League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Marin, San Francisco, Sonoma Counties, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues State Senator; District 3

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 candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis? Answer from Sashi McEntee: In the short term, we will need to tighten our belts and make spending cuts that will help us get through this cash crunch and budget shortfall. We also need to begin the process of long-term comprehensive reform of the Constitution and budgeting process. Until we have true reform, we should look to a moratorium on new spending initiatives. 2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System? Answer from Sashi McEntee: Our children need to be able to compete in the global marketplace. Our top priority should be to set educational standards that reflect a global standard, include critical thinking and innovation skill builders like the arts, and include life skills like financial literacy. Then we can give local control of budgets to the districts, who will know best how to use these funds to meet the standards. 3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs? Answer from Sashi McEntee: A thorough public education campaign around conservation, such as what was begun with the Cal Water Crisis campaign, would be a great start. We then need to plan for infrastructure improvements and look into dams and reservoirs. 4. What should the Legislature be doing to address the needs of Californians without health insurance? Answer from Sashi McEntee: The Legislature should aid private industry by passing health information privacy legislation that would help address health IT issues and make progress towards portable electronic health records. We should also explore a tax credit similar to the proposed McCain plan that would allow people to purchase their own insurance without being tied to their employers. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.