Can California Voters Believe What Hannah-Beth Jackson Says?

Hannah-Beth Jackson spent her years in Sacramento as an Assembly member working to make life harder for California businesses and their owners. Creating jobs and economic security wasn’t her priority.

In fact, over the years, Ms. Jackson has tended to say her No. 1 priority is whatever is the prime interest of the particular group she’s before at the moment.

If she’s before environmental organizations, Ms. Jackson claims that protecting the environment is her biggest concern. If she’s before parents and teachers, Ms. Jackson says education is her highest concern. If she’s before crime victims and law enforcement agents, she maintains that public safety is on the top.

You get the picture.

But what’s never been Ms. Jackson’s top concern is helping local businesses and their workers. And, certainly, improving the economic prosperity of your family hasn’t been in the forefront of her mind when in Sacramento during her time as an Assembly member.

Ms. Jackson’s actions earned her the title of Taxin’ Jackson for her support of one idea to tax you after the next. The moniker stuck and entered common usage in Santa Barbara because of its accuracy.

Now Ms. Jackson wants to be in the state Senate.

As a state senator, you could expect Ms. Jackson to back or write legislation to increase taxes and fees for Californians.

She’s never demonstrated any will to downsize big government, even as the state faced billions of dollars in red ink.

Recall how Ms. Jackson in 2004 described her years as an Assembly member. As noted back then, in the style of George W. Bush, who during his re-election campaign couldn’t think of any mistakes he’d made as president, Ms. Jackson has said of her time in the Assembly: “It’s been an extraordinary run, and I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.”

During the Jackson years, our state went from a time of multibillion-dollar surpluses to multibillion-dollar deficits. Ms. Jackson, as our representative in Sacramento and member of the budget committee, shared culpability for this. Her habit of writing unnecessary bills added to the budget problems.

Ms. Jackson wants you to forget about her past.

Tony Strickland has rightly pointed out that Ms. Jackson has had no economic plan. The economy has been off the radar of this Montecito Democrat.

But now, suddenly, she says: “Strengthening our local economy will be my top priority in the state Senate.”

Do you believe it?