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PUBLIC SAFETY
The number one responsibility of the Governor of California is to ensure that the citizens of California are safe, so that they can engage in their day-to-day activities without fear of physical harm. Governor Newsom has failed miserably at this most sacred of Gubernatorial responsibilities, and the ramifications for the state have been catastrophic. Major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles are on the verge of lawlessness, due in large part to the homeless crisis in these cities that have allowed criminals, drug addicts, and the mentally ill to take over entire neighborhoods, and in countless other cities and urban cores around the state, addicts and mentally ill are defecating and shooting up in plain sight. It is time to call the situation what it is – a Safety, Health, and Environmental Disaster. This disaster can be traced directly back to recent policies and several high-profile measures that have released thousands of criminals from jail (AB 109) and decreased penalties for career criminals (Propositions 47 & 57), effectively incentivizing lawlessness.
Recent court opinions (Jones v. the city of Los Angeles), ballot measures, and ill-conceived legislation that have tied the hands of law enforcement have only exacerbated this disaster.
Collins Solutions
Career politicians have failed to protect the people of California. As governor, I will fight to restore the California Dream, making our communities a safer and more prosperous place to live.
- I would veto any bills that increase penalties on otherwise law-abiding citizens. I would tie state funding to police programs that are working and hold the line on releasing inmates into our communities without rehabilitation.
- I will equip our law enforcement officers to do their job in a professional and safe manner; without restraining their ability to maintain peace, while also enforcing the law and protecting victims.
- I support the recall of district attorneys who refuse to prosecute those that violate our persons and property.
EDUCATION
California has a long history of being a world leader when it comes to technology and innovation, but its leadership position is in jeopardy due to the current state of California’s K-12 education. Over the last several decades, our public schools have been taken over by special interests producing an outdated, insufficient, and very expensive public education system that is failing our children. Despite spending more on a vast state education bureaucracy than most states spend on education in total – $119 billion for all K-12 education programs at $15,261 per pupil – the National Assessment of Educational Progress consistently ranks California in the bottom tier of academic achievement (currently 45th), which is well below the national average.
Collins Solution
We need an innovative education model that prepares our kids for a creative and dynamic future that will be characterized by constant and rapid advances in technology, rather than remaining subservient to an education model that was built a half century ago and was designed to create employees for an industrial economy. It’s time to put our kids first and fund students, not systems and brick buildings.
The California constitution promises a free public education to all 6.6 million kids in our state, but as we have seen through recent court rulings, our public schools are not required to make the education high-quality. As governor, I will ensure all of California’s kids receive a high-quality education that incorporates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in a manner that prepares them for jobs in a future where cars and airplanes operate autonomously, space travel is the norm, and artificial intelligence is utilized to enhance every aspect of the human experience.
As governor, I am also in favor of providing more choice to parents in their children’s educational options, including:
- Creating a Parents Bill of Rights that allows them to know curriculum details, have input on social and religious issues that are part of the curriculum and protect the privacy and medical rights of the student with informed parental consent.
- Reducing barriers for students transferring to other schools in and out of their local district.
- Removing the cap on charter school funds in the state budget.
- Allowing state education funds (Proposition 98) to follow the child to an accredited school through an education savings account that can be used for tuition and other eligible education expenses including books, school supplies, and tutoring.
- Restoring opt-in provisions for explicit material, allowing for age-appropriate instruction that provides basic physiological/biological/hygienic information.
- Ending the divisive curriculum taught under Critical Race Theory.
- Empower local school districts in terms of curriculum, vocational education, and discipline programs that reflect their community’s values.
For those that are reasonably happy with their neighborhood public school and want to stay, my administration will make sure to assist with special educational needs, ensure that school construction is held to the highest standards, and ensure that funding is equitably appropriated and accountable to local oversight committees of concerned citizens.
COST OF LIVING
California was once the state where people from all over the world came to pursue their dreams, but as its Golden luster fades, people are leaving in droves. We pay some of the highest taxes in the nation on income and gasoline, yet public services and infrastructure are considered among the worst. Government regulation has increased the cost of food, transportation and housing. Fewer Californians can find affordable housing to rent, let alone to buy a home. Despite so much growth and its status as the fifth highest GDP in the world, innovators are increasingly leaving California, moving to states that are more friendly to their business and family. It’s time for California to lead once again and empower its people for a brighter future.
Collins Solution
California ranks 50th in terms of upward mobility. It’s time to restore the golden standard and uplift working families.
- To avoid having CEO Magazine rank California as the worst state to do business for 18 years straight, we need to put a hold on any new laws, regulations and taxes, and require a full review of the legal barriers that are inducing businesses to move. We need to partner with the business community instead of treating them like cash cows for state revenue.
- Housing needs to be addressed on multiple levels. Our cities need to stop blocking developments that have obeyed all the rules and only require ministerial approval. We need to reduce the aggressive veto power that regional government agencies, like the Coastal Commission, have over land use decisions. It’s time to reform the California Environmental Quality Act to reduce lawsuits used to stall or bankrupt housing projects.
- Further, we need to continue building programs for young families – our kids – to stay and live in California, which is not all that different from the experience I had through a Veteran Affairs loan to get my first home. As families gain access to the American Dream by owning a home, they can become more stable participants in the decisions that make our communities vibrant and special.
AGRICULTURE
In addition to being a leader in technology and innovation, California also leads when it comes to feeding the world. The state’s nearly 70,000 farms produce over $50 billion in value and add to the rich fabric of the state and country’s history and culture. However, instead of celebrating the contributions of our farmers and empowering them to continue being the agriculture standard for the world, elected officials in the state have chosen to heavily regulate them. California suffers through periodic droughts where both the lack of precipitation and leadership limit the amount of water that is stored and available for growing crops.
Collins Solution
For farmers to continue feeding our neighbors, they need more water and less regulations on growing, caring for and harvesting their crops and livestock. As governor, I’ll eliminate every barrier to the construction of new water storage and conveyance infrastructure. In 2014, the citizens of California overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1, which allocated money for state water supply infrastructure projects, such as public water system improvements, surface and groundwater storage, drinking water protection, water recycling and advanced water treatment technology, water supply management and conveyance, wastewater treatment, drought relief, emergency water supplies, and ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration. California needs a governor that is capable and wiling to execute the will of the people. More water allows us to meet the high demand from agricultural, municipal, and environmental users.
HOMELESSNESS
For us to solve California’s homelessness problem, we first must start viewing our homeless brethren as fellow Californians and care for them with the same common-sense compassion and understanding that we would care for our own family members. My policy position is informed by the fact that I have a family member (my uncle) living on skid row in downtown Los Angeles, and his life – along with the lives of every person in California – matters. Compassion alone, however, will not solve California’s homelessness problem, and we know that based on years of throwing billions of dollars at the problem, only to see it get progressively worse.
Collins Solution
Solving the homeless crisis in California will require rethinking the nature and meaning of compassion for the homeless, a reassessment of the underlying assumptions that have informed the policies of recent years, and a recalibration of where tolerance ends, and law enforcement begins. As governor, I will treat California’s homeless with the compassion that they deserve, but it will be common-sense compassion, not blind compassion. For far too long, California has blindly thrown money at the problem and failed to apply common-sense solutions that will get those who are homeless the specific help they need. As an initial matter, California must distinguish between the people who have fallen into homelessness due to a lost job or other catastrophic event (the “have nots”), those who are homeless due to addiction or mental illness (the “can nots”), and those who are resistant to any help when it is judiciously provided to them (the “will nots”). Much of our chronically homeless population (roughly 60%) are the “can nots” and the “will nots”, who are suffering from addiction and mental health issues, and for far too long, California has tried to help addicts and the mentally ill with a housing first policy that simply puts them in a motel without addressing their mental health or drug addictions.
- It’s time to fix the mental health laws that cleared out our mental hospitals fifty years ago and put tens of thousands of people on the streets, effectively transforming our jails into mental health centers. I would demand that the legislature put forward serious reform of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) and require any county that receives mental health funds for housing to adopt Laura’s Law, so that treatment is an option before involuntary commitment is required.
- I support the removal of any restrictions that throttle the ability of shelters, non-profits and churches to house individuals and families using strict guidelines, requirements and programs that have a proven track record.
HEALTHCARE
Every Californian should have access to affordable and quality healthcare that is focused on the life of the individual, and not arbitrarily determined by one-size-fits-all insurance premiums. A California run single-payer healthcare model, like the one recently voted on in the California Assembly, would only push us further from our goal of affordable and quality healthcare for all. As a member of the U.S. Navy, I have personally experienced the inefficiencies and inadequacies of a government-run healthcare program. Under a California run single-payer model, California would assume a $400 billion dollar a year system that would virtually eliminate everyone’s insurance plan, leaving doctors to ration care and provide services in a manner that is comparable to what most Californians experience at the DMV.
Collins Solution
Acknowledging that there are exceptional issues that prevent a healthy life for some people, the state’s healthcare policy should incentivize preventative care to alleviate the financial burden that is imposed on the healthcare system by ailments that are often foreseeable and preventable. In conjunction with a policy that promotes preventative care, data and technology should be utilized to personalize healthcare plans for Californians, rather than forcing employers and families to choose from one-size-fits-all policies that do not take into account the unique circumstances of their situation. Allowing companies to experiment with creating their own healthcare plans while prioritizing proactive healthcare measures will help avoid bureaucracy, cut government excess, and put money back into the pocket of hardworking Californians.
- Provide employers with more flexibility over how they provide healthcare for their employees. Telemedicine has made major advances and we should do all we can to make it more available.
- Additionally, we should incentivize decoupling healthcare from employers, allowing individuals to obtain medical coverage directly from an insurance pool or a co-op. Such an option will provide a broader healthcare market and allow people to control their plans, procedures, and prices.
COVID-19
In times of crisis, there is nothing more important than bold and steadfast leadership. Governor Newsom has lacked both qualities throughout the pandemic, which is why California has lingered in a perpetual state of uncertainty, while other states have flourished. The COVID-19 pandemic rightly caused great concern in the world of public health at the beginning of 2020, but as the science evolved on the most effective ways to combat the virus, Governor Newsom’s policies should have evolved as well, so that Californians could return to some version of normal as soon as possible. Instead of bold and steadfast leadership, Governor Newsom has repeatedly chosen to implement policies that lack scientific rigor and consistency, as evidenced by his failure to personally adhere to these policies (i.e., French Laundry and the NFC Championship football game). These unfounded policies have destroyed small businesses, severely impacted the educational development of our children, promoted fear, and divided our state like never before.
Collins Solution
I trust Californians to make the right decisions for their families, according to the best scientific information they have available to them. My administration will never use fear to control the levers of the economy or keep schools closed, and instead will focus on making sure that Californians have access to the most up to date scientific information on the virus so that they can plan their professional and personal lives accordingly.
- Upon taking the oath of office, I would immediately end the state of emergency and demand that the legislature does their job and gets back to the work their constituents demand of them. I would direct the Department of Finance to partner with the Legislative Analyst Office, while using the many reports done by the State Auditor, for a high-level review of every pandemic related program, contract and expenditure, and present a budget that reflects an aggressive approach to closing every unwise and illegitimate deal made by the governor.
- Additionally, I would assemble a team of trusted public health experts, health care workers, business and education leaders, and put forward common sense alternatives that keep Californians healthy and safe while also allowing them to maintain a sense of normalcy in their day-to-day lives.
- Our children are not pawns. Either they need to return to school without being forced to cover their faces, or families should receive the resources they need to send their children to a school of their choice. Schools should be open according to schedule and timelines they had in place for decades before the pandemic began. While keeping schools open will help our children recover from years of learning loss and mental abuse, this will also allow for many parents who can’t work from home to get back into the workforce and provide for their families with some dignity.
It’s time to restore individual liberty all while being mindful of the elderly, those with chronic illnesses and other comorbidities.
ENVIRONMENT
California is home to some of the world’s most beautiful landmarks. I, like everyone else, want clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a state that protects her most beautiful resources, from the coasts to the Sierras. Preserving the environment is a shared responsibility. Unfortunately, extreme climate policies have promoted a big government agenda that has done nothing but increase taxes and push businesses out of the state.
Collins Solution
Poor air quality, raging wildfires, and periodic drought are all a direct result of government mismanagement. When people feel little to no ownership over the environment, it is difficult to have a common goal to conserve our precious resources for the next generation. We can and must do better.
- I support a market-based approach that promotes individual buy-in and entrepreneurial participation in order to achieve our environmental goals. This approach will protect our environment in a responsible way that does not simultaneously devastate our economy.
- Additionally, our state must continue to work with all energy stakeholders to maintain a diverse energy portfolio that meets our vast demand.
- Lastly, wildfires produce the state’s highest greenhouse gas emissions. My administration will work tirelessly to mitigate these disasters by allowing expedited mitigation efforts in the California Environmental Quality Act to properly thin out overgrown forests.[3]
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