California State Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Republican candidate Terry Rathbun and Green Party candidate Linda Piera-Avila are vying to represent the 41st District in Tuesday’s election. Since Brownley took office in November 2006, she has concentrated mainly on education. This past two-year term, the Democrat said she is most proud of two education bills she carried that were passed into law. One bill gives community colleges the option of raising non-resident student fees, while the other helps foster children stay at their home school even when they must move to a different neighborhood. ’A lot of foster children move a lot and school is their family,’ said Brownley, a Santa Monica resident who served on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board for 12 years and was board president three times. If elected, Rathbun, an Encino resident who owns a small informational-technology consulting business, said he would focus on school financing. He would like to reform Proposition 98, which passed in 1988 and requires a minimum percentage of the state budget to be spent on K-14 education. ’There is a lot of corruption, and the money is being misdirected,’ Rathbun said, noting that he thinks the money is being spent on administration rather than in the classroom. Brownley disagrees, saying, ‘I actually think we are disinvesting in education.’ She doesn’t think that the formula for distributing money established by Proposition 98 needs to be changed, but the system needs to be more transparent, so that it is easier to see how money is distributed and spent at the local districts. This past term, Brownley carried a bill, AB 8, that would have convened a working group to create a simple, more transparent accountable system, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. She plans to introduce a similar bill and is hopeful that if Jerry Brown is elected governor, he will sign it. Piera-Avila, a Santa Monica resident and physical therapist, agreed with Brownley that schools are inadequately funded. Fixing the problem, she thinks, calls for changing how the government functions. ’We need to reboot and start over with a new constitution,’ said Piera-Avila, noting that she would advocate for a constitutional convention. She believes the current constitution is ineffective and the root cause of the state’s budget problems. The state had to close a budget gap of $24.3 billion in 2008 and $60 billion in 2009. The 2010 budget closes a gap of $19.3 billion by a combination of expenditure reductions, federal funds and other solutions. All three candidates agree that the two-thirds vote required to pass a budget is ineffective, so they all support Proposition 25, which changes the vote required to a simple majority. ’Our state legislature is constitutionally mandated to pass a budget on time, yet they have not done that for the last 20-plus years due to the two-thirds majority requirement; we need to fix this problem,’ Rathbun said. Rathbun, who served for nine years in the U.S. Navy and earned his associate’s degree in business from Pierce College, said he thinks one way to help balance the state’s budget is to reform pensions and increase the retirement age of government employees. ’From a business perspective, when you are low on income, you scale back on spending,’ Rathbun said. ‘In Sacramento, they don’t take that approach.’ Brownley responded that government officials should be responsible and that the government is already working closely with unions to make difficult decisions regarding pensions. ‘People who work hard and have a full career deserve a pension,’ Brownley said. ‘I believe this should be negotiated locally.’ Piera-Avila, who attended California Lutheran University and Cal State Long Beach, earning degrees in medical technology and physical therapy, respectively, pointed out that healthcare benefits are a huge part of pensions, so she thinks a universal healthcare system would help lower the cost. ’Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege,’ Piera-Avila said, noting she would advocate for a single-payer healthcare system. Piera-Avila added that another way to help with the budget crisis would be to establish a state bank, so that loans could be made to businesses and students at a fair interest rate and the interest could be invested in California. Brownley, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from George Washington University and a master’s degree from American University, has also directed her energies towards environmental conservation. This past term, she attempted to pass legislation that would ban single-use plastic bags. If re-elected, she plans to continue to pursue legislation. Rathbun, who serves on the L.A. County Republican Central Committee for the 41st District, criticized her efforts, saying he thinks incentive programs are more effective than mandates. In addition, he believes local municipalities should make such decisions. Plus, ‘it’s going to force more businesses out of the state,’ Rathbun said. Brownley contends that the legislation would create a market for reusable-bag manufacturers. ’Critics say it’s a job killer for California, but it’s just the opposite,’ Brownley said. ‘It’s a green-job creator.’ There are three plastic manufacturing companies in California and making plastic bags is a small part of their business, Brownley said. As part of the bill she tried to pass, the companies would have received money to retool so they could make reusable bags. She also explained that a statewide ban is needed because if each city has different regulations, it would be too confusing for the consumer. Piera-Avila, a member of the City of Santa Monica’s Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force and the Pico Neighborhood Association, said she supports Brownley’s efforts to ban plastic bags. ’We need to do more,’ said Piera-Avila, who ran for Santa Monica City Council in 2008. ‘We need to prepare for the time when the availability of oil is over.’
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