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.

Answer from Mike Laursen:

The number one priority should be restoring control of public schools, including school funding, to the local level. The state educational bureaucracy is too remote and unaccountable.

Answer from Elaine Alquist:

It has become increasingly clear that the State budget process is broken. The budget rarely meets deadlines and often produces devastating cuts to education, health care, and transportation.

I propose a two-year budget cycle, and a mandatory "rainy day" reserve so that we are obligated to save money during good economic times. Also, I feel that the budget process needs to take place in an orderly fashion, without the last minute frenzied midnight budget deals that often escape public scrutiny.

Answer from Shane Patrick Connolly:

Now that the voters of California passed the bi-partisan Economic Recovery Bond Act, Proposition 97, and the accompanying California Balanced Budget Act, Proposition 98, to put our state back on a firm financial footing, we must prioritize our expenditures, protecting essential services to the most vulnerable in society along with funding for education and police and fire protection. We must reduce or eliminate funding for low-priority expenditures on things such as the Bureau of Automotive Repair and wasteful boards and commissions.

We then must combat the waste, fraud, and abuse occurring in Sacramento, such as the hiring of over 1,000 additional prison guards without the authorization of the legislature at a cost of up to $100 million (as reported by the San Jose Mercury News).

We must elect legislators who are committed to the growth of California's economy so entrepreneurs and businesses large and small can create the jobs and income that, in turn, generates resources for our State government.

Finally, we must elect legislators that take action when they are warned of an impending fiscal crisis instead of legislators who are paralyzed by their ties to special interests.

Answer from Elaine Alquist:

As a former teacher, school board member, member of the Assembly Education Committee for six years and Chair of the Higher Education Committee for my final two years, I've been a fighter for public schools and improving education from pre-school through university.

I strongly believe that we need to invest more in education, not less (as some in Sacramento have suggested). As a parent and a grandparent, I will continue to fight for Universal Pre-School. Early education shouldn't be the privilege of the fortunate.

To promote an educated and capable workforce we need to continue to invest in higher education. I learned this as a college trustee in the 1970s and as a member of the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) in the 1990s. While in the Assembly I successfully authored the Graduate Education Opportunity Act (AB 511), which allows employers to reimburse graduate students $5,250 in tax free tuition credit. The business community relies on skilled workers, and higher education facilitates economic growth.

I would continue to fight to protect investment in education - from pre-school to Ph.D. I was proud to co-author the largest statewide school bond measure in history to fund major school facility construction and modernization projects for K-12 and higher education.

I believe that we should invest in all levels of education and would support measures to lower the threshold for local school bond measures. I would continue working to ensure high standards in the classroom and accountability for parents, teachers and students. I know that educating our children and adults is the most important investment we can make. This was my top priority in the Assembly, and if elected, will be in the State Senate.

Answer from Shane Patrick Connolly:

It is essential that we provide a high-quality education to ALL of California's children, adequately preparing our high school graduates with the skills they need to succeed as they enter employment and/or higher education. At the same time we must ensure equality of opportunity by keeping higher education accessible to all.

In K-12 education, we must maintain high standards for students and teachers, measured through testing. At the same time, we must free local teachers, school boards, and administrators to make spending decisions for their own schools. We must get Sacramento out of the job of micro-managing our schools by consolidating various categorical grants into locally-controlled block grants, so our tax dollars can be directed based upon local needs.

Economic growth will help our State generate revenues to restore additional aid to our community colleges. Further, we could spur more funding for community colleges by developing new tax incentives for businesses to further utilize community colleges for employee training and retraining. Given the current low borrowing rates, we could also expand loan guarantees, making more student loans available to those in need.

Answer from Elaine Alquist:

Water infrastructure planning and funding must become a priority for the state of California as our state is relying on water systems that need to be upgraded. While in the Assembly I co-authored legislation mandating Bay Area water planning and Department of Health Services oversight (AB 1823). I would continue to support efforts that ensure the most efficient use of our water resources and encourage conservation from individuals and industry alike.

Answer from Shane Patrick Connolly:

Once we prioritize our expenditures and get the State of California back on a firm financial footing, we must dedicate resources to strengthening our infrastructure, including our water systems. For too long the resources that were to be dedicated to infrastructure have been diverted to other purposes.

To prepare for the future of our water needs, water rate structures should reward conservation and innovation, such as the expanded use of clean "gray water" for irrigation. We must also examine the need for the expansion of our water storage systems and immediately begin rebuilding our deteriorating water delivery systems.

Answer from Elaine Alquist:

I am proud of what we were able to accomplish during my six years in the Legislature with regard to health care. As the legislator responsible for the creation of the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care, I know that California seniors deserve far better health care options. I would like to continue my work to make it easier for seniors to receive good care at home as well as in good quality nursing homes.

California's children need comprehensive healthcare coverage, which is why I was a co-author of the Healthy Families legislation. I want to work to expand the Healthy Families Program to an increased percentage of the poverty line to widen the umbrella of Californians with access to health insurance. I also want to work on finding a solution to making health care more affordable for small business. My goal is to see that all Californians have access to affordable health care which they can receive in a timely manner.

Answer from Shane Patrick Connolly:

We must maintain our commitment to the Healthy Families program while working to lower overall health care costs through a variety of measures. Also, it would be short-sighted to reduce funding for in-home care and drug treatments that prevent undesirable and costly institutionalization and hospitalization. At the same time, we must not resort to a one-size-fits-all, "Universal Healthcare" approach that some legislators advocate. "Universal Healthcare" will reduce the quality of care we receive and erode the life-saving innovations that are the hallmark of our existing healthcare system.

As a start, we can improve upon our existing healthcare system by encouraging the formation of buying groups to get group-purchase power for drugs and routine care, expand the availability of catastrophic-care insurance policies coupled with tax-free flexible health care savings accounts, increase the use of health care vouchers for people on fixed incomes and the unemployed, and expand public-private partnerships for the training of needed health-care professionals. It is also essential that we reform the tort system to bring down the cost of medical malpractice insurance while preserving the rights of people with legitimate claims and that we have robust audits of healthcare providers that receive public funds to ensure those funds are being spent legitimately and effectively.

The order of the candidates is random and changes daily.