Assemblyman Fletcher Talks Gas Prices, Union Busting and Layoffs in Q&A with RB Tea Party

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego), who represents Rancho Bernardo in District 75, was the guest speaker at Thursday's meeting of the RB Tea Party.

Here is a sample of some of the questions (some of which are paraphrased) and Fletcher's responses.

Q: Will California or the United States approve offshore drilling? What needs to be done to reduce gas prices?

Fletcher: "We've got to tackle this dependency on foreign oil issue," he said. Fletcher, who served in the Iraq War with the U.S. Marines, recalled a time he said he found himself laughing in the middle of a fire fight. "It just struck me that I'm paying for both sides of this fire fight," he said, citing his tax dollars that funded his equipment, and his gas money that, in part, went to oil producers.

The assemblyman said biofuel, algae fuel and nuclear energy should be explored as alternatives to foreign oil. "If we can figure out how to do it here, we get to create jobs."

Fletcher went on to say that he doesn't think that offshore drilling will happen in California, to which an audience member responded, "Amazing how such a small group of tree huggers can tie this thing up."

Fletcher said even when gas prices were high before, offshore drilling wasn't approved. "Californians have, time and time again, said no." He suggested people look at lowering the state's gas tax to provide faster results in reducing gas prices.

Q: Is it time to re-engineer the state's financial system since education, MediCal and prisons dominate the budget?

Fletcher: "The Department of Corrections is probably the single greatest agency in need of reform in the state of California," he said, citing the cost of housing inmates each year. Fletcher said it costs either $47,000 or $52,000 each year per inmate in California, based on different estimates, while other states house inmates for figures in the mid-$20,000s.

The state Legislative Analyst's Office put the figure at $47,000 for 2008-09.

One issue is the recidivism rate, he said. "We don't prepare them to exit. We've created an industry."

Q: Fletcher provided his own question, saying he had recently been wondering how many state employees there are, figuring the number had gone down amid the state's financial struggles.

Fletcher: Fletcher said the number of state employees has increased from about 317,000 in 2005 to 357,000 now. An audience member said the state needs to control the dollars and headcount, meaning how much is spent on state employees and how many employees there are.

Fletcher said he believes furloughs are "really dumb policy" because they don't solve the underlying problem of having more workers than the state can afford to pay. "We have too many workers that are making too much money that have benefits that are too high," he said.

Furloughs affect productivity and punish good and bad workers alike, he said. "You depress the entire workforce."

Q: Does the state have any redundant agencies?

Fletcher: He said he is pushing hard to find redundancies in state government this year. Fletcher said he had met with a shrimp importer who told him multiple people from different levels of government come to inspect his business for safety, including someone from the FDA who was present to inspect his business every day.

Q: "What do you think about breaking the unions?" a woman asked, mentioning the ongoing political debate in Wisconsin over eliminating collective bargaining rights.

Fletcher: "I don't think you need to end collective bargaining. I think you need to elect people who are going to make the right decision," he said.

Fletcher said promising too much to bargaining units isn't an issue isolated to one political party, citing SB 400, a pension deal passed in 1999 under former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis but supported by both sides of the aisle. The bill, which significantly increased public employee pensions, was passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 70-7 margin in the Assembly. Legislation passed last year rolled back many of SB 400's provisions.

Fletcher said elected officials who "have a little independence" and are willing to act in the best interests of all constituents—not just those in bargaining units—will help solve collective bargaining problems.

Q: Why don't you support having all voting done by mail?

Fletcher: People can already vote by mail right now if they want to, he said, adding more should be done to encourage people to vote. What is needed is a system that better tracks who is voting, and people should have to show ID when they vote, Fletcher said.