League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
San Francisco, San Mateo County, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Phil Ting Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 19

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How will you prioritize the budget choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?

Our state needs smarter economic policies to get our economy back on track. Our top priority is to create high-wage, middle-class jobs to restore our state's economy and restore greater economic equality. I have helped launch programs in San Francisco that have created jobs and improved our local economy, and these successful ideas are scalable to the rest of the state.

So the first way to grow our state budget is to grow our state's economy in an equitable and sustainable way and that will be my top priority.

We must also prioritize improving our schools and making college affordable. To achieve this, I will fight for and organize the community around smart ideas like Speaker John Pérez's Middle Class Scholarship legislation in order to help working families afford higher education.

To make government more efficient and responsive, I will continue to work with and engage members of the community, small business groups and other organizations to crowdsource the best ideas to improve our state. And more importantly, I will listen. My door will always be open to constituents when I'm a member of the State Assembly.

2. What types of changes or reforms, if any, do you think are important to make our state government function more effectively?

I believe government works better when government listens.

As Assessor-Recorder, I transformed one of the city's worst departments and made it more efficient and productive. I have worked to close a five-year backlog and have generated more than $290 million without any new taxes by bringing new technology, better management and employing my background in helping large organizations reform.

While we must absolutely make government more effective and responsive, we must also address the chronic underfunding of key services through a more equitable taxation system. For example, when middle class families see college tuition skyrocket + this is essentially a tax on them. At the same time, major corporations are avoiding taxes on sales through loopholes. We need to close the loopholes so we have a fairer and more rational tax system.

3. Fees for public higher education have gone up dramatically and funding has been cut. Is this a priority concern, and if so, what measures would you propose to address it?

Absolutely. First and foremost, the future of California will be rooted in the knowledge economy, and when our state ranks 47th in per pupil spending and dead last in per student funding at the higher education level, we need to do all that we can to fight for better schools and affordable colleges and universities. As the product of California's public education system - from kindergarten through UC Berkeley - and as the father of two young daughters, I understand that our state needs better schools and that investment in higher education is the single most effective investment we can make in growing our economy and preparing future generations for 21st century jobs.

As someone who comes out of the civil rights movement, working as Executive Director of the Asian Law Caucus and even before that as a student-activist at UC Berkeley, I have never forgotten that our public schools are our single greatest tool to provide equal opportunities to all Californians through equal access to an excellent and free public education. While we have made great strides, there is such a long way to go, particularly in addressing the needs of underrepresented communities. From guaranteeing pre-school to helping create safe and secure classrooms and communities, we must help create a learning environment that allows all of our children to succeed.

California State University students will face a 9% tuition increase in 2012 - the ninth tuition hike in nine years. UC students endured a devastating 18% hike last year. And the fee increases at our Community Colleges are pricing too many students out of an affordable education. And most recently, CSU is proposing to eliminate the State University Grant for 20,000 graduate students who are most in need. When will it end? We need to look towards smart funding alternatives to ensure that we have the resources to educate the next generation and to equip them with the tools to succeed in a competitive 21st century digital age.

There are solutions out there. As previously mentioned, I unequivocally support Speaker John Pérez's Middle Class Scholarship Act that will make college more affordable for families making less than $150,000 a year. The proposal could amount to a savings of $4,000 a year for CSU students and as much as $8,100 a year for UC students.

4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address? What are your own priorities?

We must continue work toward protecting homeowners from wrongful foreclosures. I commissioned the nation's first real study of mortgage fraud that has spurred action to protect homeowners. We can build upon this study to create real solutions, such as instituting more real estate watchdog legislation and addressing the laws governing foreclosures.

We must also find more solutions that not only help our economy but also protect our State, such as creating and funding more organizations such as GoSolarSF, which I co-founded to bring more high-wage, green-collar jobs to San Francisco while also protecting our environment.

We must also ensure equal opportunities for all. As someone who comes out of the civil rights movement, working as Executive Director of the Asian Law Caucus and even before that as a student-activist at UC Berkeley, I have never forgotten that our public schools are our single greatest tool to provide equal opportunities to all Californians through equal access to an excellent and free public education. While we have made great strides, there is such a long way to go, particularly in addressing the needs of Latino and African American children. From guaranteeing pre-school to helping create safe and secure classrooms and communities, we must help create a learning environment that allows all our children to succeed.

To further ensure equal opportunities, we must work toward closing the digital divide. Too many students don't have access to computers. And in the 21st century, this growing digital divide is an imminent threat to California's future. We run the risk of our students falling behind in the digital age. They are expected to do research, complete their homework and communicate with each other online. Yet it's not just a hardware problem. A large number of students and families don't have Internet access. That's why in 2011 I launched a petition to Guarantee Universal Internet Access to all San Franciscans, and over 5,000 individuals have already signed. The UN declared access to the Internet is a human right. And in California, that means we need to find effective ways to close the digital divide. As a member of the State Assembly, I will work with partnering organizations and groups to introduce cost-effective ways to increase Internet access, create more Wi-Fi hotspots in local communities and ensure that our classrooms have up-to-date technology.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: April 25, 2012 09:27
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