Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 31; Republican Party

Hello. My name is Brandon Shoemaker. I am the Republican Party nominee for the District 31 State Assembly seat that traverses Fresno and Tulare counties. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you for a few moments today on my ideas for restoring California for our future generations.

I am a native Californian and have called the Central Valley home for almost 30 years. I've been married to my beautiful wife Renee for 14 years and we have have two great kids, Sierra (9) and Evan (6). I am a Fraud Investigator with the State of California and have worked in law enforcement for over 20 years. I've worked in several capacities including a patrol officer, field training officer, school resource officer, tactical team member as well as Detective.

I spent all of 2005 working for the United States Department of Justice living and working in the Red Zone of Eastern Baghdad training Iraqi police officers to be a standalone police force.

Renee has worked in agriculture locally for the last 17 years. We also own and operate a small business in Selma. We are active in our children's school as well as our church.

Thirty years ago California was a shining example to the rest of the nation of how government should operate. We led the nation in agriculture, manufacturing, industry, technology and innovation. Over the years we have been on a downhill slide. Last year we saw over 47,000 businesses close their doors or leave our great state. Unemployment is at an all time high in the state and as high as 40 percent in some of our Westside communities that have been hit hardest by the Man Made Drought.

We have seen government bailout's on the national as well as local level. Continued bad decisions by career politicians and these bailouts have caused police and fire employee's to be furloughed or even lose their jobs. But we continue to be told that "Public Safety" will not be affected. This as we all know is not true. Public Safety is being compromised, greatly.

Our government is broke and career politicians continue with the thought that if they don't see it, it must not be happening. They continue with the idea that they can tax themselves out of this mess. That has led to our massive 26 billion dollar deficit and quite frankly will never work.

Listen to my ideas about how we will start the healing and recovery process. Keep in mind it took 30 years to get here and we will not solve the problem in merely a year or two.

JFK knew in 1961 and Reagan in 1981 the one thing government can do and that truly will help spur growth in our communities is to give a tax break across the board. Some career politicians have stated we should give a tax break to business that hires new employees. I disagree. The majority of businesses in California are "mom and pop" or owner operated that have no employee's or only employ's family members. This strategy does nothing for family businesses which are the majority of businesses in our state.

A tax break will allow them business to bring displaced employee's back to work. In turn the employee's are paying their mortgage and making purchases in the community bringing much needed revenue. A win win for all involved. Government can no longer be all things to all people. We cannot continue to fund federal mandates spending a dollar and only get .25 cents in reimbursement. Nor can we continue to fund all of the self imposed mandates we as Californians have placed on ourselves again spending a dollar and getting nothing in return. Some of these programs are meant to give a hand up when bad things happen, not a handout for life.

I do not support the Water Bond in its current fashion. There is far too much fat. Of the more than 11 billion dollars, 1.65 billion is in administrative costs to administer the bond. 20 million is included for "economic development" in Siskiyou County. Money that would be better served in the communities of San Joaquin, Mendota and Firebaugh that have been devastated by unemployment due to the drought. There is money to tear down dams at Klamath Falls. Even talk about money to build a meditation garden in the City of San Francisco. Some of the groups involved in the decision making process of the money, like which projects get funded, for how much and when they start the project, have ties to the environmental left. And, there is no guarantee of a dam at Temperance Flat which we much need.

I've been told in the legislature you need to give a little to get a little. This is the attitude that has led to our fiscal demise. I will fight for issue specific legislation and initiatives. The first will be for a much needed dam at Temperance Flat. With one issue legislation being a priority, there will be less discussion, less special interest involvement and a vote will occur much faster.

I will fight to do away with the ridiculously high pay that the majority of state commission receive. It makes no sense to me that the Governor makes political appointments to the various commissions which meet only four times a year, every quarter and receive salaries of $160,000 to $190,000 a year. I agree that if someone wants to serve, the state can be generous and cover airfare or mileage, hotel and meals for the meeting. Much more beyond this lends itself toward corruption.

I support tort reform on various levels. The outrageous "third party lawsuits" that California is inundated with have caused California to have one of the most unfriendly documented business environments in the nation.

I agree we should abolish the State School Board and return control of our schools to our local school districts. This will ensure additional and much needed monies make their way into the classrooms where it is needed instead of funding more unneeded government bureaucracy.

I support a suspension of AB 32, the Governor's Green House Gas Initiative. AB 32 has caused many employers to leave California and to even leave the nation. AB 32 was to decrease the so called Human caused green house gas emissions. This will cause an increase in energy costs, home building costs, transportation and retrofitting costs. AB 32's cost cannot be sustained during this period of economic recession and record high unemployment. The California Air Resources Board has seriously underestimated the costs of AB 32. If rulemaking and implementation go forward as planned AB 32 will drive even more businesses, revenues and jobs out of California and make an economic recovery here much slower and harder. Several studies including one by California State University Sacramento business school say AB 32 will have a dramatic effect, as much as $50,000 per company. Energy costs could climb as much as 60 percent for power and $3.7 billion for gasoline and diesel every year according to other reports.

The Governor can temporarily suspend AB32 when unemployment in the state hits 5.5%. We are almost to 20% yet the Governor refuses to pull the suspension lever. My vision for California is simple. A California where my children have greater opportunities than my wife and I had for education, employment and prosperity. A California that is conservative always. When times are good we pay down debt, build infrastructure and plan for tomorrow. When times are lean, we have the means to live within our means.

I encourage you to take a look at my website at http://www.brandonshoemaker.com and see for yourself the support I have from national, state and local leaders, agriculture, education, police, fire, business as well as the Tea Party. There you can see the extensive list of endorsements that include the National tax Limitation Committee and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Won't you join with me and my campaign team in helping restore the luster to our great state for not only ourselves but more importantly our children and grand children?

My name is Brandon Shoemaker, Republican Party nominee for the District 31 State Assembly seat. These are my thoughts and I would appreciate your support and vote.