League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
San Mateo County, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Kevin Mullin Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 22

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?

Given an unattainable 2/3 vote requirement for new revenues, the Legislature has been forced to cut state funding and all too often those cuts are falling upon the poor and those least able to absorb them. I will prioritize our safety net services to protect the most vulnerable, and support restoration of funding for Pre-14 public education and higher education in particular, which is critical to future of the state's economy.

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

I will be an advocate for governance reform at the state capitol to restore the effectiveness and relevance of the Legislature, and hopefully improve its public standing. I support a host of reforms including a majority vote budget (on both expenditures and revenues), budget reform so revenues are stabilized from year-to-year despite swings in the economy, reforming the state-local fiscal relationship to empower local communities to better control their fiscal destiny, and term limits reform (Proposition 28 on the June ballot) to strengthen the hand of legislators in relation to special interests that often dominate Capitol politics.

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?

It is a priority concern, and should the Governor's revenue initiative pass on the November ballot, I would like to see a restoration of funding for higher education and reverse the recent trend whereby students (and their parents) are contributing more to their higher education than the state is providing. This trend must be reversed, and new revenues must be part of the equation to make that a reality

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

In this redistricting/Top 2 primary election year, there are projected to be up to 40 new members of the State Assembly. I believe this represents an opportunity to reach out beyond partisan politics to find consensus on critical challenges facing the state, including creating jobs, fostering economic development, and reviewing our regulatory/business climate. My personal policy priorities are stated above, but I will also work on institutional and operational changes that promote effective policy making and restoring the Legislature's public standing (currently at a 22% approval mark, which is actually above its single digit lows of recent years). Given my background as the San Mateo County cities' representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, I will focus efforts on transportation funding for our region including advocacy for the electrification of CalTrain, our commuter backbone service on the Peninsula. I will also be a strong voice for San Mateo County so our county receives its rightful share of state resources given the area's important economic role, from biotech campuses in the north county to high-tech innovation in the south county.

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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 4, 2012 16:06
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