Assembly: 40th District : Questionnaires were distributed to candidates last month. Answers have been edited to fit the available space.

Family Sick Leave

Q. Gov. Deukmejian recently vetoed legislation that would have granted workers as much as four months of unpaid leave every two years to care for sick children, spouses and other family members without fear of losing their jobs. Do you favor this type of legislation?

Bane: Yes. This legislation should be phased in as unpaid leave. Every progressive nation has such an allowance and it is time we do.

Gabriel: No. It would be too costly to the taxpayers.

Vernon: No. It imposes an unreasonable burden upon employers, and is an interference in the marketplace. Compassion cannot be legislated, and charity should not be mandated.

Teacher Salaries

Q. The Legislature approved a 4.7% cost-of-living raise for school employees, and Gov. Deukmejian reduced it to 3%, placing the difference in an account for special education programs. Should this money be used for salaries?

Bane: Yes. All employees both in private and public employment should receive cost-of-living increases.

Gabriel: No. I agree with the governor.

Vernon: No. I favor a tuition tax credit so that parents will have the option of determining what kind of education to give their children. This will allow teachers’ salaries to be determined by the marketplace. Therefore, I will vote against any measures to extend the public school monopoly.

Big Green

Q. Proposition 128, the so-called “Big Green” initiative on the November ballot, seeks to eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals by the year 2000, phase out pesticides known to cause cancer and require that trees be planted in all new developments. Do you support this initiative? Bane: Yes. We must protect the Earth we live on and the people and wildlife within. It is an essential goal.

Gabriel: No way. That’s dangerous. It takes away our local rights.

Vernon: No. I favor eliminating pesticides known to cause cancer. However, the scientific community is very divided over the issue of ozone depletion and what causes it; laws should not be passed with such incomplete data. I have planted 10 trees on my property in the last six years. I favor voluntary action in this area.

Tree-Cutting

Q. Proposition 130 on the November ballot would restrict clear-cutting of forests, allow the sale of $710 million in bonds to preserve ancient redwood forests and provide $32 million to retrain unemployed loggers. Do you support this initiative? Bane: Yes.

Gabriel: No.

Vernon: No. Bonds on the June and November ballots total about $10 billion. California is fast voting itself into unsupportable debt.

Limited Terms

Q. Proposition 131 on the November ballot, authored by Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and Common Cause, would limit most statewide elected officials to eight consecutive years in office, and senators and Assembly members to 12 years. Proposition 140, sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, is more stringent, limiting lifetime service to eight years in the Senate and six in the Assembly. Do you support limiting the number of terms state legislators can serve? If yes, how long should the limits be? Bane: No. The people should retain the right to elect whomever they wish to represent them. Passage of 131 will allow public tax money to be used to finance political campaigns. Passage of 140 will destroy the ability of the Legislature to ferret out fraud and corruption in administrative agencies.

Gabriel: I support Proposition 140. I want honest government. I want representative government.

Vernon: Yes. I favor the elimination of consecutive terms. I would favor single terms of four years in the Assembly and six years in the Senate. I am an active supporter of Proposition 140 because I believe it will be the most effective in restoring citizen-government to California.

Sales Tax

Q. Proposition 133 on the November ballot would raise state sales and use taxes by 0.5% for four years to raise $7.5 billion for drug enforcement and treatment, anti-drug education, and prison and jail construction and operation. Do you support this initiative?

Bane: Yes. Drug abuse is presently costing our society much more. This proposition would save lives and other societal costs.

Gabriel: No. We have enough taxes.

Vernon: No. I favor re-legalization of drugs and an immediate end to the war on drugs. This irrational war has created an underground market, a vast increase in property crime, and a breakdown in respect for law and order.

Liquor Tax

Q. Proposition 134 on the November ballot would substantially raise taxes on beer, wine and liquor, and dedicate the revenue from the tax increase to programs for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. Do you support this initiative? Bane: Yes. However, the cost of the programs should not exceed the revenues raised.

Gabriel: No.

Vernon: No. I believe such programs should be voluntarily funded.

Inmate Laborers

Q. Proposition 139 on the November ballot would allow private companies to hire state prison and county jail inmates as laborers. Do you support this initiative? Bane: Not if it would take jobs away from honest workers. Prisoners should be required to grow and harvest their own food and work to take care of their own needs.

Gabriel: Yes. They should pay for their keep.

Vernon: No. I support the restitution theory of punishment. However, since as many as 50% of the individuals in prison are there for victimless crimes, I cannot support Proposition 139 at this time.

Death Penalty

Q. Do you support capital punishment? If so, do you think it should be imposed on those convicted of importing or selling drugs? Bane: Yes, I support capital punishment. Capital punishment should be available at the jury’s discretion in narcotics violations.

Gabriel: Yes, I support capital punishment. Definitely on those convicted of importing or selling drugs. If we had more severe laws, they wouldn’t do it. I want to save our children.

Vernon: Yes. I believe capital punishment can only be justified for the crime of deliberate murder. I am absolutely opposed to capital punishment for any other so-called crime.

Handgun Controls

Q. Do you support additional limits on handgun purchase or possession in California? Bane: Yes. We need additional protection to ensure that criminals and mentally disturbed people do not have the opportunity to purchase dangerous weapons.

Gabriel: No. I believe citizens should have the right to own their own guns. Criminals will always find a way to get them.

Vernon: No. I believe the right to possession of arms for self-defense is absolute. The present restrictions on weapons purchase, possession and use are virtually all unconstitutional based upon the mandate of the Second Amendment that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Abortion Rights

Q. Do you support a woman’s right to unrestricted abortions within the first three months of pregnancy? Bane: Yes. It is a woman’s right to such a choice.

Gabriel: Yes, in cases of incest, rape or when the mother’s life is endangered.

Vernon: Yes. Abortion is a moral issue that must be decided by the woman involved.

Abortion Funding

Q. Do you support government funding of abortions for women who cannot afford them? Bane: Yes.

Gabriel: No. Everybody should pay for their own. It shouldn’t be the taxpayer.

Vernon: No. This should be done by charitable organizations using voluntary contributions.

Day-Care Services

Q. Do you believe the state should require private employers to subsidize day-care services for employees who request them? Bane: The state should encourage large employers to arrange for reasonable child-care services. I look forward to the day when adequate child care is available to all children of working parents.

Gabriel: Absolutely not. The cost will be added to the consumers’ price for employers’ services.

Vernon: No. This is an unwarranted interference in the marketplace. This care of children is the responsibility of parents, not their employers. I favor the enactment of a tax credit or deduction for working single parent or for families in which both parents work. Treat it as a business expense.

War on Drugs

Q. Do you believe our present strategy of criminal prosecution, interdiction of supplies and imprisonment of users and dealers will ever significantly reduce the level of drug use in the United States? If no, what should be done? Bane: No. The federal government should deploy our standing armed forces to protect our borders from smugglers. Early education of children should be implemented. Education is a necessary element in curtailing drug abuse.

Gabriel: No. It’s not strong enough. We need better education programs and family values to keep children off drugs.

Vernon: No. Drugs cannot be kept out of prisons. They cannot be kept from crossing 12,000 miles of United States border. The only reasonable and humane answer to the problem is the re-legalization of drugs. The problems of violence, property crime and deaths due to impure products are identical to those which accompanied Prohibition. Re-legalization will correct most of these problems.

Drug Decriminalization

Q. Would you consider supporting the decriminalization of drug use? Bane: No.

Gabriel: Not sure.

Vernon: Yes. It is the only sensible and humane approach to the drug problem.

Oil Exploration

Q. Do you think the present Mideast crisis justifies opening up additional parts of the California coastline to oil exploration? Bane: No. We must develop alternate sources of energy to ensure that we are not dependent upon Mideast oil sheiks.

Gabriel: Yes. We need to do it here locally. I don’t see why we have to depend on foreign oil. It would mean more jobs.

Vernon: Yes. As long as companies are required to clean up any environmental damage, I have no objection to off-shore drilling. We should not hamstring this country into dependence upon foreign energy supplies.

Parkland Exchange

Q. Should the National Park Service exchange 50 acres in Cheeseboro Canyon in southeastern Ventura County for about 1,100 acres of the neighboring Jordan Ranch owned by entertainer Bob Hope, permitting park agencies to buy another 4,600 acres of Hope’s land in the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains for $10 million? Bane: Yes, if the funds are to be supplied by the National Park Service.

Gabriel: Not sure.

Vernon: No. I have no objection if Mr. Hope wants to give his land away. But since government already claims ownership to more than 50% of all the land in California, I am opposed to further acquisitions.

Mandatory Ride-Sharing

Q. Do you favor mandatory ride-sharing in an effort to meet government air pollution standards? Bane: I favor incentives for ride-sharing. I do not think it is possible to mandate ride-sharing.

Gabriel: No. That’s not necessary.

Vernon: No. The answer is to deregulate the market in mass transportation and end the monopoly of such agencies as the Southern California Rapid Transit District. Allowing the operation of private jitneys, buses and van pools-for-hire would do a great deal to alleviate congestion and pollution.

Political Funding

Q. Do you support full or partial public funding of political campaigns? Bane: No. Our tax money is needed for so many critical problems that I cannot, in good conscience, support using public funds for political campaigns.

Gabriel: No.

Vernon: No. First is the immorality of using money taken from people to promote candidates or ideas with which they disagree. As currently practiced, such funding tends to benefit those already holding office, and tends to actually work against challengers. In a worse-case scenario, no one but “acceptable” candidates would be given funding.

Income Disclosure

Q. Are you willing to publicly release your income tax returns and those of your spouse prior to the November election? Bane: Yes, when all candidates, both incumbents and challengers, are required to do so.

Gabriel: Yes, if it’s necessary.

Vernon: No. My income is no one’s business but my own.

Porter Ranch

Q. Do you support development of the massive Porter Ranch project in the hills north of Chatsworth as presently configured? Bane: No. I do not support any effort to increase the population density. We desperately need affordable housing, transportation and quality of life.

Gabriel: No. We have too many offices with vacancies now. I do believe in housing development though.

Vernon: This does not relate to the office I seek.

Assembly District 40 The mainly Democratic district covers all of Van Nuys and parts of North Hollywood, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Panorama City, Encino, Northridge, Reseda, Tarzana, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills.

CONTENDERS Tom Bane, 76, a Democrat, was first elected to the 40th Assembly District seat in 1958. In 1962, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress and returned to the Assembly in 1974. He is chairman of the powerful Assembly rules committee.

Helen R. Gabriel, 70, a Republican, is challenging Bane for the second time. A Van Nuys resident, she has been in the real estate business in the San Fernando Valley since 1958.

John Vernon, a Libertarian, also is challenging Bane. A businessman, he lives in Van Nuys.