QUESTIONS & ANSWERS : Senate: 20th District

Questionnaires were distributed to candidates this month. Answers have been edited to fit the available space.

Family Sick Leave

Q. Gov. Deukmejian recently vetoed legislation that would have granted workers as much as four months of unpaid leave every two years to care for sick children, spouses and other family members without fear of losing their jobs. Do you favor this type of legislation?

Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. It would place an unfair burden on the employers of the state.

Merkin: No. This is unwarranted intrusion into affairs that do not concern the government.

Teacher Salaries

Q. The Legislature approved a 4.7% cost-of-living raise for school employees, and Gov. Deukmejian reduced it to 3%, placing the difference in an account for special education programs. Should this money be used for salaries?

Robbins: No. Fund the salaries, but from other educational fund sources.

Podegracz: No. The governor acted correctly in adjusting this cost-of-living raise.

Merkin: No. Based on recent test results, school employees are already overpaid. The money should be returned to the taxpayers.

Big Green

Q. Proposition 128, the so-called “Big Green” initiative on the November ballot, seeks to eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals by the year 2000, phase out pesticides known to cause cancer and require that trees be planted in all new developments. Do you support this initiative? Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. As it is written, it is an abuse of the initiative process. The projected costs to California taxpayers are prohibitive, and they don’t even begin to consider what it will cost us in business being forced to relocate outside the state.

Merkin: No. I support protection of the environment. A new, costly bureaucracy is the exact wrong way to accomplish this.

Tree-Cutting

Q. Proposition 130 on the November ballot would restrict clear-cutting of forests, allow the sale of $710 million in bonds to preserve ancient redwood forests and provide $32 million to retrain unemployed loggers. Do you support this initiative? Robbins: No position.

Podegracz: No.

Merkin: No.

Limited Terms

Q. Proposition 131 on the November ballot, authored by Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and Common Cause, would limit most statewide elected officials to eight consecutive years in office, and senators and Assembly members to 12 years. Proposition 140, sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, is more stringent, limiting lifetime service to eight years in the Senate and six in the Assembly. Do you support limiting the number of terms state legislators can serve? If yes, how long should the limits be? Robbins: No.

Podegracz: No. Voters should be able to vote for whomever they desire to represent them. Arbitrary limits on terms deprives them of this right.

Merkin: Yes on 140. Assembly three terms and Senate two terms. This proposition was co-sponsored by Mike Ford, a Libertarian from Marin County.

Sales Tax

Q. Proposition 133 on the November ballot would raise state sales and use taxes by 0.5% for four years to raise $7.5 billion for drug enforcement and treatment, anti-drug education, and prison and jail construction and operation. Do you support this initiative?

Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. The passage of this initiative would increase the sales tax paid by voters in my district to 7.25%.

Merkin: No. Taxes are too high. Four years is baloney. More jails for victimless crimes is absurd.

Liquor Tax

Q. Proposition 134 on the November ballot would substantially raise taxes on beer, wine and liquor, and dedicate the revenue from the tax hike to programs for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. Do you support this initiative? Robbins: No position.

Podegracz: Absolutely not.

Merkin: No. No to higher taxes period.

Inmate Laborers

Q. Proposition 139 on the November ballot would allow private companies to hire state prison and county jail inmates as laborers. Do you support this initiative? Robbins: No.

Podegracz: Yes, based on the information I have at hand.

Merkin: No. It’s a good basic idea, but this proposition is flawed. It dictates wages paid etc.

Death Penalty

Q. Do you support capital punishment? If so, do you think it should be imposed on those convicted of importing or selling drugs? Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: I do support capital punishment, but I cannot see my way clear to accept it as an appropriate punishment for involvement in the drug trade, regardless of how reprehensible this involvement may be.

Merkin: Yes. No, for those convicted of importing or selling drugs.

Handgun Controls

Q. Do you support additional limits on handgun purchase or possession in California? Robbins: No.

Podegracz: No.

Merkin: No. I favor removing all limits on handgun ownership, especially military-style weapons.

Abortion Rights

Q. Do you support a woman’s right to unrestricted abortion within the first three months of pregnancy? Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. While I defend the individual rights of privacy, I am resolutely opposed to any mother depriving her child of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without due process.

Merkin: Yes. I support unrestricted abortion any time, no exceptions.

Abortion Funding

Q. Do you support government funding of abortions for women who cannot afford them? Robbins: Yes, subject to normal budgetary restrictions.

Podegracz: No. Never.

Merkin: No. I prefer private, charitable funding. Abortion is none of the government’s business.

Day-Care Services

Q. Do you believe the state should require private employers to subsidize day-care services for employees who request them? Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. Passage of a law requiring employers to subsidize day-care services for employees would place an unsupportable burden on the backs of businesses in California.

Merkin: No. “Require” is the problem. “Encourage,” yes; “provide tax credits for,” yes. Force is un-American.

War on Drugs

Q. Do you believe our present strategy of criminal prosecution, interdiction of supplies and imprisonment of users and dealers will ever significantly reduce the level of drug use in the United States? If no, what should be done? Robbins: Yes. More rehabilitation programs, free or low-cost rehabilitation and drug education are needed.

Podegracz: Yes. Even though I do not support the death penalty for those involved in the drug trade, I do see this fight as our civilization’s moral equivalent of war.

Merkin: No. Have we learned nothing from the Volstead Act? These encourage crime and ever-escalating drug abuse problems; to wit, designer drugs. Legal drugs are less potent drugs.

Oil Exploration

Q. Do you think the present Mideast crisis justifies opening up additional parts of the California coastline to oil exploration? Robbins: No.

Podegracz: While the beautiful coast of our state needs to be protected, I think we need to consider developing safe ways of exploiting any oil reserves available to us. I think this is true in any case, not only because of the developments in the Mideast.

Merkin: No. Inexpensive oil has a cost. We cannot ignore the possibility that we may have to increase exploration. Mideast supplies are problematic.

Parkland Exchange

Q. Should the National Park Service exchange 50 acres in Cheeseboro Canyon in southeastern Ventura County for about 1,100 acres of the neighboring Jordan Ranch owned by entertainer Bob Hope, permitting park agencies to buy another 4,600 acres of Hope’s land in the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains for $10 million? Robbins: No position.

Podegracz: Yes.

Merkin: No.

Mandatory Ride-Sharing

Q. Do you favor mandatory ride-sharing in an effort to meet government air pollution standards? Robbins: Yes.

Podegracz: No. Mandatory ride-sharing would be an insupportable intrusion of the government in private lives. Alternatives for fighting air pollution need to be attractive enough to consumers so they will elect to use them voluntarily, for their good and the good of others.

Merkin: No. Mandatory is too dictatorial.

Income Disclosure

Q. Are you willing to publicly release your income tax returns and those of your spouse prior to the November election? Robbins: No.

Podegracz: Sure.

Merkin: Since the income tax was never properly ratified and is thus illegal, why should I?

Porter Ranch

Q. Do you support development of the massive Porter Ranch project in the hills north of Chatsworth as presently configured? Robbins: No position. This is not a state issue and it is not in my Senate district.

Podegracz: Yes. Based on my observations, I think this project, while being opposed by local homeowners, would benefit the whole of the central Valley.

Merkin: No more development, period.l

CONTENDERSAlan Robbins, 47, the Democratic incumbent, was elected to the state Senate in 1973. He is chairman of the Senate Insurance, Claims and Corporations committee.

David J. Podegracz, 36, the Republican candidate, is making a run for public office for the first time. He is an industrial tool salesman who lives in the Sepulveda area.

William Merkin, the Libertarian candidate, is a businessman who lives in Sepulveda.