Taxes

Today, Californians pay the highest sales tax in America. Our personal income tax is the fourth highest in the country. Our Corporate tax rate is the highest in the West. In California, manufacturers pay taxes on equipment they buy. This tax is not imposed on businesses in 43 other states. It is no wonder then, that between 2004 and 2008, more than one million Californians packed up and moved their families and businesses to other states.

• I strongly oppose any action by the majority party to impose temporary increases in sales tax and personal income taxes.

• I also oppose sales tax on manufacturing equipment and support efforts to eliminate this tax so we can be competitive with other states.

• I support cutting taxes for every taxpayer and every business in California to jumpstart the economy and restore California as a leader in economic growth, competitiveness and innovation.

Spending

For decades, California has experienced years of deficits thanks to a mismanagement of our state budget by the Legislature. From 1998 to 2008, the state increased spending by nearly 80% - eighty percent increase in spending in ten years! Unfortunately, I think most of us agree that the quality of our kids' education, the quality of our roads or our health care system, etc. haven't felt that 80% improvement. It's a common myth that during tough economic times, we have to either decrease services or increase taxes. I disagree. There's a third option here. We need to know how state government is spending your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

• It's shocking that this Legislature never stops to analyze how your hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent.

• I've introduced my “Legislative Accountability Act” which would allow for lawmakers to spend an entire year working on the budget, leaving the second year of session for legislation.

• It's time we hold government truly accountable for taxpayer dollars and scrutinize state spending line-by-line.

State Business Climate

In addition to government reform, I also believe our focus needs to be addressing the state's business climate and adding jobs. Today, the state's unemployment is at a 70-year high of 12.4%. An estimated 2.2 million Californians are without a job. A study administered by the Schwarzenegger administration measured the cost of regulation to small businesses in California. The study shows the total cost of California's excessive, over-the-top regulations as $493 billion. I don't know about any of you who are business owners, but when my family owned Pine Tree Lumber in Escondido, we sure couldn't afford $134,122 to subsidize our state's bloated bureaucracies and ill-conceived regulations. Furthermore, the study found that California's excessive regulations result in a loss of 3.8 million jobs. This is equal to one-tenth of California's population!

• If we don't relieve our state's 770,000 small business employers of harsh regulations and taxes, we can't create the jobs we must have to ensure California's future.

• If you're a business owner, I have a personal favor to ask: If you have examples of ridiculous, illogical regulatory requirements – I would like to hear about them.

• When I am in Sacramento, I want to take your stories to the Governor and legislature and work on your behalf to end the regulatory nightmare for our state's job creators.

Quality Education

California's education system is in trouble. 30% of California high school students are dropping out of school. In urban communities like Los Angeles, only one out of every two kids completes high school. Most of these dropouts are ill-equipped to find good jobs. They are more likely to go on welfare, utilize other taxpayer-subsidized programs and commit crimes.

• We need to provide educational opportunities for students with a variety of interests and passions. Today, the vocational classes many of us had in school that produced skilled business workers and successful business owners are largely absent in our schools.

• Also, an estimated 25% of California students are English learners. We need to make sure ALL students learn English well and recognize that our students' ability to read, write and speak English is crucial for our state's economic engine. We also need to make sure these kids have pride in our wonderful country.

• Finally, we need to empower our teachers to effectively enlist parental support as partners in their children's education while holding them accountable for results in the classrooms.