VISIONS OF CALIFORNIA : Through the eyes of Orange County’s Republican Legislators

Sen. John Seymour on the economy:

“If I have one single goal, it would be to ensure that California becomes the fourth largest economic power in the world by the year 2000.”

Assemblyman Richard Longshore on harsher penalties for prostitution:

“They just go from . . . city to city and state to state. It just seems to me that we could enhance our ability to control prostitution in the county by increasing the penalties.”

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson on vouchers to pay private school tuition:

“Until we have a voucher system someplace, we will never know whether that broad generalization of a public education can be improved or not.”

Assemblywoman Doris Allen on tax revenue for highway construction:

“The voters are saying: ‘Reorder your priorities. There is money there--why aren’t you spending it on roads?’ ”

Assemblyman Robert Frazee on the state Coastal Commission:

“The commitments in the Coastal Act have been fulfilled, or should have been fulfilled by this time, and we need to return that back to local government.”

Sen. Edward Royce on criminal defendants’ rights:

“The thrust is to bring California law and the court system here more in line with the way our federal system operates, which is much more efficient and much more just and balanced in terms of rights of defendants and victims.”

Sen. Marian Bergeson on teacher certification:

“The greatest responsibility we have is to get more effective teachers into the classroom. We must ensure . . . that they know the subjects they are going to be teaching and that they have mastered their skills.”

Assemblyman Ross Johnson on stiffer sentences for first-time offenders:

“We should crack down the first time a person steps across the line. We need to have the punishment be severe enough that the person doesn’t want to go through that again.”

Sen. William Campbell proposes the Freedom From Government Competition Act, which would require state agencies to demonstrate that any “commercial activities” performed by the state could not be obtained at a lower cost from the private sector.

Assemblyman John Lewis on the minimum wage:

“I think the minimum wage ought to be abolished instead of raising it in California. It absolutely hurts those it pretends to help the most.”

Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle on the state income tax:

“I would eliminate the income tax and go completely with an excise or sales tax. I believe that the people who choose to buy products would thereby choose how much sales tax they were willing to pay.”

Assemblyman Dennis Brown on replacing the income tax with a flat tax:

“Government in a free society should not be the dominant entity in our lives. For all intents and purposes, government has become that on the federal and state level. It pretty much regulates and taxes everything.”