Mr. Alejo has a track record in the State Assembly, and it is a very poor one when it comes to job creation, agriculture and business, government budgets, and education. As I have a very strong track record in these areas, I think it is fair to highlight some of his bills and votes in the past 12 months.
| AB10 - Increases Minimum Wage and Indexes It To Inflation
This is a horrible bill for entry-level job seekers and employers. Here is why. An employer may typically hire an individual with little or no experience and be willing to train them for a job because the cost is affordable to them at some rate. The individual may prove themselves to be valuable to the employer by working hard and learning skills. The employee also benefits by gaining work experience and skills that make them more valuable to other employers. The lower wage represents the amount of risk that the employer was willing to take on the inexperienced/low skill level of the employee.
Increasing the minimum wage makes hiring inexperienced workers more risky. Especially in economic hard times, employers will choose to either not hire or only hire experienced, skilled people that are not as risky. Indexing minimum wage to inflation compounds the problem over time. Everyone's cost of living will go up. It will also lead to quicker layoffs in economic hard times of those who need jobs the most. This bill is bad for youth and the disadvantaged.
SB48 - Injects the Politics of Homosexuality into the Classroom
Just when schools are laying off teachers, increasing class sizes, decreasing days of instruction, and losing other programs, Alejo voted for this bill that diverts resources from badly needed math and science curriculums and other badly needed resources to a social issue. Revising curriculum and buying text books has high costs in terms of resources and real money.
AB101 - Unionization of Child Care Providers
Just when many families are struggling, Alejo voted for this bill that drives up the cost of child care. Increases in costs such as this hits low-income, working parents particularly hard and freezes out non-union child care. In a bizarre twist, this bill creates a situation where a family relying on a grandmother, aunt. or family friend for childcare would force the provider to pay union dues.
SB 617 Amends the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)
At a time when the financial crisis in California dictates a focus on cost- benefit analysis of new regulations, this bill requires that agencies proposing new regulations consider and assess the benefits of the regulation, including the prevention of discrimination, promotion of fairness or social equity, and the protection of public health, worker safety, the environment, and quality of life. Introducing social justice will render the economic analysis almost meaningless.
AB1034 Limits Charter School Admission Requirements and Conflicts With Existing Law
Currently the law regarding charter school admissions mandates that a random drawing be held when applications exceed a charter school's capacity. This bill gives preferences to many classes, including pupils with disabilities, academically low-achieving pupils, English learners and low-income pupils, and others. This is a direct conflict with the fundamental objective of charter school law to remove unnecessary regulations so that charter schools have the freedom and flexibility to explore and innovate new models of education and governance.
|