Candidates & Issues

Assemblyman Tom Bane, 74, a Van Nuys Democrat, is seeking his 10th term. He is chairman of the powerful Rules Committee and a close ally of Speaker Willie Brown. He was first elected in 1958, unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1962 and returned to the Assembly in 1974. A Burbank High School graduate, he attended various colleges. He has one child from a prior marriage; his wife, Marlene, has two children from a prior marriage.

Bruce Dahl, 35, a Van Nuys Republican, is making his second bid for this seat; he lost the GOP primary in 1986. He has been active in GOP politics for 20 years, dating back to his involvement in Youth for Nixon. He is on leave from his position as executive vice president and creative director of a Toluca Lake advertising firm. Dahl, who is single, has an associate of arts degree from Los Angeles City College.

Michael Prah, a North Hollywood Libertarian, is also in the race.

SUMMARY: Bane is emphasizing constituent services and support for public education, senior citizens and anti-discrimination. Dahl stresses traditional family values and maintains that Bane is more interested in raising money for Brown than in representing his district.

THEIR VIEWS

Questionnaires were distributed to candidates in September and were returned in October. Answers have been edited to fit the available space.

Q. Do you favor additional limits on campaign contributions to make officeholders less beholden to special-interest groups?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Would you support a ban on speaking fees for legislators from special-interest groups?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Who is your first choice for Assembly Speaker?

Bane: Self.

Dahl: Wants to see the Speaker preside with a more even hand than at the present.

Prah: Certainly not Willie Brown.

Q. Briefly, what, if anything, should the state do to ease traffic congestion?

Bane: Support more and better public transportation.

Dahl: Improve key highways and bridges, and implement high-occupancy vehicle lanes, traffic management, mass transit, car- and van-pooling, ride-sharing, public/private cooperative projects like staggered work hours.

Prah: Incentive-type measures such as staggered hours and car-pooling only.

Q. Do you favor an increase in the gasoline tax to pay for road improvements and construction?

Bane: Not without approval of the voters.

Dahl: May support a 1% increase.

Prah: No. Use more of the taxes already collected for road improvements.

Q. Should the state offer tax incentives to encourage private industry to institute staggered hours, car-pooling and other measures to reduce traffic?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Do you believe that the state should try to contain the cost of automobile insurance? If so, how?

Bane: Limit insurance company profits, enact laws which will curtail fraudulent claims, review and modify all laws that result in increased costs, submit for approval of the voters a series of claim settlement options, change Constitution so Legislature can submit proposals to voters by a majority vote of the Legislature.

Dahl: Yes. The insurance industry should be given constraints with regard to how they charge and what they charge.

Prah: Yes. Remove the legal/legislative barriers restricting the free market by prohibiting competition in the insurance industry.

Q. Do you support a “no-fault” automobile insurance system, under which a driver would be compensated for damages by his or her own insurance company regardless of who caused an accident?

Bane: No.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: No.

Q. Do you favor a mandatory reduction of insurance rates for all drivers and homeowners unless an insurance company can show that this would threaten its solvency?

Bane: Yes, but every privately owned business should be able to make a reasonable profit.

Dahl: No.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Do you support imposing a limit on the percentage of an insurance settlement that a lawyer may accept as a fee?

Bane: No, unless the fee becomes confiscatory.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Should the state raise the spending limits imposed by the Gann Initiative on state and local governments to make more money available for health, education, transportation and other programs?

Bane: Yes, but with limitations and voter approval.

Dahl: No.

Prah: No.

Q. Do you believe that the Legislature should take urgent action to improve the performance of public schools? If so, what? (Money for lower class size? Higher pay for teachers? Testing to insure teachers’ competency? More demanding graduation requirements?)

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: Yes. Make classrooms safer. Closely evaluate teacher competence and performance. Make sure graduation requirements are met.

Prah: Yes, but only with no new expenditures. Consider an incentive system under which teachers would be paid according to their students’ performance on standardized tests.

Q. If it can be done legally, should the state help parents pay to send their children to private schools?

Bane: No.

Dahl: Yes, through a tax break.

Prah: Yes, through tax incentives.

Q. Do you support significantly greater state funding for AIDS research, counseling, testing and treatment?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: We need to provide adequate funding for this.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Should public health officials trace the sexual contacts of anyone with AIDS or the AIDS virus?

Bane: Yes, subject to confidentiality.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: No.

Q. Do you support more state funding to aid the homeless?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: More needs to be done to try and aid the homeless, but Proposition 95 is not the answer.

Prah: No. This is a function of voluntary charities.

Q. Do you support the death penalty for any crimes? If so, which?

Bane: Yes, supports current statutes plus additional crimes in bill passed by the Assembly.

Dahl: Yes, for first-degree murder, drug dealers who kill police officers and other forms of violent crime involving the taking of lives.

Prah: Yes, for especially brutal murders and mass murders only.

Q. With the state’s prisons at capacity, should the state build more prisons, shorten sentences or punish nonviolent criminals in other ways?

Bane: Build more prisons.

Dahl: Build more prisons.

Prah: Remove victimless crimes from the lawbooks.

Q. Do you think that a woman should have the unrestricted right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: No.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Do you believe that the state should impose additional restrictions on the right to own a handgun? If so, what?

Bane: No.

Dahl: No.

Prah: No.

Q. Should motorcyclists be required to wear helmets?

Bane: No.

Dahl: No, except on freeways. Passengers should be required to wear headgear in most cases.

Prah: No.

Q. Should the state re-establish Cal/OSHA, the state’s worker safety agency that Gov. George Deukmejian eliminated?

Bane: Yes.

Dahl: No.

Prah: Yes.

Q. Would you support a bill to automatically extend developers’ building permits for 6 months when cities pass slow-growth measures?

Bane: No, but permits already granted should be honored.

Dahl: Yes.

Prah: Yes.