Joseph Rubay, Candidate for California Assembly

INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH RUBAY, CANDIDATE 

FOR CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY

by Richard L. Rubin, Republican Club Board Member

These are excerpts from a recent interview with Joe Rubay, Republican candidate for State Assembly District 16, which includes Walnut Creek and nearby areas. For more about Joe Rubay’s campaign go to https://joerubay.nationbuilder.com.

Question: What do you see as the main issues you’re addressing in your campaign?

Rubay: California faces a lot of problems. Issues that immediately come to mind are crime, homelessness, tax policy, and education.

Question: What about crime?

Rubay: A major priority is to repeal Proposition 47, which allows people to steal $950 each day from any store, and it’s still a misdemeanor. This encourages shoplifting, smash-and-grab robberies, and organized crime activity. My opponent, Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, has a voting record showing greater concern for criminals than law enforcement and the general public. She has voted to allow felons to vote while serving sentences on parole, to serve on juries as former felons, and to choose their gender for assignment of where they will be incarcerated. Police now have less authority in matters such as traffic stops, jaywalking, and electronic monitoring of minors in home detention, and they are now prohibited from using tear gas. Bauer-Kahan has also voted to increase levels of oversight and control over the police, which allows them less time and leeway to ensure public safety. We must reverse the current trend, which increases crime, and prioritize protection of the law-abiding public.

Question: How would you address homelessness?     

Rubay: We need to have places to take in the homeless and provide them help corresponding to their personal needs and problems, not just move them around or give them temporary housing. Some are down on their luck and need help finding a job. Those addicted to drugs should be placed where they can receive help for addiction. Those with mental illnesses need treatment. Some of the homeless need tough love. We have to change the laws to be strong both with the addicted and the mentally ill, and do it in a thoughtful and informed manner. Funds from recently passed Proposition 1 can be used to create facilities for the mentally ill.

Question: What’s your policy on taxes?

Rubay: I’d abolish the gas tax and lower the sales tax—both of those taxes take more from the poor than the rich. The greatest burden of gas and sales taxes falls on those who can least afford it. Californians pay the highest gas tax rate in the nation at 77.9 cents per gallon. Gasoline in California costs 33% more than the national average. Yet, in spite of these high costs, Consumer Affairs ranks our state’s roads as the fourth worst in the nation with over 50% in poor or mediocre condition. These road conditions themselves create added expenses for California drivers, damaging cars and causing traffic delays. This combination of high gas taxes and deteriorating roads is unacceptable and must be addressed! In the Assembly I’ll push for a comprehensive review of our infrastructure expenditures and practices so that we can upgrade our roads and reduce the gas tax.

Question: What about the state budget?

Rubay: California has a budget crisis. The California Legislative Analyst is projecting a $68 billion cumulative budget deficit through June 2025. Yet, as recently as 2022, the state enjoyed a $100 billion budget surplus. That year the Assembly passed and the Governor signed an unprecedented $308 billion budget with many one-time expenditures. That type of conduct reflects a flagrantly irresponsible governing culture incapable of controlling spending, while at the same time remaining overly dependent on the wealthiest 1% who contribute 50% of the state’s tax revenues. It’s time to clean house and elect legislators for whom fiscal responsibility is a sacred trust rather than an afterthought.

Question: What should be done about education?

California is ranked 37th in the country in education and it’s not getting any better. The state government is too beholden to the teachers’ union. The Assembly must lead in mandating reading and math proficiency, civics, real U.S. history, and STEM in our schools. A recent survey revealed that 41% of California students are sub-standard in math and 31% are sub-standard in reading. For minority communities the results are even worse: 83% of African-American students are sub-standard in math and 70% in reading; for Hispanic students it is 77% in math and 64% in reading. These scores are appalling. Yet, rather than address these pressing needs, the Assembly added an Ethnic Studies requirement which introduces some very questionable (anti-American and anti-Jewish) agendas into our classrooms. Let's go back to the basics. Our students need to learn the fundamentals of reading, math and U.S. history and be encouraged and enabled to rise to the best of their abilities. Education is the pathway to their futures. Let’s teach our kids algebra and computer programing—not critical race theory.

Question: What about California’s new minimum wage laws? 

Rubay: California has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and one of the highest poverty rates. The state’s anti-business environment is a major cause. AB-1228 imposes a $20 per hour minimum wage for California fast food workers employed by any chain with more than 60 locations nationwide. SB-525 establishes a $25 per hour minimum wage for healthcare workers, phased in between 2024 and 2033. These minimum wage measures amount to ill-conceived, deceptively framed social experiments. Raising minimum wages raises unemployment and increases the costs of goods and services, which in turn has the greatest impact on those who can least afford it. The Assembly should be focusing on the drivers of our high cost of living which makes our state one of the most expensive in the nation.

Question: How would you reverse the population exodus from California?

Rubay: We need to grow the private economy and reduce socialism. Housing has to stay market-based. We need to reduce regulations and reduce rent controls that decrease incentives to build new rental properties. SB-9, increasing urban density, effectively makes every single-family lot into a two-family or multi-unit lot. It should be repealed.