Feinstein Opens Campaign With an Ambitious Agenda

Former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein formally kicked off her campaign for governor Monday by advocating a costly package of educational, health, housing and public assistance programs she said would be financed by user fees and by adjusting spending priorities.

“I am not proposing an increase in the state income tax. . . . I have no plans to raise the sales tax for any of these programs,” she told reporters at a series of news conferences announcing her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor in the June 5 primary.

She said she would also ask the Legislature for “a complete re-evaluation of the mandates” that currently control most state spending. But when asked about welfare cost-of-living increases, one of the biggest and most frequently challenged mandates, Feinstein said only that they “are a difficult issue.”

She also said that as governor she would seek a constitutional amendment to allow local schools to pass bonds by a simple majority, rather than the current two-thirds vote, to help finance what is potentially the most expensive of her priorities: the reduction of classroom sizes in California schools.

Her platform also includes new programs to curb domestic violence, train welfare mothers and reduce infant mortality, and the creation of a new state growth management commission, a new department of ocean resources, a state office of children and family and a new post of drug czar.

On environmental issues, Feinstein said, “I will just say no to offshore oil drilling.”

She also repeated her proposal to create a new “California jump start program to provide early childhood education for every 4-year-old who wants it,” which she said would cost $750 million to $800 million annually.

Altogether, Feinstein outlined new programs totaling several billion dollars annually in new spending, but she declined to list specific revenue sources except to “take a good look at the lottery and how that money is distributed” to the schools.

“You all want me to say, ‘Yes, I’m going to raise taxes.’ What I’m saying is, I am going to try to prioritize a government to be able to get the most bang for the buck within my priorities. That means some things that exist may have to go,” she said, declining further questions on how she would pay for her proposals.

She added that she supports Gov. George Deukmejian’s proposal on the June 5 ballot to double the state’s gasoline tax from 9 cents to 18 cents a gallon “because it’s a user fee and those are the best” way to finance government because voters can see the link between their money and the programs they support.

As the first woman to be a major candidate for governor of California, Feinstein put special emphasis on the support of women voters.

“This is a big moment for me, and a historic one for women,” she said. “Much thought and deliberation preceded this decision. I am a non-incumbent in a race against two entrenched statewide figures--a woman in a field of men.”

She also made a strong pitch for support from women voters on the abortion issue. Although her two rivals for governor, Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson and Democratic Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp are both pro-choice, she said that as a woman she is best qualified to protect the right to choice.

“It’s true men can protect women’s rights. But it’s also true the experiences of men and women are different experiences. I very strongly believe . . . with a woman who is governor, I know if she believes in choice, she’s not going to have anything to do with any erosion of that basic optional right,” Feinstein said.

Discussing Van de Kamp’s qualifications, Feinstein said “there are judgmental questions that enter into it--judgmental questions involving (his failure to prosecute) the Hillside Strangler, judgmental questions involving the savings and loans, judgmental questions involving the crime victims initiative” that Van de Kamp contends could undermine abortion rights.