League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
San Mateo, Santa Clara County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
	John H Barton Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 21; Democratic Party

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

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

We need five key actions: we need to elect people to statewide office who are willing to lead to long term solutions and have a demonstrated track record of having done so; wemust reduce the threshold to pass a budget and tax increases to 55% at the most-I am in favor of the SEIU initiative to do just this; we must review our taxation structure and renocate it or crate a new one so that it reflects the economy that we have; require a "rainy day" fund within the budget for future periods of economic downturn; and most importantly we need statewide priorities that shape the budget in times of wealth and

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

As a two term school trustee of one of the most respected school district int the country and an instructor in the Community College, CSU, UC and private University Systems, I have a unique view on the social, political and human value of a free public education system. Currently that system is broken. Though there are about 1,000 school districts statewide far too much policy is set in Sacramento and much of it is counterproductive. We must move policy setting, implementation and accountability to the local lecel and move away from the state setting the goals, holding the purse strings but delegating the accountability. It makes little policy sense and voids the real value of locally elected representatives.
At the community college level we must stop taxing young citizens by increasing their fees and placing those dollars in the General Fund. Those fees should be reduced or the fee increases should be reduced or the fee increases directed into the system. We must also move to more full-time instructors and better pay and benefits for p

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

Water issues will not be addressed with any success until we focus on solutions to our urban sprawl. Currently we are using up good agricultural land for very un-dense housing which is very water intensive. We must move to denser housing in our core areas and create urban service boundaries that limit growth. Only then will we be able to reduce our water usage but also have a more dense water infrastructure which will be cheaper to build and ma

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

We must move to universal and portable healthcare. The current model of employer-based healthcare is ourmoded in a society in which people will not only change jobs but careers several times. This can only be achieved through new insurance products and changes in law which protect portability, and ensure privacy, but creat large enough pools to keep premiums affor