California State AssemblyCandidate for District 8

It is a worthwhile goal to make prescription drug prices more affordable. The proposal would allow the California Department of Health Care Services to negotiate with drugmakers to demand lower prices competitve with countries such as Canada. The current proposal would create a new Office of Health Care Affordability. The key is to determine whether the new office would save Californians more in lower drug prices compared to the administrative costs of a new government program.

Absolutely do not change the Property Tax System set up by Proposition 13.  California already has some of the highest property taxes in the Country.  It is a major reason businesses and fellow Californians are fleeing our State.  If approved, this bill will increase the cost of living on every person in California through higher rents, higher prices on goods and services and put thousands of small businesses "Out of Business".  California has a budget surplus ... why vote for the largest property tax increase in the history of California?

The best way to lower rent costs is by increasing the supply of rental properties.  Rent caps result in reducing the supply of rental properties, causing shortages and end up ultimately raising the cost of renting.  A more effective approach would be for lawmakers to reduce the administrative costs, regulations and permit fees for building new affordable housing.  Allow private developers to make a modest profit and they will build affordable housing without rent caps or raising our taxes.

I will support new, clean hydroelectric power projects. Not only will this generate more electricity, but it will increase our water storage capacity and modernize our aging infrastucture.  I also support exploring a partnership/demonstration project with a company like Bill Gate's TerraPower to build  smaller, advanced technology nuclear power plants that convert depleted uranium already considered "waste" into clean energy.

The State Housing Department estimates we need to build 180,000 new housing units per year to keep prices stable. Right now we're averaging less than half of that, causing more shortages and higher prices.  We need to "fast track" projects that modernize and re-develop urban apartments and condominiums by reducing the red-tape of multiple layers of government reviews. We need to review and streamline the approval process for new housing developments and re-zone areas to allow for innovative projects that promote eco-friendly communities that are more bike friendly and walkable.

According to CAL MATTERS, "Jails and prisons have become default psychiatric institutions.  Over 30% of California prisoners currently receive treatment for a serious mental disorder".  Since 1995, California has lost nearly 30% of its psychiatric hospital beds.  Is it any stretch of the imagination to conclude that California has neglected our mentally ill population?  We need to build more small-scale, community mental health care facilities and train more mental health care providers to take care of our mentally ill and we need to provide more outpatient services to treat people before they reach crisis level emergency care.

There is no "one size fits all solution" for California's water shortage.  We need to create new supplies by building new reservoirs and desalinization plants, modernize our existing infrastructure to increase capacity, conserve and reuse water supply that we already have through reclaiming runoff water, upgrading our inefficient appliances and implementing precision irrigation practices.   We need to build new reservoirs and expand the capacity of existing reservoirs. Sites Reservoir is a project that should be green-lighted. It is an alternative to damming, Sacramento River water would be pumped into Sites during high flows via pipeline to save as much as 1.8 million acre-feet when full of runoff water, and then released back into the river as needed.  Our last major water project was completed in the 1960's, meanwhile our population has increased by over 40 million people.  We are overdue in dealing with our increasing need for water and I will make it a priority to solve our water supply before we have the next drought.