Agriculture

Farming and agriculture are in my blood. I was raised on a farm and have made my living growing grapes for more than thirty years. I know what it takes to make a living in the San Joaquin Valley.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles to farmers, ranchers, and growers is not weather, insects and pests, or international competition, but our own state government. Extremist politicians and bureaucrats in Sacramento have put utopian environmental policies ahead of family farms and agricultural sustainability. I’ve stood up to those politicians and bureaucrats and will continue to do so until common sense prevails and the San Joaquin flourishes again.

I’m in favor of rolling back business-killing regulations and for putting farms and families first. As your Assemblyman, I have the experience and skill to promote the interests of family farms and help improve the agricultural engine of the Valley.

Water

Water is a precious resource that brings billions of dollars of business to California. Farms, ranches and our communities are dependent on water, and the policies that manage it, to bring prosperity. As a life-long farmer in the northern San Joaquin Valley, I’ve seen how a lack of leadership and understanding of water policy in Sacramento will inevitably ruin businesses and damage economies. Too often, special interests win out over the good of the whole and create an unfair redistribution of wealth.

In order to restore our economy, we need to prioritize sensible water policies that strengthen and improve our water system. In the Assembly, I’ll continue to fight to balance our water demands throughout the state, and make sure our infrastructure serves the people – not special interests groups.

Budget

California is suffering from a legislature that has little interest in acting fiscally responsible. Our budget and laws create a structural deficit that works against the people of California and fail to provide accountability to taxpayers. Instead of discipline, innovation and transparency, Sacramento operates with gimmicks and broken promises – leaving you and me to pick up the tab.

My experience as a Trustee of the Ceres Unified School Board demonstrates my success in promoting essential government services and keeping budgets balanced. My budgetary accomplishments are built on sound economic principles, such as spending only what you can afford. I’ll bring that experience and success to Sacramento to return accountability and responsible government spending to our state.

Transportation Californians voted to prioritize investments in infrastructure and reduce traffic congestion. But where are the new roads? Let’s get moving again by getting to the bottom of the waste and broken promises for better roads and necessary repairs. As your Assemblyman, I’ll work to clear the bureaucratic road blocks and get promised infrastructure funding moving. I’ll work to prioritize infrastructure funding and make sure that what we voted on and paid for is built.

Taxes

Californians shoulder the highest personal income tax burden in the country. And yet our state teeters on the brink of financial collapse. The liberal tax and spend crowd in Sacramento needs to understand that no society has ever taxed its way to prosperity. Trying to achieve solvency on the backs of productive citizens is morally wrong – and it will not work.

California’s irresponsible tax policies need to be scrapped. I will promote tax cuts because our fiscal problems are on the spending side, not the revenue side. Tax cuts revive failing economies, increase revenues, and reward savings and investment. And tax cuts are right for families, farms, and businesses. You know better than Sacramento how to spend your own money. As your Assemblyman, I’ll work to reduce your tax burden and help you keep more of your hard-earned money instead of sending it to Sacramento.

Education

I have been privileged to serve nine years as a Trustee on the Ceres Unified School Board. In that time I discovered that improving learning doesn’t happen by increasing salaries or with cumbersome state mandates, but by finding common sense solutions that serve children and families. I’m a proven reformer that’s worked to achieve results that benefit our kids, our schools and our communities.

Unfortunately, our state education system is failing our children on many fronts. Drop-out rates are increasing and basic skills are being sacrificed for the drive to improve school statistics. And employers simply cannot rely on our public education system to produce a qualified, educated workforce.

Our schools must be accountable to parents and employers. We need to do what is right by students by helping them engage in meaningful education that prepares them to become the workforce of the future – that’s why I am an advocate for charter schools.

Small Business and Jobs

Too many of our neighbors and friends are out of work. They make up the 12% unemployment rate of California. This is not just about the national economy; the liberal Democrats in control of Sacramento have erected barriers to employment, job creation, and business retention that have made our situation markedly worse then the rest of the country. Since many of these job killers are the result of short-sighted liberal politics, they need to be eliminated so California can start attracting employers and creating jobs.

Our number one priority must be getting our economy back on its feet. And that means creating a business environment that promotes job creation. Instead of erecting costly hurdles for businesses – ones that cause corporations to leave California – Sacramento should be cutting taxes and doing away with regulatory burdens that thwart growth.

Since small businesses and family farms are the backbone of our economy, we need to focus reforms on mom and pop shops. I’ll focus on encouraging small businesses and on reforming our regulatory climate to promote job creation and opportunity.

Law Enforcement

It’s happening more and more often: Crime, drugs, and gang violence invade our communities. The sources of this scourge are both home grown and imported from across the border. We must protect our communities by directing adequate resources to crime prevention and punishment. We must also make certain that judges are not too soft on crime or willing to turn dangerous predators loose in our communities.

Furthermore, our state’s prison system is obviously broken. In fact, it’s so dysfunctional that a federal court temporarily took it out of the State’s control due to poor management. California has one of the highest rates of recidivism and costs per inmate. Our jails release criminals and shorten sentences because they’re back-loaded with inmates that should be in prison, but have nowhere to go due to overcrowding. We release prisoners based on finances, rather than justice.

The Legislature recently passed legislation to build more facilities and to upgrade our badly outdated prison system, but we can’t start building due to bureaucratic regulations. The data management system is decades outdated. Our correctional system is literally crumbling from within. I propose prison reform based on a top-to-bottom evaluation of our state system and doing what it takes to fix our prisons.