PETE? OR DIANNE? : A Range of Voices Argues that California Does Have a Choice : Feinstein: Real Help for Kids and Families

California’s children and families have been playing the waiting game for far too many years: waiting for the Republican administrations in Washington and Sacramento to fulfill campaign promises to invest in children (“America’s future”) and create a “kinder, gentler” environment for working families, and waiting for them to recognize the undeniable link between family support and early intervention programs and reducing crime and drug addiction rates. They can’t wait any longer.

The minimum wage is not sufficient to maintain a family above poverty; housing costs are beyond the reach of an ever-increasing percentage of Californians; homelessness is on the rise; the state has received a grade of “D” in caring for children for two years in a row, and crime rates continue to increase despite tougher drug laws and sentencing.

We can take a critical step toward altering these disturbing trends by voting for Dianne Feinstein. True, both candidates have proposed plans to support children and families, but a close look at the content of those plans and the candidates’ past actions reveals that only Feinstein has both the vision and the commitment required to make a difference.

While President Bush and Gov. Deukmejian both vetoed legislation this past term that would have guaranteed working parents unpaid job leave for early infant bonding or caring for sick children, Feinstein has vowed to sign such a bill. She has pledged her support for making quality, affordable child care more accessible to working parents, with diverse proposals ranging from the implementation of developer fees for child-care facilities, to programs for teen parents seeking to finish their education. Feinstein also has made a distinct commitment to assisting low-income families by supporting the GAIN program and expanding child-care benefits for AFDC recipients as an essential way of helping them past welfare dependency.

By contrast, Pete Wilson’s entire early childhood and preschool intervention platform consists almost exclusively of tax credits to parents.