League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Betsy Butler Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 50

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How will you prioritize the budget choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?

We must fund schools and public safety. Given the state's ongoing revenue shortages due to the recession, meeting that challenge will be difficult, but not impossible. The Governor's revenue initiative, which I support, and the Speaker's Middle Class Scholarship Act, which I am a co-author of, are two items currently being worked on that will help bring new revenues to both education and public safety.

2. What types of changes or reforms, if any, do you think are important to make our state government function more effectively?

Since 1988 the Legislature has given out $112 billion in tax breaks. Some of those created jobs. But the vast majority did not. We must stop this self-destructive trend. Efficiency will not be achieved until there is a consequence for waste. Every year, at our direction, the Legislature's Auditor General identifies waste and recommends corrective action. But every year two-thirds of those recommendations are ignored. The Legislature needs to reduce funding for any agency that ignores corrective.

We must look at cutting corporate loopholes at all levels. That includes, but is not limited to, introducing an oil extraction fee, reforming the commercial real estate portion of Prop. 13 and the types of loopholes being closed in the Speaker's Middle Class Scholarship Act.

3. Fees for public higher education have gone up dramatically and funding has been cut. Is this a priority concern, and if so, what measures would you propose to address it?

The University of California has embarked on a dangerous and destructive business model. They are systematically increasing the number of students admitted from outside California and who pay higher tuition. In fact, the number of out-of-state students has tripled in just a few years. We are proposing that we impose fair taxes on corporations and directing those revenues to lowering tuition for California's middle class.

4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address? What are your own priorities?

We read news story after news story where the Legislature is overly-influenced by special interests in making public policy. Stopping the influence of big money is my priority. And while I am only one person, I am leading this effort by example. I took on the chemical industry lobby and passed the first-in-the-nation ban on toxic materials in the manufacturing of products used by young children. It is my hope and belief that when legislators see the strong support that has earned me that others of them will find the courage to follow that example.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 15, 2012 15:59
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