have that provision added to any anti-abortion related legislation that I would support. I do not consider a medical procedure to save the mother's life an abortion because in these situations the child would also be delivered and saved if possible. My opposition to abortion stems from the belief that people should generally be free to do as they please so long as they aren't harming or seriously endangering others. In this case the unborn baby, which I believe has the same right to life that we do, would be killed if an abortion was allowed to take place.

Strongly Agree

I believe that any public funding that would go to Planned Parenthood should be redirected to organizations that facilitate adoptions or organizations like Life Choice in Wyoming which provide education and care/support services to pregnant women.

Disagree

I range from neutral to disagree on this. The main reason I lean towards disagree is that older people are often taken advantage of and may not make sound decisions about their medical conditions or financial decisions as they age. There is also the issue of medical malpractice. For me to support something like this, there would have to be robust protections for individuals to ensure that mistakes and accidents are minimized to the greatest extent possible.

Since I am running for a position in state legislature, I'll limit the scope of my response to the state. I would like to see property tax assessments calculated using the purchase price of the home so that property taxes remain more stable over time, and individuals will not need to worry about being taxed out of their homes. I would also like to remove or reduce ad valorum taxes on business assets that are not intended for sale or rent to customers. Right now businesses pay an annual tax on the assessed value of property that are used to conduct business. Not only is this a form of double taxation (sales tax was already paid when the product was initially purchased) but the tax creates a barrier to business expansion since the cost of acquisition and the additional taxes must be factored into the ROI equation.

I would start with state education and would look to separate the administration budget from allocations made to pay for teachers and those that directly benefit students. Wyoming spends a very large amount on administration relative to our population. In my opinion we should be cutting administration funds long before we eliminate sports, technology, and art programs from the schools. Right now the administration and general education budgets are linked and must be decoupled. After that we can reduce the administration overhead to a reasonable level. Beyond this, I would investigate waste and inefficiencies in the DFS and Welfare Programs.

Strongly Disagree

I generally accept that K-12 education should be provided at tax payer expense, but I strongly believe that not everyone is meant to go to college and that acceptance to these programs should be unbiased and merit based. Regarding K-12, I think parents should be able to choose where and how their children are educated and I support school vouchers, education savings accounts, and home schooling. I believe that education funding should follow the student, no strings attached.

Strongly Disagree

I strongly believe that businesses and religious organizations should be able to choose what services are provided and to whom. No one should be required to provide a service that violates their moral or religious beliefs. In a free market, people can choose to support or not support a company based on their beliefs.

Under no circumstances.

D is closest to my ideal. I believe the biggest issue with healthcare is that government regulations stifle competition and create massive compliance overhead and other inefficiencies. Unfortunately, there are a lot of older people who have structured their finances around a MEDICARE/MEDICAID system and pulling the plug would create serious issues for these people. So I would propose a phase out of tax-payer funded health care while simultaneously removing barriers to entry for new hospitals and clinics (including cash only primary care) and changing the laws to allow medical insurance across state lines. I would also phase out the VA in favor of government funded health insurance premiums for military members and retirees. This would be similar to how many employers subsidize health care for their workers now.

I don't believe vaccines should ever be required, just recommended. Many vaccines have long track records of safety and efficacy and most people will get these on their own accord.

Mind our own business and defend ourselves (and close allies) if directly threatened or attacked. I believe that the principles of our Republic should be exported, but not by force or nation-building. We need to get our affairs in order at home so that we can be a shining light for the rest of the world. That said, I believe that China's Belt and Road initiative is far more dangerous to world peace than Islamic terrorism.

Strongly Disagree

I think Israel has a right to its homeland and to secure it as necessary so long as they are not carrying out atrocities or genocides. In my opinion, the Arab world needs to accept that Israel is a sovereign nation in the same way that China needs to understand that Taiwan is sovereign and will fight back to protect themselves from aggression.

Strongly Agree

I believe that a wall along the US-Mexico border is low hanging fruit and should be completed as soon as possible. The wall is just a basic passive measure that will help slow the flow of illegal immigration until larger issues with our system can be solved.

We should allow immigration to individuals based on merit only. I believe that we can offer seasonal worker visas where needed but these individuals should be monitored to make sure they don't overstay. With technological advancements we will soon reach a point where workers with greater aptitude are most necessary. By welcoming only those with high levels of professional attainment, the United States will be in a better position to compete globally. We do need to be cautious of brain drain (when the smartest people flee third world countries in large numbers) and should set annual limits so that the number of individuals coming in better matches our needs without creating unnecessary competition to American workers.

Strongly Agree

I strongly support school choice, voucher programs, education savings accounts, charter schools, private schools, and home schooling. I believe that any tax dollars should follow the student with no strings attached.

Strongly Agree

I strongly agree and believe that many of the issues we face today are a result of abandoning this framework.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

I strongly agree that marriage is a religious construct that can only take place between one biological man and one biological woman and that government should not attempt to alter this.

Strongly Disagree

I strongly disagree. If this nation were fundamentally racist then there wouldn't be successful and wealthy minorities. We wouldn't have popular celebrities or well paid athletes of color. If anyone looks around honestly, they will only see a nation of opportunity. This is exactly why millions of people want to come here.

I am a practicing Christian and believe in Judeo-Christian values, the same values held by most of the founders. I believe that the United States is a Republic where no group should threaten the freedom of another group. I am a Conservative Republican and I believe that government should be small, efficient, and limited in power and function. I believe in personal responsibility and hard work. I hold ethics in high regard and believe that people should generally be free to do as they wish so long as they aren't harming or seriously endangering the life of someone else. I believe in free speech and I reject compelled speech of any type. I do not believe in the concept of hate speech or that words can be violence, acts of aggression, or something akin to physical assault. I believe that we should focus on getting our affairs in order so that we can be a positive influence on the world. I feel like I could go on for a while so I'll add just one more: I believe that the single greatest threat to America is the radicalization of the left and a departure from the values upon which our nation was founded.

Strongly Disagree

We need to ensure that only citizens are voting. Getting an ID is very simple and is already required to do many everyday things. The idea that certain groups of Americans cannot get an ID is extremely illogical.

Ideally, I would propose a law that restricts voting to in person only with an ID required. Narrow exceptions would be made for deployed military and those with legitimate medical need to have a mail in ballot. Along those lines, I would propose laws to ban and remove gray areas around ballot harvesting and propose laws for surveillance of ballot counting operations. I would propose laws requiring the software on any electronic voting machine be made available to the open source community for evaluation. Lastly, I would propose laws to prohibit crossover voting.

I don't believe that it is. While there may be pockets of racist people with in every individual group. Society as a whole is not racist and is made up of individuals with similar goals and compulsions. Most just want to be left alone to enjoy their lives and be with their loved ones.

Strongly Disagree

I strongly disagree. I come from a very diverse background (Basque, UK, Central & Northern European, Native American), I have seen the data for much of my ancestry and none would have owned slaves. I'd bet most American families never owned slaves. The idea that one group automatically owes something to another group because of the color of their skin is ridiculous. Slavery still exists in Africa, China, and the Middle East but all we hear are crickets from the leftists and the MSM.

A. I believe that there is a market for efficient products that combat pollution and other issues with the environment but we need to let the market work. Trying to force necessary innovations via government pen will only result in higher costs, delays, and frustration.

Agree

I generally agree, but it must be done properly as to not contaminate local water tables. Government and corporations need to improve transparency via audits and evaluations that are made public on a frequent basis.

Government should protect individual liberties and property rights, enforce contracts, act as an arbiter between the states, and protect the borders of the country.

Very Conservative

I have been a registered Republican since I was 18 and I would say that I am Very Conservative on societal matters, religious liberty, gun rights, etc, though I lean Libertarian on the economy, property rights, and foreign policy.

My interview with John Rush on 560 KLZ: https://soundcloud.com/rushtoreason/hr2-sally-pipes-better-health?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing#t=13:30

No

My priority is to represent the voters of Wyoming District 9 in a consistently Conservative and transparent way. I value feedback from members of the community and I am available via phone (leave a message or call between 6 and 9 PM), text, and email. If elected, I would like to address wasteful spending and help get the state's financial affairs in order. Along these lines, I would like to sponsor (or co-sponsor) a bill to base Property Tax Assessments on the purchase price of the home which should benefit the vast majority of homeowners, especially those on a fixed income. I would also like to work towards diversifying our economy while getting rid of the red tape that stifles competition in the market. Lastly, I would like to see bills that bolster the rights of individuals and Wyoming itself against the overreach of the Federal Government.

Neutral

I marked neutral because despite being a huge supporter of well run police departments, I have seen plenty of situations where qualified immunity provides too much protection and bad cops end up back on the beat. I support limiting qualified immunity and creating avenues for individuals to initiate legal action against the government or its subdivisions when a right has been violated. In Wyoming this will be a bit difficult due to the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act which must first be modified.

Disagree

I believe that funding for items that militarize the police should be removed, but I think that funding for mental health programs should be a separate funding stream and one that is very necessary. I support funding additional mental health services but we must ensure these are run efficiently and are not weaponized. Ideally, these service providers would be private sector organizations that could receive some or most of their funding through donations or other charitable giving.

I believe the 2nd Amendment is very clear, a person's right to keep and bear arms shall NOT be infringed! Outside of incarceration with due process, being committed to a mental institution, or having been adjudicated mentally defective, I view this right as absolute.

Strongly Disagree

Absolutely not. It would be virtually unprecedented to allow a lawsuit against the manufacturer of a properly functioning product. Guns are tools, nothing more. One could easily run down a crowd with a large truck, it's happened several times, but we don't blame the vehicle manufacturer. People need to understand that we cannot legislate morality so we must look into solutions that can mitigate the risk. Things like securing school buildings, arming staff, and mental health care for kids.