As a city councilman, I have seen first-hand how important public safety is to ensure the residents of my communities stay safe and a first responder arrives quickly in an emergency.  There truly is no more important role of government than providing for quality public safety.

Yet every day the tens of thousands of men and women across this state who are putting their lives on the line are being undermined by politicians in Sacramento.  Important tools they used in order to effectively do their jobs have been taken away.

I am all for reasonable criminal justice reforms and giving truly remorseful and reformed individuals a second chance once they have paid their full debt to society.  However, child molesters, dangerous drug peddlers and even killers should not be released early into our neighborhoods merely to save money.  It’s the wrong thing to do to crime victims and the communities they’re being released back into and it will end up costing us more dollars and grief in the long run.  What’s more, the safeguards that were promised when propositions 47 and 57 were passed are often being ignored.

There are movements underway to ensure that the dangerous criminals who should be behind bars, stay behind bars and to restore some of the tools our police officers and judges previously had to keep serial criminals off the streets.  As your state assemblyman you can count on me to support all efforts to ensure crime victims receive the justice promised to them and that our first responders have tools they need to keep us safe.

It’s no secret that Orange County freeways keep getting more and more congested.  It’s both a quality of life issue and an economic issue.  More must be done to relieve congestion but raising taxes is not the answer.

Gas prices in California are already among the highest in the nation and gas taxes disproportionally impact families in suburban areas like Orange County.  Our families cannot afford even higher gas prices or vehicle registration fees. I support repealing the gas tax scheme that Sacramento passed earlier this year.  I will also oppose all future efforts to increase the gas tax and vehicle license fees.

Raising taxes is not the solution – there are plenty of dollars available to fix our highways if Sacramento politicians better prioritize our money.

That is why we must put an end to the wasteful spending on high speed rail.  High speed rail was sold to California voters on empty promises. As deadlines have been moved, federal dollars matching evaporated, and the project’s budget ballooned, it has become clear that this scheme has quickly turned into a fantasy.  And yet the state continues to waste millions of dollars every month.  I will fight to stop this wasteful spending and instead support highway and water supply improvements that offer proven returns.

Orange County is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Our climate, beaches, education institutions and activities are all world class.  Yet Sacramento’s policies of over-taxing and over-regulating businesses are driving jobs out of the state. Furthermore, the state bureaucratic red tapes are making it nearly impossible for any out of state companies to re-locate here.

I will oppose all tax increases on California’s small businesses and families. I will fight to streamline overbearing government regulations on job creators.  We’re not going to make California the most business-friendly state overnight, but we can stop pushing small business owners away to neighboring states. It’s also critically important to make it easier for companies to want to come back to California — not load them up with bureaucratic paperwork and tax them to bankruptcy once they are here.

California families all have to live within a budget and so should the state legislature.  The constant money grabs from Sacramento only serve to make it harder for families and seniors to make ends meet and are driving good people and businesses out of our state.

Our state must better prioritize it’s spending around core government responsibilities like public safety, education, and highway repair and expansion – not politician’s pet projects, pay raises and pension spikes.

We cannot tax ourselves into prosperity or out of some of the structural budget issues that we continue to face.  Our state budget is also too reliant on taxes that will evaporate if there is ever another tech bubble burst.  That is also why I support common sense pension reform and will oppose balancing any budget with tax increases. Sacramento politicians don’t deserve anymore of our tax dollars until they can prove that they know how to wisely spend our hard earned dollars they already have, period.