League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Orange County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
	Joe Snyder Answers Questions Candidate for State Senator; District 35; Republican Party

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

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

The current budget crisis can be effectively solved by implementing the following plan which is dubbed C-A-T: Change to a 2 year budget cycle; Across the board 3.5% spending cuts; and Tactical garage sale.

C - Cycle: Change the current budget cycle from one to two years.

Initially, it will provide a greater degree of predictability in the funding commitments of the State of California. This will create greater confidence for Wall Street in its evaluation of the risk that California will either not repay its debts or will fail to budget enough funds to cover those debts. The end result will be a strengthening of the state's credit rating which will result in a lower interest rate charged and cost tax payers less money to borrow from the capital markets.

Second, this will minimize the contentious debates which occur when legislators and programs are forced to fight for their budgets on an annual basis. This will allow a deeper, more thoughtful communicative rationality to develop. Citizens, as leaders, will be able to step back, evaluate, and discuss the bigger picture issues. Freed from the pressure of protecting narrow interests and insuring their funding every year which tends to produce horse trading rather than sound policy development, the focus can be placed on discussion of strategic goals and WHERE the state should be heading generally, not just HOW.

In Dana Point, we use two documents in governing. The first is a Strategic Plan and the second is the budget. All budget decisions are checked against the Plan, and funding is appropriated accordingly. In a two year budget cycle, every other year can be dedicated to the strategic questions, leaving the following years to be dedicated to budgeting for those strategic choices.

A - Across the board 3.5% cuts in spending for 5 years outside of education.

The current budget spends more than $90.2 Billion up from $57.8 Billion just five years ago. Schwarzenegger projects a $22 Billion shortfall. Currently, the existing deficit bond will provide $10.7 Billion which is due in five years. The net difference leaves $11.3 Billion in existing deficit to make up for.

Cutting spending 3.5% for the next five years (while taking into account conservative revenue growth - 2.5% after the Governor's estimate for '04-'05) will generate cash surpluses of over $14 Billion. The net result to the taxpayer is that in 5 years, the spending cuts and revenue growth will result in over $31 Billion in surplus. Thus, the current deficit bond will be repaid on schedule, as will the current operating deficit that plagues our great state.

T - Tactical garage sale of overhead.

The State of California owns over 8.5 million square feet of office space. Another solution would be to sell a portion of that property to private entities and then lease the same property back. An option can be written into the contract to allow for the possibility of repurchasing the space in the future if the economic picture makes available.

If we are to treat the state like a troubled corporation, the market forces fiscally challenged corporations to sell assets and lease them back.

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

The children of the 35th District represent our community's future. Without significant dedication to the success of tomorrow's generation, the shining light that is democracy will be at risk.

Today's educators work hard to provide not only the best education possible, but also devote much of their time to raising our children. These thankless individuals are called upon too often to impart the wisdom and values which historically have been taught in the home. Our educators are forced to meet the needs of a society suffering from the break down in the American family. California education should be reformed in two critical areas. The first is merit pay for teachers, and the second is choice for students.

The bottom line is that our educators must be compensated more for their achievement and accomplishments as well as for their years of service. This means that the teachers giving 110% to our children should be compensated accordingly. One method for insuring fair compensation is to test our children as they march through their levels of schooling.

This does not mean however, that testing should be the basis for curriculum. Nor does it mean that a teacher who follows another who was ineffective should be forced to suffer for the prior teacher's deficiencies. Teacher compensation should be based upon testing that is relative to a child's performance from the prior year. At the end of a school year, a student should receive a standardized test. This would form the baseline upon which their performance in the coming year would be measured.

For example, a student completing the fourth grade should be given an end of the year standardized exam. If that child reads at a third grade level, that reading level should form the baseline for the child while in the fifth grade. If upon completion of the fifth grade, that student reads at a fifth grade level as measured by the end of the year exam, that educator should be compensated for stimulating the abilities of that child. The same is true for the child who upon completing the fourth grade is reading at a sixth grade level. If upon completion of the fifth grade, that child is then reading at a seventh grade level, the growth of the child's knowledge has continued and the educator should be compensated as well.

Unfortunately for some educators, if the students fail to grow on a consistent basis, then that educator should be relieved of their duties. Our children deserve, and the future of our community demands, only the very best.

The second area in need of reform is to provide children the ability to choose where they attend schools. A balance must be struck between providing government based educational institutions and private educational options. A recent Brookings Institution report outlined certain key factors which must be included in the final calculus to insure that risk is balanced with options.

The report highlighted that, "[p]olicy and investment factors include student targeting, funding, performance measurement, parent information, student access to schools, regulation, and accountability. Individual behavior factors include parents' preferences, student effort, school options, and teacher response." (Brookings Institution, School Choice + Doing It The Right Way Makes A Difference at 4. The report is available at <http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/gs/brown/20031116schoolchoicereport.pdf> (last accessed February 21, 2004)). Care must be given that choice is phased in and that the concerns of ideologues opposed to choice are addressed.

Ultimately, as the Brookings report states, "Expanding choice implies that communities will provide some schools in new ways and also eliminate inequitable policies that plague district-run schools serving the poor. Doing new things well is not beyond human capacity, but it requires time, experience, and close analysis of what works and what does not." (See Brookings Report at 36).

For too long, the legislature has thrown money at the problems facing our educational system. For too long, the most financially strapped have been forced (dare we say doomed) to attend the weakest schools. True equality is achieved when those with out the wherewithal to opt into the best performing schools have the same opportunities at choice as the most financially able.

By providing parents and children a choice, children will be freed from those schools that for too long have served as prisons for too many.

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

The 35th District is bordered by the Pacific Ocean which in itself is a wonderful asset, but it also provides fantastic shorelines. Between the two, much of our economic welfare depends upon how we, as a District, protect our beaches and ocean. This is the reason why my first priority has been, and always will be, "Clean Oceans, Clean Beaches."

With the hard work of many good people, Dana Point has been the point on the spear in protecting our waterways. As a city council, and as a community, we have worked with conviction and determination to clean up our coast and maintain its health.

As a point of pride, we have significantly decreased the amount of trash and freshwater sewage on our local beaches. Our commitment to preserving our environment is reflected in a comprehensive program which includes: storm drain maintenance; catch basin filter maintenance; low flow diversions and treatment; weekly street sweeping; and perhaps one of the most fundamental services, public education.

One of the critical elements of any plan is education. If we have a good understanding of the urbanization processes along our coastline, and if we have learned to appreciate this most vital resource, we can essentially make behavioral changes that will have immense positive effects on our coastline.

The pristine beaches and inshore coastal waters of Dana Point are proof of my commitment to the environment and I pledge to continue the hard work to keep California's most diverse and valuable resource healthy and viable for generations to come.

I believe that the Clean Oceans, Clean Beaches Program of Dana Point can be replicated through out the 35th district, and the state. I will dedicate myself to this end.

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

The crisis of health insurance for the uninsured can be effectively addressed by providing refundable tax credits for individual health plan purchase, allowing non-employment based groups to form insurance pools, and by fostering non-governmental health care out reach organizations.

The current Federal and state tax code is skewed in favor of employer based insurance plans. Unfortunately, as outlined by Dick Armey and Pete Stark, "the root causes of uninsurance: [are] a workforce that is 'increasingly mobile and part-time' and a perverse tax code that 'discriminates against not only insurance purchased outside the workplace but also lower paid, part-time and small-business workers.'" (Heritage Foundation, A Guide To Tax Credits For The Poor, May 5, 2000 at 7 <http://www.heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/BG1365ES.cfm> (last accessed February 21, 2004), quoting The Washington Post, Medical Coverage For All, June 18, 1999 at A41.)

The current system does not work for employees because tax credits are provided to small business for investment into plans for employees. However, this requires that employees work through their employers which limits choice and creates a disconnect between the relationship of insurer and insured.

A refundable tax credit, though poor tax policy, would allow individuals to purchase plans directly through insurers and apply a tax credit. For those who do not earn a wage high enough to receive a tax refund, the credit would provide an incentive for the purchase of a health insurance product.

For example, if an individual owed $600 in tax, but spent $1,000 on health insurance, the individual would receive $400 in a tax refund. It is this refund which would provide the incentive necessary to drive the purchase of individual health plans.

A second area of reform would be increase the ability for private organizations to come together to qualify for group status. Organizations such as a church or community group would be able to purchase a policy which is similar to how employer based pooled plans are structured.

This would remove the bias currently placed in favor of employer based health plans. Together with the possibility of individual policy purchases, expanded opportunities in the group market would drive competition which would drive down cost and increase benefits.

The final arena to serve those who are uninsured is to utilize the model of community based, non-profit, non-governmental health organizations. In Santa Ana, CA, one such organization is Latino Health Access. This organization receives private funding and grants to teach "Healthy Lifestyles" to individuals in the community. The leviathan of the federal and state health care bureaucracy is daunting and acts as a deterrent to many who are without health insurance. By using a model which promotes community based volunteerism and preventative, life style health care education, individuals can learn to make better health based choices for themselves. This reduces dependency on the government and fosters empowerment of the individual through education.

Together, these three areas of reform can provide a comprehensive change to the way that the uninsured approach their health. By providing refundable tax credits for the purchase of individual health plans; allowing the pooling of non-employment based group health care plans; and by fostering private community based, non-profit, non-governmental health organizations the needs of the uninsured can be much better served than the status quo.