Diane On the Issues:
Fiscal Responsibility
In this challenging economy with a rapidly increasing cost of living, raising taxes is the last thing politicians should be doing to Minnesotans. Diane Anderson will stand up to the tax increasing politicians at the Capitol and advocate for fiscal responsibility by better prioritizing our spending on the basic necessities; education, transportation, and health care with out increasing taxes.
State Budget Solutions
Next year, Minnesota lawmakers are expected to face a $2 billion budget deficit and the liberal politicians will try to raise taxes rather than making tough decisions.
Diane's opponent supported the reckless spending that erased the state’s $1 billion surplus and created a $2 billion budget deficit. She also voted to raise a multitude of taxes. This irresponsible spending is costing Minnesotans as taxes increase and more jobs leave the state.
With depleted reserves there will be little one time money to fix the problem like there was last year.This means spending has to be reduced. Diane will look to find ways to save your tax dollars rather than resorting to tax increases.
Quality Education
Diane Anderson believes Minnesota's education funding formula must be fixed so that it no longer shortchanges suburban schools. Diane will focus state education funding on the classroom expenditures and ensure that every dollar spent is held accountable.
Affordable Health Care
Diane supports patient-centered health care reforms. As a legislator Diane will work to expand consumer driven products like health savings accounts. Government’s role should be to loosen the tax and regulatory policies that have made health care more expensive. Increasing competition and giving consumers tools to shop based on quality and price, will have a powerful impact on the affordability of health care.
Our cost of living has been rising at an alarming rate. The current legislature has ignored legislative impacts on your family budget. Diane Anderson will work to reduce the cost of legislative initiatives on your budget
Diane Anderson will work for state tax policies that encourage job creation and economic growth. Diane will oppose wasteful spending and costly mandates that hurt small business and are passed onto working families as higher prices and job cuts.
(as published on thier website):
Candidates square off in District 38A: Anderson
| Thursday, 02 October 2008 | |
Thisweek Newspapers sent a candidate questionnaire to District 38A incumbent state Rep. Sandra Masin, DFL-Eagan, and challenger Diane Anderson, an Eagan Republican. Following are the questions asked of the candidates. Diane Anderson 1) What changes would you propose to the amounts Minnesotans pay in taxes to the state? We need to hold the line on taxes and limit government growth. The taxpayers should keep more of their hard earned money. I will prioritize spending and will work to get rid of government waste. Tax increases affect the economy and drive jobs out of Minnesota. I would like the budget deficit resolved without raising taxes. When the incumbent took office there was a $1 billion surplus. She and her caucus increased taxes and spending, leaving the next legislature a $2 billion deficit. I will insist on responsible budgets providing prudent spending, and quality services, without unnecessary tax increases. 2) Should the state push for a one-payer health care system, or do you favor the marketplace reforms? What would be the benefits of your approach? We need to look at ways to help people who are uninsured and not abolish the great health care that we enjoy today. I favor marketplace reforms. Single payer systems have been a disaster in the countries that have implemented them. Marketplace reforms will keep health care decisions with patients and doctors rather than a one size fits all government program. Free market solutions such as health savings accounts are effective in covering the uninsured. As population ages any public system is going to require substantial revenue commitment to keep afloat above what is already being promised federally. 3) Should there be a greater emphasis on building highways or transit? Why? We need cost effective transit that moves people and alleviates congestion. It is important to have a balance in roads and transit. While transit will become a more important mode of transportation due to energy prices, we will continue to need to rebuild our roads, which were underfunded for decades in favor of transit. People rely on roads and businesses use roads to transport goods. We need to make sure we have sufficient road capacity to handle the growth, particularly in the metro. We need smart innovative transit like the bus rapid transit projects for corridors like Cedar Avenue. 4) What is the best way for state government to help raise kindergarten through 12th-grade student achievement among Minnesota students? Successful students are a product of good parent-teacher relationships. The best way to help raise achievements is to strengthen this relationship. In these tight budget times we need to really look to improving our policies and expectations of our schools. Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s Q-Comp incentive compensation for teachers is an important step to modernizing our educational system. Educational funding should be directed to the needs of the classroom, not administrative salaries. We need to keep the class sizes low and the curriculum should focus on the academic disciplines. 5) Gas prices are at record highs. Is there anything the Legislature can do help lower them? What would those initiatives be or what other options are available to address the issue? To lower the gas prices the government should get rid of the government restrictions and allow the usage of the natural resources we have in the United States. With the gas prices increasing, the Legislature should stop raising the regressive gas tax. The Legislature passed an 8.5 cent gas tax increase, many legislative leaders wanted an increase up to 20 cents, this is drastically worse. Continued investment into roads and bridges will help save gas by reducing time that cars stand idle in traffic congestion. We should repeal the law that requires a minimum mark up on all gasoline sold. 6) Do you support the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment? Why or why not? I support clean water, the arts, and the outdoors. This amendment would mandate what the Legislature has to do. This amendment will take away legislative discretion, requires these funds to have a higher priority and the money for these items will come first before all of the other budget items. 7) Will you sign pledges to carry out specific legislative actions? What would they be? If not, why wouldn’t you make such pledges? I do not intend to sign any pledges. I want to have the flexibility to do what is best for the citizens in my district and the state of Minnesota. |