Today, Californians pay the highest sales tax in America. Our personal income tax is the fourth highest in the country. Our Corporate tax rate is the highest in the West. In California, manufacturers pay taxes on equipment they buy. This tax is not imposed on businesses in 43 other states. It is no wonder then, that between 2004 and 2008, more than one million Californians packed up and moved their families and businesses to other states.

• I strongly opposed actions by the majority party earlier this year to impose temporary increases in sales tax and personal income taxes.

• I also oppose sales tax on manufacturing equipment and support efforts to eliminate this tax so we can be competitive with other states.

• I am in support of efforts to cut taxes for every taxpayer and every business in California to jumpstart the economy and restore California as a leader in economic growth, competitiveness and innovation.

Visit again soon for more detailed updates regarding my stance on taxes.

For decades, California has spiraled downward toward the red thanks to out-of-control spending by the Legislature. From 1998 to 2008, the state increased spending by nearly 80% - eighty percent increase in spending in ten years! Unfortunately, I think most of us agree that the quality of our kids’ education, the quality of our roads or our health care system, etc. haven’t felt that 80% improvement. It’s a common myth that during tough economic times, we have to either decrease services or increase taxes. I disagree. There’s a third option here. We need to know how state government is spending your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

• It’s shocking that this Legislature never stops to analyze how your hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent.

• This year, I introduced my “Legislative Accountability Act” which would allow for lawmakers to spend an entire year working on the budget, leaving the second year of session for legislation.

• It’s time we hold government truly accountable for taxpayer dollars and scrutinize state spending line-by-line.

Check back shortly for more specific descriptions about my Legislative Accountability and State Performance Evaluations Acts.

In addition to government reform, I also believe our focus needs to be addressing the state’s business climate and adding jobs. Today, the state’s unemployment is at a 70-year high of 12.2%. An estimated 2.2 million Californians are without a job. A recent study administered by the Schwarzenegger administration measured the cost of regulation to small businesses in California. The study (click here) shows the total cost of California’s excessive, over-the-top regulation as $493 billion. This is equivalent to $134,122 for every small business in California during 1997. I don’t know about any of you who are business owners, but when my family owned Pine Tree Lumber in Escondido, we sure couldn’t afford $134,122 to subsidize our state’s bloated bureaucracies and ill-conceived regulations. Furthermore, the study found that the California’s excessive regulations results in a loss of 3.8 million jobs. This is equal to one-tenth of California’s population!

• If we don’t relieve our state’s 770,000 small business employers of unrealistic regulations and taxes, we can’t create the jobs we must have to ensure California’s future.

• If you’re a business owner, I have a personal favor to ask: If you have examples of ridiculous, illogical regulatory requirements – I would like to hear about them.

• When I go back up to Sacramento in January, I want to take your stories to the Governor and legislature and work on your behalf to end the regulatory nightmare for our state’s job creators.

To find out more about what I’m doing to create and retain jobs in California, visit again soon for my about my actions to battle California’s skyrocketing unemployment rate.

California’s education system is in trouble. 30% of California high school students are dropping out of school. In urban communities like Los Angeles, only one out of every two kids completes high school. Most of these dropouts are ill-equipped to find good jobs. They are more likely to go on welfare, utilize other taxpayer-subsidized programs and commit crimes.

• We need to provide educational opportunities for students with a variety of interests and passions. Today, the vocational classes many of us had in school that produced skilled business workers and successful business owners are largely absent in our schools.

• Also, an estimated 25% of California students are English learners. We need to make sure ALL students learn English well and recognize that our students’ ability to read, write and speak English is crucial for our state’s economic engine. We also need to make sure these kids have pride in our wonderful country.

• Finally, we need to empower our teachers to effectively enlist parental support as partners in their children’s education while holding them accountable for results in the classrooms.

Learn more about my fight for a quality education system by stopping by the website again sometime soon.