RIVERA, DENNISON

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
State House of Representatives
District:
79
Political Affiliation:
Republican

Survey

Response Legend

  • SSStrongly Supports
  • SSupports
  • OOpposes
  • SOStrongly Opposes
  • *Comment
  • −Declined to respond
  • †Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Pubic Schools in Montana are overfunded: O
2. Pubic Schools in Montana are underfunded: O
3. Pubic Schools in Montana are adequately funded: SS
4. Parental choice in education should be expanded through tax credits, education savings accounts, vouchers, and other means to allow children to attend any school of their or their parents choice: SS
5. Montana should allow public charter schools: SS
6. Parents should be allowed to home school their children without additional state regulation: SS
7. The teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) should be banned in Montana public schools: SS
8. Comprehensive sex education, beginning as early as kindergarten, should be allowed in public elementary schools: SO* When I was in Highschool, my mother enrolled me in Alief Kerr Highschool in Houston, Texas, despite my protest. It was one of the best things that have ever happened in my life to go to a school where teachers really focused on the students and helped them grow individually. I was supposed to be enrolled in the typical high school that was chosen based on where I lived (among other factors), but my mom thankfully found another way. My mother had a choice, and she saw and knew what was best for me. In hindsight, I'm so thankful she made that choice and allowed me to experience something new. As my mother did, I want to ensure that every parent has the same right to decide what school their child should enroll in. And if parents that homeschooling is best, then the government shouldn't have any say in the matter. Parents are the primary educator, the decision-makers, and the caretakers, not the government. Instead, the government should be cutting the red tape and making it easier for parents to choose, invest in, and support the school of their choice. When my child is born, I hope to be able to ensure that I have the right to provide the best future for my child. Although not all parents have the same opinion, they should respect a parent's right to choose what is best for their child. I'm thankful for my mother, and I hope our children can be thankful for the decisions we make for their future.
9. Income taxes in Montana are too high: SS
10. Property taxes in Montana are too high: SS
11. Corporate taxes in Montana are too high: S
12. The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows all citizens to own firearms for self-protection: SS
13. Global warming is a problem requiring increased regulation: SO
14. Environmental regulations in Montana are too stringent: SS
15. Environmental regulations in Montana are NOT stringent enough: SO* As it has been famously said, "taxation is theft." The government should be lowering taxes and not raising them. Especially during these challenging times, people should be keeping what they earned instead of the government mismanaging or wasting their hard-earned money.
16. Montanans should not be discriminated against or treated differently because of their vaccine status: SS* I've been a strong supporter of HB702. Our health status is nobody's business. I'm proud to be in one of the few states that protect their citizens against discrimination.
17. Doctor assisted suicide should be legal in Montana: SO
18. Abortion should be banned in ALL stages of pregnancy: SS
19. Abortion should be banned during all stages of pregnancy, with the exceptions for rape and incest: SO
20. Abortion should be banned only after a heartbeat is detected (around 6 weeks): SO
21. Abortion should be banned only after the first trimester (12 weeks): SO
22. Abortion should be banned only when a fetus becomes viable outside the womb (20 weeks): SO
23. Abortion should be banned only after the 2nd trimester (28 weeks): SO
24. Abortion should never be banned, not at any stage of pregnancy: SO
25. The Montana Constitution should be amended to ban abortion: SS
26. Infanticide (infants born alive with physical abnormalities, including infants born as a result of a botched abortion) should be banned in Montana. SS
27. Companies and individuals should be allowed to opt-out of the abortion related mandates contained in Obamacare: SS* At one point in our history, people of different skin colors weren't considered to be people but rather an inferior race. In today's day and age, it is now the unborn who are considered inferior and not regarded as a person. Thanks to the 15th Amendment, all American citizens, despite race or age, have the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Before that, states implemented limitations on personhood as it applied to women, indigenous persons, and people of color. Likewise, the unborn are suffering through the same limitations implemented by this state, perpetuating discrimination and murder. The word "person" should apply to all members of mankind at any stage of development. It's a fact that we all go through the same gestational process. It's discrimination to say an unborn child, whether at conception or at the last stages of pregnancy, is inferior and not a person. Opponents will argue considering a fetus to be a person would confuse property rights, which is absurd because children are considered as persons without any confusion to property rights. Opponents will try to intimidate you with false narratives and unsubstantiated claims by saying this would criminalize miscarriages, prosecute doctors, and ban contraceptives. All these points are moot and misinformation because it's consistently said that NO policy would prosecute a mother for harm caused by an unintentional act. Their main objection is that this will criminalize abortion, but this isn't about abortion or women's reproductive justice. This is about the definition of "person" in the great state of Montana. A person's life begins at conception; therefore, they are created equally and have unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness!
28. Transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against athletes of the opposite sex: SO
29. Doctors should be banned from performing sex-change procedures on minors: SS
30. Homosexuals and transgender people should be allowed to adopt children: SO
31. Non-discrimination laws should be expanded to protect sexual orientation and gender identity in the same way that race, creed, nationality, and religion are protected: SO
32. Montana’s marriage laws should be changed to reflect the recent legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court: SO