Poizner said he does not support raising fees beyond
their current level for community colleges, the California
State University or the University of California. But
he also said California cannot afford to cut them any
further either, noting the state's higher education
system is still highly subsidized by taxpayers and
is still a "fantastic deal" for students.
GLOBAL WARMING LAW
Poizner supports a proposed ballot initiative that
would suspend California's landmark greenhouse gas
emissions law until the state economy recovers. He
argues that the additional regulations would further
hurt the state economy by driving business out of California.
The law also includes a clause allowing the governor
to suspend it. Poizner said if the initiative does
not pass, he would exercise that power.
"I support a long-term suspension as compared to some short-term, kind of, changing the deadlines a bit. Because
I think we need to send a signal to people that we're
not simply going to impose a whole 'nother huge regime
of regulations and taxes."
PRISONS
To reduce overcrowding in California prisons, Poizner
said he would send 40,000 to 50,000 nonviolent offenders to out-of-state facilities run by public agencies. He also wants
to revitalize California's rehabilitation programs
in an effort to reduce the high recidivism rate.
TAXES
Poizner's 10-10-10 plan of "bold, across-the-board tax cuts," would cut by 10 percent the sales, personal income and corporate taxes.
Capital gains taxes would be cut by 50 percent. He prefers broad tax cuts rather than targeted
tax incentives in which politicians are responsible
for "picking winners and losers" that pit one industry
against another.
STATE BUDGET
Poizner said a statewide spending freeze would save
the state $3 billion. He would save another $10 billion through "targeted, smart cuts." Poizner also
supports a 72-hour waiting period for lawmakers to act on a state
budget proposal, during which time the proposed legislation
would be posted online and publicly available. This
would help avoid the kind of back-room dealmaking that often occurs during budget negotiations,
frequently in the middle of the night.
MARIJUANA
Poizner opposes a proposed ballot initiative that would
legalize and tax marijuana.
"The last thing we want to do is to try to make compromises
about what's right based on our urgent need for state
assistance," he said.
