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Voter’s Guide 2016

Voter's Guide 2016

Health Care

The Catholic Church has spoken in favor of health care access for nearly 100 years, first becoming active on the issue as far back as 1919. The social doctrine of the Church considers health care a basic human right, one that is necessary for the proper development of life and important for full human dignity.
Voter's Guide 2016

Restorative Justice

In addressing the criminal justice system, the Church has called for an approach that promotes redemption, restoration, and rehabilitation rather than simply a mechanism of punishment.8 Offenders should be held accountable for their crimes, but also given the opportunity to grow, take responsibility, and demonstrate remorse for what they have done. Greater support needs to be given to programs that prevent crime, engage at-risk youth, and treat substance abuse.
Voter's Guide 2016

Immigration

In his 2014 message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis offers a reminder that Jesus, Mary and Joseph — the Holy Family — experienced first-hand the life of migrants. Today, many families migrate to the United States to flee religious persecution, economic depression, lack of resources and employment, unstable governments and dire poverty.
Voter's Guide 2016

Labor & Economy

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in the State of Minnesota has continued its gradual decline from 5.1 percent in June 2013 to 4.5 percent in June 2014. Although unemployment has decreased and the economy continues to slowly recover, most of the economic gains have not been distributed across the socioeconomic spectrum.
Voter's Guide 2016

Human Life

Though Minnesota has historically been a leader in enacting pro-life legislation, those efforts have stalled in recent years. Bills that would have banned most abortions after 20 weeks; ended taxpayer funding of abortion; licensed and regulated abortion clinics; and prohibited coverage of abortion in the Minnesota health insurance exchange (MNSure) have either died in our state Senate or been vetoed by the governor.
Voter's Guide 2016

Children and Families

In May 2013, the Minnesota Legislature redefined the state’s civil marriage laws to include same-sex couples. In many states around the country, federal judges are striking down marriage laws that limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. Both are troublesome developments that favor altering the purpose and structure of the civil institution of marriage, changing it from an institution that primarily protects a child’s right to be known and cared for by his or her mother or father to one that is instead focused on merely endorsing the romantic inclinations of adults.
Voter's Guide 2016

Education

Providing a child with a quality education is one of the most important responsibilities of parents. In Catholic teaching, parents are the primary educators of their children. Policies are necessary that give parents the option to choose the educational setting they decide is best for each individual child. School choice programs are exploding around the country, with 18 states and the District of Columbia having enacted programs that give parents more educational options than just public schools. Almost every state in the Midwest is expanding parental choice in education, but Minnesota is lagging behind. The consequences of Minnesota’s failure to create educational opportunity are having enormous consequences on the most vulnerable.
Voter's Guide 2016

Agriculture and the Environment

Americans are more conscious than ever of their responsibility to be good stewards of the environment. Years of successful public awareness campaigns and the work of tireless advocates have ensured that protecting creation is at the forefront of public discourse. Many landmark pieces of legislation have been passed in the last 50 years, including the federal Wilderness Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Yet, debates continue at the local, national and international levels about how to address environmental challenges such as climate change, the byproducts of hydraulic fracturing, soil and water contamination, air quality and the global competition for scarce natural resources.
Voter's Guide 2016

Religious Liberty

Political partisanship often turns the average citizen away from participating in the political process. Too frequently, issues are only seen as Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative. Religious liberty is not a partisan issue, nor is it ideological. The United States of America was founded on the principle of religious freedom and no political party can claim it as its own.
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