League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
San Francisco County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
	Colin V. Gallagher Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 13; Republican Party

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis?

I support across the board reductions in all programs. The contracts with the public employees unions, especially the prison guards, must be re-negotiated. I would consider legalization of gambling in California if the Indian tribes are not willing to contribute more to the state's coffers. I support closing redundant offices of agencies such as the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission. I would also act to privatize one of the University of California law schools and mothball the proposed U.C. campus in Merced. I support entering into contracts to create private prisons in California rather than build costly new public prisons. The budget crisis is fundamentally a spending problem and does not result from Californians being under-taxed.

2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System?

Unfortunately the spending mandates in Proposition 98 must be set aside for now. As mentioned, there is no justification for 3 U.C. law schools in Northern California and the under-performing U.C. law school should be either closed or privatized. I do support equalizing the tuition charged to state residents and illegal aliens with the tuiton charged to residents of other states. I support merit pay for teachers and ending tenure for incompetent instructors. Charter schools that have the support of parents should be encouraged and not run out of town, as they are in San Francisco. Students in sub-par public schools should have greater choice to transfer to better-performing school districts.

3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs?

I support encouraging water conservation through tax credits for property owners who implement conservation measures. I do not support the Peripheral Canal. True deregulation of California's public utilities will effectively address our state's water and energy needs.

4. What should the Legislature be doing to address the needs of Californians without health insurance?

I do not support a "single-payer" system. I do support tax-free Medical Savings Accounts (MSA's) to encourage private citizens to set aside money for health care emergencies. I do support the limits on noneconomic damages in MICRA, which makes health insurance in California more affordable. I would also encourage closer and periodic review of Medi-cal applications for fraudulent claims. I support state income tax credits for organ donors. I believe that legal immigrants should have access to Medi-Cal and other public health services on the same basis that U.S. citizens do.