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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Budget Crisis,
Education,
Water,
Health Insurance
Click on a name for other candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis?
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Answer from Barbara McIver:
First and foremost, California's legislature and
governor need to commit to a collaborative working
relationship. This will allow the formation of a budget
solution which will incorporate spending reductions,
spending caps, a combination of short-term and
longer-term debt financing, and any voter-approved
solution to augment the revenue base.
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2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System?
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Answer from Barbara McIver:
The priorities for all state schools are class size
reduction, teacher quality, parent involvement and
empowerment, and improvement of dilapidated
facilities. We need to prioritize our resources to
immediately respond to those school of greatest need,
those which are scoring in the lowest 20 percent on the
California Academic Performance Index. Funding for
schools statewide is uneven and inconsistent. Student
funding ratios need to be revised and equalized. Our
community colleges are the most accessible point of
entry for general education and certificated programs
which result in jobs. Vocational training opportunities
should be increased to improve the qualifications of
California's workforce.
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3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs?
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Answer from Barbara McIver:
Legislative actions and incentives for regional efforts
toward self-sufficiency are key elements for success in
the maintenance of water supply. To this end, local
flood control subventions must be funded and
reimbursement for past subventions must be secured.
The State Water Plan should be supported for supply
development progress. Greater jurisdiction for certain
water quality issues should be granted to local and
regional governmental authorities. Watershed and
subwatershed organization and collaboration have
been extremely efficient and successful in northern
rural regions, and deliver cost savings and a high level
of citizen involvement when compared with traditional
government regulatory efforts. I support funding for
technical assistance and performance-based
outcomes for watershed collaboratives to achieve cost-
efffective results and citizen involvement. Groundwater
management should be local with local ordinances in
place to protect groundwater from overdraft due to water
export. Any measure to integrate and optimize the
state/federal relationship on water supply and quality
issues would be highly supportable. Expanded
household conservation programs would have my
support.
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4. What should the Legislature be doing to address the needs of Californians without health insurance?
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Answer from Barbara McIver:
California's legislative goal should be to create a
single-entry system for the medically indigent.
The Legislature should reduce expenditures on the
state level to the degree that the state can fulfill its
funding commitment to Counties Medical Services
Program and remove the cap on the Healthy Families
program.
The Legislature should also support living
wage provisions so that families can actually afford
health care.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
