Poizner says he'd cut spending, taxes

Source: Alicia Robinson/Riverside Press Enterprise

State insurance commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner on Monday proposed a combination of tax cuts and spending reductions as a remedy for California's budget woes. Poizner told a business audience in Riverside that as governor he would cut corporate, income and sales taxes 10 percent, cut state spending by 10 percent in two years, and build a $10 billion rainy day fund in one term. The tax cuts will make the state more competitive and encourage taxpayers to stay here, he said.

"We'll never be able to afford anything until we have a healthy economy again," Poizner said at a lunch held by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce at the Riverside Convention Center. He also supports cutting the state Legislature down to part-time, he said in an interview after the lunch, but added that he is waiting to see which of at least two possible measures qualifies for the ballot before backing one of them. Poizner is vying with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and former state finance director Tom Campbell for the GOP nomination for governor.

A former businessman with an MBA from Stanford, Poizner has served as insurance commissioner for nearly three years. In his comments Monday, he touted the year he spent volunteering as a government teacher at a San Jose high school and his involvement with the charter school movement. The state's K-12 educational system is now being micromanaged by legislators, Poizner said, pledging to "rip control of the public schools out of the hands of the Sacramento politicians."

Public schools should have the kind of flexibility that charter schools do, and one way to advance that goal is to get rid of the strings attached to most state education grants, he said. "I don't think we need to spend more money, total. We just need to get more money and power back into the classroom," he said.

Poizner left several of the 150 people at the event with favorable impressions.

"He's very clear on what his plan is," said Peggy Ricks, who owns an image and color consulting business in Riverside. Ricks said she liked the breakdown of Poizner's plan to cut taxes and spending.

Tom Hunt, a Riverside Unified School District board member, paid special attention to Poizner's plan for education. "I was impressed that it's straightforward and (there) seems to be no hidden agenda," he said, adding that he had dismissed Poizner's candidacy but now will take a closer look.

In response to an audience question on increasing energy production, Poizner said he supports expanding nuclear power. Modern plant designs are "very safe and cost-effective," he said.

Asked afterward whether recent GOP wins in Virginia and New Jersey governors' races will boost the party's fortunes in 2010, Poizner said that the California governor's race will be more about the candidates' backgrounds and achievements than party affiliation.