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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 James R. Smith:
-Oppose the Schwarzenegger $15 billion bond bondoggle that will put
Californians in hock paying the interest for years.
-Raise taxes on those most able to pay, the wealthy and the
corporations.
-End the imbalance between what Californians pay the federal
governement and what it receives back. Converting from sales tax to
income tax will cut this imbalance by half ($27 billion a year). Investigate
how to get more services from the feds.
-Support Prop. 56 to cut the percentage needed in the legislature to pass
a budget.
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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 James R. Smith:
-Make California public school teachers the best paid in the nation. This
is an investment in the next generation.
-Begin foreign language education in grade one. Support bilingual and
multi-cultural education.
-Free quality public education from Head Start to post-graduate. There
is no such thing as "too much education."
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3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs?
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Answer from James R. Smith:
-Support conservation measures such as low-flush toilets
-Oppose privatization of California's resources
-Promote less water-intensive agricultural crops
-Make polluters pay for fouling our lakes, rivers and ground water
-Promote desalination
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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 James R. Smith:
-Legislate SB 921 - Single-payer health care, which will provide ALL
Californians with quality health care without a net increase in taxes.
-Make the state an "owner of last resort" to prevent hospital closings by
private corporations.
-Increase funding for county hospitals.
-Enforce strong patient to nursing care ratios in all hospitals.
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
