League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA November 2, 2004 Election
	James R. Smith Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 53

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis?

-Oppose the Schwarzenegger $15 billion bond bondoggle that will put Californians in hock paying the interest for years.
-Raise taxes on those most able to pay, the wealthy and the corporations.
-End the imbalance between what Californians pay the federal governement and what it receives back. Converting from sales tax to income tax will cut this imbalance by half ($27 billion a year). Investigate how to get more services from the feds.
-Support Prop. 56 to cut the percentage needed in the legislature to pass a budget.

2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System?

-Make California public school teachers the best paid in the nation. This is an investment in the next generation.
-Begin foreign language education in grade one. Support bilingual and multi-cultural education.
-Free quality public education from Head Start to post-graduate. There is no such thing as "too much education."

3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs?

-Support conservation measures such as low-flush toilets
-Oppose privatization of California's resources
-Promote less water-intensive agricultural crops
-Make polluters pay for fouling our lakes, rivers and ground water
-Promote desalination

4. What should the Legislature be doing to address the needs of Californians without health insurance?

-Legislate SB 921 - Single-payer health care, which will provide ALL Californians with quality health care without a net increase in taxes.
-Make the state an "owner of last resort" to prevent hospital closings by private corporations.
-Increase funding for county hospitals.
-Enforce strong patient to nursing care ratios in all hospitals.