Ahead of the June primary election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
Name: Brian Goldsmith
Current job title: Democratic Media Consultant/Principal, Kona Media & Message
Political party affiliation: Democratic
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: None
City where you reside: Beverly Hills
Campaign website or social media: BrianGoldsmith.com
Do you believe balancing the state budget should rely more on spending cuts, new revenue streams or a combination? Tell us how you would propose tackling California’s projected budget deficit. (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
California is at an inflection point, with a challenging budget situation and a new governor taking office next year. Our state’s spending has skyrocketed during the last seven years. In fact, Gov. Newsom’s latest budget proposal is about $140 billion more than Jerry Brown’s last budget. We can afford to fund critical services like education, child care, and healthcare – so long as we prioritize what’s really important. By being more fiscally responsible, we can balance the budget and provide the core public services that Californians expect and deserve.
We need to make tough decisions, and any candidate who says otherwise is not telling the truth. We must expand and strengthen our rainy day fund to help stabilize the budget, look at growing revenues and make them less dependent on booms and busts, and review spending to ensure taxpayers are getting good value and programs are delivering results.
One encouraging development is Speaker Rivas’s recent decision to create the Outcomes Review to make sure legislation is actually performing and delivering results. If programs are working, we should maintain or increase their funding; if not, we shouldn’t continue to throw good money after bad.
For you, what’s a non-starter when talking about budget cuts? Why? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
The next governor and legislature will face a budget mess that will either be the road to hell for our state or an opportunity to rethink how we deliver public services effectively and efficiently. That means prioritizing the most important spending — education, healthcare, public safety, and infrastructure. I believe that it is the job of government to focus on those areas, which are so critical to our daily lives and an investment in our future.
We need to reform our budgeting process to make sure that the Rainy Day Fund is large enough (at least twice its current size) and strong enough (politicians can’t touch it during good times) to prevent massive budget cuts in challenging times. We need to distinguish between spending that is an investment in our future, like education (that compounds over time) versus other kinds of spending. And I believe that the first responsibility of the state government is public safety.
What are the top three most pressing issues facing the state, and what would you propose, as a state legislator, to address them? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
These are my top priorities. I repeat them to every audience:
-Affordability, which impacts all Californians. We need to make it easier to live, work, and raise a family here.
-Public safety and the homelessness crisis, which is putting an unfair burden on first responders and residents. We need to make sure that the money we are spending is accountable and effective.
-Focusing on the future – from accelerating climate danger to rebuilding the Palisades and Malibu in a resilient way to the challenges of AI and preparing our kids for a fundamentally new world.
-Combating hate and division, from antisemitism to Asian hate to racism to what Latino families are facing right now with these unconstitutional ICE raids.
What specific policy would you champion in the statehouse to improve the cost of living for residents? Would you see this having an immediate impact on Californians or would it take some time? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
A key focus of my campaign is to make California more affordable for all of our residents, especially working families. Housing is the biggest driver of unaffordability, and we can lower the cost without threatening our communities. Our teachers, first responders, and small business owners should not have to drive hours to work and should be able to lead a decent life among the people they serve. We need to make it easier and more affordable to build housing across the state–reviewing permitting and regulations to streamline the process. We need government to be part of the solution by kicking in public land to help change the economics of building more affordable units.
We ought to champion more modular and manufactured housing, which is cheaper and faster. We should look at providing down payment assistance to new home buyers to tackle one of the biggest barriers to entry for purchasing a home. I am also a big proponent of prioritizing workforce housing–we can better recruit and retain public servants by offering them a good deal on housing in or near the communities they serve.
There have been numerous efforts made in the state legislature to curtail federal immigration enforcement in California, from prohibitions on agents wearing masks to banning federal officers from future employment in a public agency. Do you see any area where the state could better protect its residents from the federal government’s widespread immigration crackdown? Would you prefer the state work more hand-in-hand with the federal government on immigration? Where does the role as a state legislator fall into your beliefs here? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
The Trump Administration is weaponizing the federal government against California, and I believe it’s critically important to take on their abuses of power, attacks on immigrants and working people, and proto-authoritarianism. I will do whatever is necessary to protect our state. I believe in public safety–but the policies of the Trump administration are making Californians less safe. State and local governments should work together to write laws that protect our people from out-of-control enforcement agencies like ICE.
There must be three parts to our response: litigation, legislation, and persuasion. All of these are important to stand up to Trump and MAGA policies. I believe that state legislators have a key role to play in each of those, and I would be a strong voice against this administration.
Health care costs — like in many other areas — are continuing to rise. What policies, specifically, would you support or like to champion that could lower premiums or out-of-pocket expenses? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
We should get to universal preventative care so that every Californian can afford medical care when it is both the most humane and least expensive. We should subsidize access to nutrition support, physical therapy, and other “maintenance” to help reduce the need for expensive treatment later. We can also redouble our efforts to root out waste and fraud, which has been a major problem in California and cost taxpayers literally tens of billions of their hard-earned tax dollars.
Would you support expanding state health care programs to ensure more residents — including those who are not citizens — are covered? How would you propose the state fund such an expansion? Or, how would you propose the people who cannot afford health care still get the necessary care they need without expanding state programs? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
We need to work together toward a system where every Californian has access to quality, affordable health care. When those without health insurance visit an emergency room, they are entitled to receive care, but those costs are passed along to other Californians through higher premiums and increased health care costs. I believe in universal health care, but I oppose efforts to abolish private insurance or end the right of workers to choose to keep the insurance that they’ve earned. I believe in working toward Medicare for All Who Want It—a public option that was championed by Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet in the 2020 presidential primaries.
As part of combating homelessness, elected officials often talk about the need to prevent people from losing their homes in the first place. What policies or programs should the state adopt to make housing more affordable for renters and homeowners? What do you propose the state do to incentivize housing development and expedite such projects? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
It is unconscionable that so many people are unable to afford a home in Los Angeles. It’s predominantly the middle class and young people being forced out to states like Arizona and Texas, not the super wealthy.
Affordability is a key part of my platform; we must make it easier and cheaper to build affordable housing in California. I would champion speeding up permitting and streamlining regulations so that building can start soon after financing is secured, rather than languishing for years. There is no good reason it’s dramatically cheaper to build the same unit of housing in Colorado than it is in California.
I’d push for clear statewide permitting standards and predictable timelines so developers, unions, and local governments know what to expect, and continue to modernize CEQA. State and local governments own thousands of acres of underused land near transit, job centers, and schools. I’d prioritize using that land for mixed-income and workforce housing. We need to make better use of cheaper, faster, modular and manufactured housing. We should make it easier to convert vacant office buildings into housing. And we should also look at government providing down payment assistance to new home buyers to tackle one of the biggest barriers to entry for purchasing a new home.
The debate should not be about whether to build, but how and where.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2023 authorizing state energy regulators to penalize oil companies making excessive profits. But the California Energy Commission put off imposing the penalties last year after two oil refineries, which represent nearly a fifth of California’s refining capacity, said they would shut down operations. Those announcements prompted many to be concerned about soaring gas prices. What do you think of the commission’s decision? And how would you, as a state legislator, propose balancing California’s climate goals with protecting consumers from high gas prices at the pump? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe fossil fuels should play an ever-smaller and diminishing role in our economy. Renewable energy is both cleaner and cheaper, and we should do everything politically and economically possible to transition away from fossil fuels. I am proud to serve on the board of a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to EVs, and strongly believe in their adoption.
Refineries should be held to a high standard with strong oversight and regulation, paid for by the companies that operate them. At the same time, I don’t support closing refineries immediately because the alternative is just to truck in the fuel, at higher cost to consumers, without reducing our carbon impact. I believe in reducing pollution–funding, building, regulating, and inventing our way to actually hitting the ambitious climate goals that California has set.
In 2024, voters approved Proposition 36 to increase penalties for certain drug and retail theft crimes and make available a drug treatment option for some who plead guilty to felony drug possession. Would you, as a legislator, demand that more funding for behavioral health treatments be included in the budget? How would you ensure that money is used properly? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I supported Proposition 36 and, in fact, I made ads in support of it as a Democratic political consultant, when the conventional wisdom was to duck and cover. I was proud to have played a role in that effort, and I believe that its victory was part of a critical effort to bring back balance–not back to mass incarceration–but prioritizing public safety and quality of life for every Californian.
I believe that it is critically important that Proposition 36 be fully funded, and I would support the inclusion of more funding for behavioral health treatments and widening the role that Care Courts can play in offering treatment. I believe we should review the effectiveness of all programs and use transparent metrics to determine whether they are working; if not, we should either change the program or end it.
What role should the state play in ensuring hospitals and doctors are providing gender-affirming care to LGBTQ+ residents? Similarly, what role do you believe the state could play should other states adopt policies that restrict that care? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe that California must always lead the battle for LGBTQ+ rights, and I intend to be a leader in standing with, and advocating for, health care providers who aim to protect patients.
I support policies that provide legal protections for health care providers who offer abortion and gender-affirming care, safeguarding them from criminal penalties and threats to their safety. I oppose policies that restrict access to medically necessary healthcare for LGBTQ+ Californians, and I believe that our transgender neighbors ought to be able to access health care without discrimination or financial barriers.
Governments around the world are increasingly considering an age ban or other restrictions on social media use among young people, citing mental health and other concerns. Do you believe it’s the state’s responsibility to regulate social media use? Why or why not? And what specific restrictions or safeguards would you propose as a state lawmaker? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe that the federal and state governments have an obligation to protect our children and keep them safe. However, time and again, the Trump Administration has sided with its cronies and financial supporters over the broader interests of the American people. Since it appears more and more likely that the federal government will not step in, I believe that the state should.
I’d support a ban on children under the age of 16 using social media, and I believe the state should take a hard look at all social media companies–holding them to a high standard for the harmful content those platforms are feeding to young people.
Artificial intelligence has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Yet public concerns remain that there aren’t enough regulations governing when or how AI should be used, and that the technology would replace jobs and leave too many Californians unemployed. How specifically would you balance such concerns with the desire to foster innovation and have California remain a leader in this space? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As the country’s economy and many businesses move toward automation and greater use of AI, I am deeply concerned about the potential loss of good jobs for working families. I believe that our state legislature and business owners should take a balanced approach to ensure that workers are protected. Technology should help workers do their jobs more safely and effectively, not threaten their livelihoods. I support human oversight of technology in the workplace, specifically artificial intelligence.
It is unquestionable that AI and automation are part of our future but these technologies should serve us–not the other way around. I believe that government agencies must work with unions and other stakeholders before implementing any technologies that would affect jobs and responsibilities, and that there is transparency and accountability with any new AI system. Such accountability should include regular audits and human oversight.
Statistically, violent crime rates in California is on the decline, but still, residents are not feeling safe or at ease in their communities. How do you see your role in the state legislature in addressing the underlying issues that make Californians feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe we need to prioritize funding the police at a moment when so many Californians don’t feel safe. Progressive community policing requires more resources, not less. At the same time, we must continue to invest in youth and public services and job programs to help prevent young people from ever engaging in criminal activity. We can’t go back to mass incarceration, but we shouldn’t tolerate smash-and-grab, property crime, and violent assaults.
I publicly supported–and made ads for–Proposition 36, and the state needs to fully fund its implementation. I also supported Nathan Hochman for LA County DA, and I am proud to have earned DA Hochman’s support in this race. I believe we need to increase funding for state and local law enforcement while expanding effective mental health and addiction services that reduce repeat offenses. We need to focus on quality of life offenses as well as more serious crimes. And we need stronger partnerships between police, community leaders, and businesses.
What’s a hidden talent you have? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I’m a pretty good cook — especially Italian food (pasta, fish, chicken, etc.). Spending so many nights out for campaign events and activities has made it more difficult to find the time, but I love cooking dinner for my wife and kids (the kids especially love my pasta bolognese).