Social Workers Voter Guide to the 2014 General Election

Social Workers Voter Guide to the 2014 General Election
November 4, 2014
Candidate Endorsements are made by the CalPACE Committee and are based on the candidates’ commitment
to the NASW Code of Ethics and official delegate assembly positions in Social Work Speaks. CalPACE
evaluates candidates by sending out questionnaires and evaluating incumbent vote records.
Governor
Lt. Governor
Secretary of State
Controller
Treasurer
Attorney General
Insurance Comm.
Super. Of Schools
Bd of Equal. Dist. 1
Senate District 02
Senate District 06
Senate District 10
Senate District 14
Senate District 18
Senate District 20
Senate District 22
Senate District 24
Senate District 26
Senate District 30
Senate District 32
Senate District 34
Senate District 38
Senate District 40
Assembly District 02
Assembly District 04
Assembly District 07
Assembly District 08
Assembly District 09
Assembly District 10
Assembly District 11
Assembly District 13
Assembly District 14
Assembly District 15
Assembly District 16
Assembly District 17
Assembly District 18
Assembly District 19
Assembly District 20
Assembly District 21
Assembly District 22
Assembly District 24
Assembly District 25
Assembly District 27
Jerry Brown
Gavin Newsom
Alex Padilla
Betty Yee
John Chiang
Kamala Harris
Dave Jones
Tom Torlakson
Chris Parker
Mike McGuire
Roger Dickinson, Richard Pan
Bob Wieckowski
Luis Chavez
Bob Hertzberg
Connie Leyva
Ed Hernandez
Kevin De Leon
Sandra Fluke, Ben Allen
Holly Mitchell
Tony Mendoza
Jose Solorio
Fotios “Frank” Tsimboukakis
Ben Hueso
Jim Wood
Bill Dodd
Kevin McCarty
Ken Cooley
Darrell Fong
Marc Levine
Jim Frazier
Susan Eggman, PhD, MSW
Susan Bonilla
Tony Thurmond, MSW
Tim Sbranti
David Campos
Rob Bonta
Phil Ting
Bill Quirk
Adam Gray
Kevin Mullin
Richard Gordon
Kansen Chu
Nora Campos
Assembly District 28
Assembly District 29
Assembly District 30
Assembly District 31
Assembly District 32
Assembly District 35
Assembly District 36
Assembly District 37
Assembly District 38
Assembly District 39
Assembly District 40
Assembly District 41
Assembly District 43
Assembly District 44
Assembly District 45
Assembly District 46
Assembly District 47
Assembly District 48
Assembly District 49
Assembly District 50
Assembly District 51
Assembly District 52
Assembly District 53
Assembly District 54
Assembly District 56
Assembly District 57
Assembly District 58
Assembly District 59
Assembly District 61
Assembly District 62
Assembly District 63
Assembly District 65
Assembly District 66
Assembly District 69
Assembly District 70
Assembly District 72
Assembly District 77
Assembly District 78
Assembly District 79
Assembly District 80
Evan Low
Mark Stone
Luis Alejo
Henry Perea
Rudy Salas
Heidi Harmon
Steve Fox
Das Williams
Jorge Salomon Fuentes
Raul Bocanegra
Kathleen Henry
Chris Holden
Mike Gatto
Jacqui Irwin
Matt Dababneh
Adrin Nazarian
Cheryl Brown
Roger Hernandez
Ed Chau
Richard Bloom
Jimmy Gomez
Freddie Rodriguez
Miguel Santiago
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas
Eduardo Garcia
Ian Calderon
Cristina Garcia
Reggie Jones-Sawyer
Jose Medina
Autumn Burke
Anthony Rendon
Sharon Quirk-Silva
Al Muratsuchi
Tom Daly
Patrick O’Donnell
Joel Block
Rueben “RJ” Hernandez
Toni Atkins
Shirley Weber
Lorena Gonzalez
NASW-CA only takes positions on initiatives where there is a clear nexus to social work
State Initiative Position Chart
Proposition1 – Water Bond
Support
No Position*
Proposition 2 – State budget reserve
Proposition 45 – Health care rates
Support
Proposition 46 – Medical malpractice
Oppose
Proposition 47 – Criminal Justice
Support
No Position*
Proposition 48 – Tribal Gaming
Prop 1 – SUPPORT: State Water Bond - This measure would authorize the state to sell $7.1 billion in
general obligation bonds, as well as redirect $425 million in unsold resource related bonds, to fund
various water quality, supply, treatment, and storage projects. Within this amount, $260 million is slated
for drinking water projects in disadvantaged communities, which was a key factor in our decision to
support this proposition. This bond will help to improve water quality and helps to ensure a reliable and
safe water supply for farmers, businesses and our communities.
Prop 45 – SUPPORT: Healthcare Insurance Rate Changes - This proposition is modeled after Prop
103, which helped control price increases for auto insurance. This measure allows the Insurance
Commissioner to reject health insurance rate increases that he sees as being unreasonable. This is
supported by a progressive coalition of groups. There have been some concerns raised by Covered
California that this would interfere with their mandate to negotiate rates. This could create some
confusion, but if Covered California cannot negotiate good rates, there would be an additional protection
provided by this initiative.
Prop 46 – OPPOSE: Medical Negligence Lawsuits - This proposition has three main components: It
requires drug testing for doctors; requires health care practitioners to review the statewide prescription
database before prescribing controlled substances; and it increases the $250,000 pain/suffering cap in
medical negligence lawsuits to account for inflation.
The most significant provision in this proposition is the lifting of the pain and suffering cap. We have an
oppose position because of concerns about increasing the cost of healthcare due to increased
malpractice insurance costs, which decreases access to healthcare, especially in poor and rural
communities. Patients can still recover unlimited economic damages, which includes lost wages,
medical costs and punitive damages.
As for the other two provisions, the Medical Board currently enforces complaints against doctors - which
includes problems with substance abuse - in the same way that the Board of Behavioral Sciences
enforces complaints against LCSWs. The prescription database is currently being upgraded and does
not have the capacity or privacy protections that would be necessary if this measure were to pass.
Prop 47 – SUPPORT: Criminal Justice, Misdemeanor Sentences - This would reduce penalties for
most "nonserious and nonviolent" property and drug crimes - from a felony to a misdemeanor - and
would place state savings from this measure into money for school truancy and dropout prevention,
mental health and substance abuse treatment, and victim services.
* We did not take a position on Prop 2 or Prop 48 because the effect on social work clients was unclear.
The budget reserve in Prop 2 could help or hurt the funding of social services depending on the strength
of the economy. Prop 48 can help certain tribal communities prosper, but tribal gaming can foster
addiction problems.
For more information, contact (916) 442-4565 ext. 12 or go to www.naswca.org.
To view the California Secretary of State’s Voter Handbook on the Initiatives, visit www.ss.ca.gov