ELECTIONS / 20TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT : Roberti, Rowen Have Much in Common on the Issues

With the election to fill an open seat in the San Fernando Valley’s 20th Senate District only five days away, The Times is publishing the views of the two leading candidates, Democrat David A. Roberti and Republican Carol Rowen, on significant issues. Following are their responses, edited for space.

The riots

Roberti said he opposes spending state money on direct aid to the riot areas, including a proposed sales-tax increase or grants to help business owners whose stores were burned down.

Instead, he favors issuing bonds to improve roads, schools and other existing public facilities. In addition, he said, he would back state action to prevent lenders from “red-lining” the damaged areas and to increase state-guaranteed low-interest loans to local businesses.

But he said any state assistance should be spread “across the board” to all economically depressed regions in California, rather than aimed specifically at the riot areas.

“That would be very divisive in our communities. People would fear they were paying taxes when they kept the peace,” he said.

Rowen said more jobs and better education are needed in low-income areas such as South Los Angeles. But she said she is opposed to increasing state sales taxes to underwrite such programs.

State government, she said, should wait to see what community residents say they need in terms of aid before launching programs to help them.

“We don’t know what the community is willing to do for itself, what business people are willing to do, what developers are willing to do,” she said.

Gun control

Gun control

Roberti is a strong supporter of gun control, and authored a landmark 1989 ban on military-style assault guns. He also supported a 15-day waiting period for rifles and shotguns, and backs efforts to require gun buyers to undergo a course in safe gun handling.

Rowen also supports the assault weapon ban, although she said she does not favor a provision of the law requiring people who owned such weapons before they were outlawed to register them with state law enforcement officials.

She also supports the 15-day waiting period and mandatory gun education classes.

Capital punishment

Roberti opposes capital punishment, saying “the chance is always too great that an innocent individual may be executed.”

But noting that Californians overwhelmingly favor the death penalty, he said he has voted on several occasions to extend it to specific crimes, such as murder of a witness.

Rowen said she backs the death penalty for first-degree murder and killings involving special circumstances, such as murder for hire, that are “on the books already.”

She does not favor extending capital punishment to other crimes.

Health insurance

Roberti said he favors universal health insurance, with government paying for those who can’t afford it and “heavily regulating” premiums charged by private insurers.

Roberti also favors consolidating workers’ compensation insurance with private health insurance and the medical portion of auto insurance. Combining these three categories would lower premiums, and the savings could be used to underwrite government costs for the uninsured, he said.

Rowen too favors universal health insurance, though she believes it should be financed through a public-private partnership.

She said the costs of covering uninsured people could be paid by eliminating administrative overhead and duplication.

“I don’t know what the savings would be,” she said. “I’d be very happy if we could just pay for the system.”

Abortion

Rowen strongly supports keeping abortion legal, and is endorsed by the California Abortion Rights Action League. She supports state funding for women who cannot afford abortions and opposes the notification requirement for minors seeking abortions.

Roberti opposes legalized abortion for personal reasons and has led efforts in the state Senate to eliminate state funding for abortions for poor women. He supports requiring minors to notify their parents or a judge before being allowed to have an abortion.

He has, however, argued during the campaign that in recent years he has not tried to block abortion-rights legislation in the Senate and has contributed campaign funds to lawmakers who favor abortion rights, such as Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego).

Welfare reform

Rowen supports the proposal by Gov. Pete Wilson to cut welfare benefits, “providing we do not penalize the children.” Under the governor’s plan, benefits for a family of three would be cut 10% immediately, to $597 per month. Payments would be cut another 15% to families with able-bodied adults who were not working.

Roberti opposes the proposal, saying it would not provide enough money for a single mother with two children to pay for rent, food, clothes and transportation “anywhere in the San Fernando Valley.”

Terminally ill

Roberti opposes a November ballot initiative that would allow doctors to end the lives of terminally ill people in a “painless, humane and dignified manner.” Rowen backs it.

Other issues

Despite their differences, Roberti and Rowen share views on some issues. For instance, they both oppose opening more of the California coast to oil drilling. They also oppose increasing tuition at state colleges and universities to help balance the state budget.

Also, both oppose a proposal to give state grants to parents so they can enroll their children in either public or private schools.

Rowen, however, said she supports allowing parents of public school students to choose which schools they attend within the public system.