Election Policy Outlines

Phillip Chen also argued that lowering fuel costs could help reduce grocery prices by cutting the expense of transporting food and other goods across California.

Tony Strickland backed Proposition 37, a privately funded down-payment assistance program that would cover up to 17% of a buyer’s down payment; participants, rather than taxpayers, would repay the bonds through their mortgages. He said the proposal could help address the difficulty of saving a 20% down payment on a home.

Chris Duncan said a temporary gas-tax reduction would provide immediate relief, but if pump prices did not fall afterward, that would indicate oil companies were price-gouging and justify stronger state oversight of refinery profit margins.