Five Things I Will Do In Sacramento

By Donald P. "Don" Wagner

I will vigorously advocate reductions in state spending, the lowering of taxes, and the reduction of the crushing regulatory burden the government imposes on business. State income is up 25% over the five years of the Davis Administration. But spending has gone up 44%. It is clear that the budget problem is overwhelmingly on the expenditure side. The budget problems will not be solved by increased taxes or more bonds. Tax increases put a drag on the economy. We must be doing everything possible to spur toward growth, including reducing taxes and eliminating excess regulations that strangle business.

2. Control Worker's Compensation

The Legislature must repeal the recent changes to the Worker's Comp laws and I will lead the charge to do so. Benefits are scheduled to top out in 2007 at $840 per week. That's $44,000 a year for not working. It is killing California business. Our Worker's Comp rates are 5.85% of payroll. In the rest of the United States, the typical rate is between 2 and 3 percent. California business cannot sustain these rates.

We must do three things to bring sanity to the system. First, return the maximum benefit to its pre-2002 level of a $490 per week maximum and roll back rates sufficiently to service only this benefit level. California business will continue to abandon the state if rates are not lowered. Second and third, limit attorneys fees and increase the penalties for physician fraud. I lump these together because they are frankly structural changes in the system that will not admit of a quick fix (like changes in the benefits) but must ultimately be addressed before any true reform can have a hope of long term success.

3. Protect California's Families

The family is under intense governmental pressure. Domestic partnership legislation threatens to undo Proposition 22 and change the nature of marriage. Minor children can obtain abortions without parental notification. Education monopolies lock increasing numbers of youngsters in underperforming schools that fail to emphasize back to basics. We do not require teacher accountability standards but do permit young children to answer intrusive and wholly inappropriate sex questionnaires. On the crime front, Megan's Law is allowed to expire but even harsher gun control laws are passed to thwart your effort to protect yourself and your family. Meanwhile, hard earned money that should be used by parents as they see best for their families is taxed away to support illegal aliens, failed liberal giveaway programs, and big government. This is wrong.

The legislature must recognize that parents know best how to raise their children, and that parents care more for their kids than do bureaucrats. I will ceaselessly work to stop intrusive government and free parents to educate, discipline, and instill values in, California's children. I will not support any piece of legislation that undermines parental authority and control over their children. Moreover, I will sponsor legislation that repeals some of the most disastrous recent anti-family bills.

4. Put Power Back in the Hands of Local Government

School and college districts, cities and counties, and virtually every other local government entity, all live in the shadow (and in fear) of Sacramento. This is exactly backward. As a local government official, I know that local governments are closer to the people they serve, know better the problems of their local jurisdictions, and can best respond flexibly and appropriately to solve those problems. They should be empowered by Sacramento, not stripped of power, money, and authority. In the Legislature, I will daily resist the effort of Sacramento bureaucrats and politicians to take for themselves the power that really belongs out in the local communities

5. Repeal Phony "Civil Rights" Laws

Virtually anything can pass the current Legislature if it is dressed up in the phony garb of "civil rights." Cross-dresser protection, in-state tuition and driver's licenses for illegal aliens, new domestic partnership laws, all have passed in this year alone under the guise of expanding civil rights. Meanwhile, the Legislature sits quietly while courts abuse the concept of civil rights, for example, to outlaw parental notification laws or to harass the Boy Scouts. I will not sit quietly. I will oppose further enactment of the liberal agenda under the false flag of civil rights, and I will sponsor legislation that would undo activist court decisions.