Marshall Sanchez on the Issues

By Marshall Sanchez

Marshall's stance on issues affecting the 26th Assembly District.

On Higher Education- I believe that every young person in California deserves the opportunity to receive a college education. Unfortunately, for many, tuition costs are to high to enable them to get that college education. That is why I advocate cutting both CSU and UC tuition in half. With a booming economy and large budget surplus, no one should be stopped from achieving the dream of a college education due to high tuition costs. Once elected, I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that college tuition is cut in half, so ALL young people in California can get the college education they strive for.

On UC Merced- UC Merced will be a major accomplishment for our part of the valley. Unfortunately, due to beaurcratic red tape, it wont open as soon as we'd like. Once elected, I will go up to Sacramento and fight the red tape that is delaying UC Merced's quick and speedy opening. The young people of our area deserve the UC education that UC Merced will give them.

On K-12 Education- Our young children deserve all the resources required to make sure they can succeed both in college and in life. With a booming economy and large budget surplus, we need to get the per pupil spending amount up to the national average. However, unlike the Assembly Democrats,I believe we need to do this in a fiscally responsible manner. Instead of giving schools the money with all sorts of strings attached, so that bureaucrats in Sacramento are calling all the shots on how your children should be taught, I believe that local school districts can best say how these monies can be used to best teach our children. As is proven time and time again, if we want a successful school system, we need to let local school administrators and teachers say how resources can best be used, not some bureaucrat in Sacramento with no real world teaching experience.

On Care for Senior Citizens- Our senior citizens deserve to live their golden years with comfort and dignity. For many in the area, that means being able to live at home with their loved ones. Unfortunatley for many, this isn't possible due to the high cost of health care. As a result, I have proposed a $1000 dollar tax credit per family for families that care for Senior Citizens in home. This tax credit will help more families be able to care for their loved ones at home. Our Seniors deserve to live with comfort and dignity, lets give it to them.

On Providing Needles to Drug Users- Unlike my opponent Mr. Cardoza, who voted to legalize the giving of free needles to illegal drug users (AB 518), I believe that they way to fight the war on drugs is to attack the problem directly, and not by providing needles to illegal drug users. I believe we need to pass stiffer punishments for drug dealers and pushers and promote increased education in order to stop drug use by our younger generation.

On an Adequate Water Supply for Area Farmers- This March, we will be voting on a State Water Bond passed through the Legislature last year. This Bond COULD have ensured that our area farmers have an adequate supply in future drought years by placing money in it for resivior storage. Unfortunately, it did not, and to me, this current plan, which falls WELL short of ensuring that our area farmers have an adequate supply of water in future years, is woefully inadequate for our farming community. I had hoped that Mr. Cardoza would have fought to make sure that resivior storage was included in the Water Bond, but instead, he sat back and let LA., San Francisco and environmental interests dictate what would be in the bond. Once elected, I will fight to make sure that our area farmers get the water storage they need, so they wont have to worry in future years as to whether they will have enough water to operate the farms that feed all of us throughout the Central Valley.

On Regulations affecting Small and Independent Businesses- One of the engines that fuels our economy is the strength of our small and independent businesses, both throughout the state and in our area. In order for them to grown and prosper, we must make sure that government dosen't meddle in their day to day functions through regulations concerning every issue possible. Unfortunately, as shown by his votes on the Assembly Floor, my opponent, Mr. Cardoza, doesn't seem to feel the same way. He has continuously voted for bills that would meddle and interfere in the operation of small and local businesses. One of my jobs once elected will be to push back these constraints on small business, and give them the breathing room they need to grow and be successful.

On Prop. 22 (Defense of Marriage Initiative- I am in strong support of Proposition 22, the Defense of Marriage Initiative. Prop. 22 affirms the irreplaceable role of marriage between men and women in our society. A "YES" vote on Prop. 22 sends a clear and positive message to California's children about the future of families, that a family atmosphere with both a mother AND a father will best enable a child to live to his or her full potential. We should follow the lead of 30 other states, and our own Federal Government, and vote to define marriage as being a union between man and woman.

On the Right to Bear Arms- I am a firm defender of an individual's right to bear arms. Assembly Democrats have, in the past year attempted to drastically cut back our fundamental right to bear arms. They put forward ideas such as licensing of all guns saying that it will prevent crime. However, common sense tells us that their gun control plans would not prevent crime at all. Do you think a criminal would actually register and license his gun? Common sense tells you a resounding no! What Assembly Democrats are really trying to do is, as always, interfere in our every day decisions and once again, thrust themselves in our personal decisions. If we want to stop criminals from using guns, we need greater enforcement of current gun laws and tougher penalties for persons who break those laws. Democrats point to the unfortunate incident at Littleton, Colorado as the need for new gun laws. However, the killers of Columbine High broke 19 gun laws on that unfortunate day. Did those gun laws stop them? No. However, if those laws were actually enforced, that unfortunate incident very well might have been stopped.

On Tax Cuts- I believe tax cuts for small and emerging business are required to keep our economy going strong. We must give companies a reason to come to California and stay in California. With targeted tax cuts, and an ease in the regulations that strangle many companies, we can make California the most attractive state in the union for companies to do business in, and in doing so, help create jobs for the people of California. Once elected, I'll fight for these tax cuts, so that we can keep our economy strong and citizens employed.

On Transportation- We need to find a new way to solve the current transportation problem our state faces. If we remain with the status quo regarding transportation, things will only get far worse for the citizens of the California. Today, many people have to deal with gridlock as they rush to and from work and school. I have a three-prong plan to deal with the current state of transportation. First, we need to free up the so-called "diamond lanes". How many times have you sat in rush hour traffic only to see a diamond lane completely empty? Second, we need to make sure that the dollars we pay in gasoline taxes are used for road maintenance and construction. It only makes sense, if we have to pay taxes on gasoline for our cars, they naturally should go to the upkeep and construction of the roads they travel upon. Third, I advocate pay as you go road and highway construction. If we were to spend transportation dollars in a fiscally responsible manner, we would have enough money to shore up our current road and highway system by paying for new road construction and upkeep as we go, with money we have in hand. This is a far more efficient use of dollars for transportation than passing yet another transportation bond, bond which not only increase the debt that the State of California owes, but also leads to inefficient use of transportation dollars by Sacramento bureaucrats.

I would also go up to Sacramento and make sure that our area gets its fair share of state transportation dollars. Currently, the state budget process doles out transportation dollars to the individual counties on a number of cars per capita basis. This means places such as Orange County get the bulk of transportation dollars, while Stanislaus and Merced Counties are at the low end of the totem pole. What this transportation budget formula doesn't take into account, however, is the fact that our local roadways are a major crossroads for persons headed to the Bay Area and Southern California. They are often used by both private and commercial vehicles from other parts of the State. Once elected, I will fight to make sure a new formula for budgeting transportation dollars is devised, one that takes into account not only how many vehicles our counties have, but also the amount of use on our roadways, from both local and non-local vehicles.

On Abortion- I am personally pro life. Once elected, I will fight for 2 things up in Sacramento:

1) parental consent for minors who want to get an abortion
and;
2) stop usage of state dollars to fund abortion

We need to send out the message loud and clear. Government will no longer bail you out due to your irresponsible actions. You must take responsibility for the consequences your actions bring.