(Candidate will not appear on the June Primary ballot)

Dr. Butch Ware responses:

1. People with disabilities represent more than 20 percent of the California population. If elected, what would you do to make sure that disabled people have a voice in your administration? Would you appoint a senior advisor on disability issues to help you set goals, track progress, and integrate disability issues throughout your administration?

The short answer is yes, we would appoint a senior advisor on disability issues.

According to the CDC, the prevalence of people living with disabilities in California is 26.6%. Furthermore, we would appoint someone with disabilities in a decision-making role. Every policy impacts people living with disabilities. Therefore, policies that impact you should not be made without you. “Nothing about us, without us.”

2. Please describe how you have worked with disabled people and disability-led organizations in the leadership roles you have held to date.

I’m a father. I raised four daughters and now have a 15-year-old autistic son. Showing up for people with disabilities is crucial for me.

3. HR 1 cuts $30 billion a year from Medi-Cal, which represents a significant threat to the disabled children and adults and older Californians who rely on Medi-Cal to live in the community. What would you do to mitigate the impact of these cuts on disabled Californians? Can you promise to protect home and community based (HCBS) services from cuts? How can California better include peers, who can support outreach to communities who may be fearful of participating in safety-net programs, as the first point of contact to build on inherent trust and connection with people in need?

Our budget priorities will work to restore these cuts in addition to an emergency executive order to implement CalCare. We would also use veto to block any additional cuts to MediCal and cuts to HCBS, and we will reorder our budget priorities to ensure that California’s disabled communities are served. This will include identifying and redirecting funds that do not serve the best interest of the general public, and taxing the rich. We would also take guidance to support communities fearful of safety-programs from our senior disability advisor.

4. Our state has made immense progress in providing Medi-Cal to people regardless of immigration status, but the 2025 budget bill reversed most of this progress. How would you advance immigrant justice and disability rights through the Medi-Cal program? How would you raise needed revenue to ensure that cuts to federal funding are not borne primarily by people with disabilities and immigrants in the state?

Immigrants are part of the disability community. We align with the LTSS for All Grassroots Coalition: no cuts to immigrant access, no cuts to disability benefits. Our budget priorities will work to restore Medi-Cal to its prior status and ensure that immigrant communities are not excluded from services.

5. Governor Newsom developed master plans for aging and for developmental services. What ideas do you have for leveraging these plans or updating them to reflect current priorities?

Without being a part of the system as a receiver or deliverer of services, any response here would be largely uninformed, so we would rely on the senior disability advisor to present needed updates that the governor’s office would then support.

6. What strategies would you use to improve outcomes for people who are currently unhoused and unsheltered, including the over 40% who qualify as people with disabilities?

First, we would decriminalize homelessness. When rent goes up, so does homelessness, so we would also implement statewide rent-control. We are working on housing affordability, generally, as a top campaign priority, which means ensuring available living units for any Californian in need. Our goal is to eliminate the condition of being unhoused. Currently we know that unhoused people in California are largely managed by a “poverty industrial complex” system that takes money intended to solve homelessness and funnels it into the pockets of NGO executives. We will end that system and ensure the money needed to house people goes to ensure all Californians are housed.

7. How would you work to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the State government and in the delivery of services funded by the government?

We believe that representation matters; and not as token figureheads, but as people who are among those most impacted and placed most at risk. Since disability is intersectional with every area of government service, we will ensure that disability representation is included in the various government sectors and involved in any policy development and implementation.

8. The representation of state workers with disabilities decreased significantly during Governor Newsom’s two terms. What ideas do you have to improve recruiting, retention, and career development for state workers with disabilities?

According to the CDC, the prevalence of people living with disabilities in California is 26.6% so a more proportional representation of people with disabilities would be appropriate and reasonable. We would partner with disability advocacy groups in California to improve recruitment and career development. An increase in the state minimum wage to $25/hour will also impact state workers’ pay and improve retention.

9. In November, we marked the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). What ideas do you have for protecting adequate funds for special education and improving outcomes for students with disabilities in California? Do you have specific ideas for improving outcomes and equal access for students who are Deaf or hard of hearing? Or students with disabilities caught in the school-prison nexus and involved in the juvenile legal system?

Our education platform is focused on fully funding education from Pre-K through college and tradeschool. Disability is a natural part of human diversity and we would work to meet and exceed IDEA requirements by fostering inclusion, supporting families, empowering teachers,and leveraging all available resources. We would take guidance from our senior disability advisor to improve outcomes for Deaf or hard of hearing students. We have taken a strong position against the carceral system in general, and particularly the school-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately impacts students with disabilities. We would also provide social-workers and related support staff on campus, while working to reduce police presence, as students with disabilities are almost three times more likely to be arrested than their nondisabled peers.

10. Wildfires, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters have disproportionate impacts on people with disabilities and older adults. What ideas do you have for improving emergency preparedness and response for these populations?

We would support disability-led disaster response groups, prioritize community engagement, and improve early warning and communication systems specifically for the disability community.

11. Transportation continues to be a major barrier to employment, access to healthcare and school, and community engagement for many Californians. What ideas do you have to improve transportation access, particularly in rural parts of the state?

Aside from the need to connect California north to south with a high speed rail system, we need to ensure local rail and buses run routes that effectively assist all people needing local and regional mobility in their daily lives. This is an essential part of an effective climate action plan to remove cars from the road, but also an essential part of mobility for the disability community. All major cities should have a subway system, just as they do in Europe and many parts of developed Asia. Bus and tram routes should be expanded, bus fleets should be expanded, and commuter rail coverage should be extended to rural areas, and use should be extremely low cost and in many cases free. The ongoing adherence to fossil fuel profit dominance has put the US way behind the rest of the developed world in public transportation, but our budget will prioritize these infrastructure investments.

12. California is home to the leading companies that develop new technologies for the world. How would you work with technology companies to improve technology accessibility and affordability for people with disabilities in California and beyond? Do you have a plan to address the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and ensure equitable measures to include diverse populations, including Californians with disabilities?

AI excludes disability data or treats it as “outliers” instead of a natural part of human diversity. This creates discriminatory outcomes in hiring, employment, and services. People with disabilities must be involved at every stage of AI development, from design to deployment. Testing must be more rigorous and leadership reflect all income levels, ages, disabilities (physical, sensory, cognitive, psychiatric, neurodivergent, etc.), races/ethnicities, genders, LGBTQ+ disabled people. AI discrimination will be held accountable and deployment will require impact assessments.

13. Despite decades of state and federal legal requirements, both public and private sector entities continue to provide web content that is inaccessible to persons with disabilities, especially persons who are blind or have low vision. What commitments would you make to more stringent laws and increased enforcement of state law to ensure websites that are fully accessible to people with disabilities?

We will work with our senior disability advisor to ensure that we can create web accessibility guidelines that we will implement for all government operations as an immediate imperative action. We will ensure existing accessibility guidelines are followed, and with guidance we will improve legislation where needed, all backed by an enforcement office that will follow up on compliance and take appropriate action where needed.

14. California’s mental health system is struggling to keep up with major policy and funding changes implemented in the past five years—including CARE Court, SB 43, and Proposition 1—while one in seven adults live with a mental illness and many Californians struggle to find providers who accept their insurance. What is your plan to improve mental health care in California? What role do you see for peer leaders with lived experience with mental illness and substance abuse to help shape your approach, and what is your plan to fund and support consumer-operated, peer-led services—such as wellness centers and peer support? How can California work with private insurers to be more responsive to the growing need for care?

Our goal is to implement CalCare as an emergency measure. We will declare a healthcare emergency, giving the governor powers to reallocate funding as needed “until the emergency is over”. In this instance, the emergency will be over when CalCare is in place, private insurers are eliminated from the healthcare loop, and all Californians can both access and afford the healthcare they need, which will include mental healthcare and addiction treatment. While we exist in a transitional state of emergency under this plan, we will work with the state legislature to ensure that CalCare is passed and signed into law. We can accept no other pathway to healthcare justice. This is part of a comprehensive realignment of government purpose, which will include training of needed medical staff at our state colleges and vocational schools, construction of new medical facilities (including and especially in rural areas), and living wage compensation for all healthcare workers.

15. Many disabled Californians have been traumatized by the racial profiling and aggressive tactics being used by ICE employees in our State. How will you protect Californians from illegal harassment by the federal government and their contractors?

Californians want ICE out of California. While existing laws do not legally allow us to bar ICE from operating in California, we can legally restrict ICE access to state-owned property, courthouses, schools, and health-facilities. In addition, state and local law enforcement in California will be prohibited from cooperation with them, to the extent that they will be charged with criminal activity if they do. We will not comply with any abusive or illegal federal offices or practices. Our platform supports the removal of ICE from our state and we will defend community members who take steps to protect their neighborhoods from illegal ICE activity.

16. What ideas do you have to improve our state’s understanding and support for people with Long COVID?

Approaching COVID as a mass-disabling event will help prevent further spread. In partnership with communities living with Long COVID, we will allocate funding to research and development of organizations that study Long COVID treatments and preventative measures. We would support community-based prevention initiatives: masking, testing, air quality improvements, and paid sick leave. Responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID should be on society, and not individuals.

17. Access to healthcare is vitally important to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community who often face barriers to care. What ideas do you have to increase equal access to healthcare for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

Our goal is to implement CalCare, and under CalCare, we can shift responsibility of providing interpreters to the state. Under the CalCare program, we can ensure provider compliance with interpretation accommodations. Healthcare providers themselves will not bear the cost of those accommodations.

18. In 2024, California’s poverty rate tied (with Louisiana) for the highest in the United States. What ideas do you have for helping Californians get the resources they need to meet their basic needs, and be able to afford to live here?

No one in California can live on SSI/SSDI alone. Unaffordability denies access to transportation, healthcare, education, housing, emergency preparedness, technology, and proper nutrition. In addition to an increase in the state minimum wage to $25/hour, SSI/SSDI must be increased to meet the cost of living as well as implementing a Universal Basic Income for elderly and people living with disabilities.

19. California incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than almost any democratic country, and Black Californians are nine times more likely to be imprisoned than white Californians. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, at least 40 percent of people in state prisons have a disability. As Governor, what would be your approach to public safety and racial equity as it relates to the criminal justice system?

This is a fundamentally abolitionist and decarceration campaign. We want to eliminate use of prison population as essentially slave labor, which may be a factor in driving high incarceration rates. We want to eliminate mandatory sentences for nonviolent crimes and focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. We do not believe that removing family members and wage earners from their communities serves justice or healing. We want to eliminate the school to prison pipeline for youth. We are well aware that the legal system still embodies the racism that our country was founded on, and that law enforcement treats people of color objectively very differently than white people. Knowing this, it is simply irresponsible to continue to give law enforcement agencies the relatively unlimited power to be judge, jury and executioner, where in most cases the need for any kind of potentially deadly force is non-existent. We must work towards a system of public safety rather than a system of public abuse, where policing is a community effort with community oversight, based in researched practices of social support and restorative justice.

20. In 2020, Governor Newsom signed SB 823 to close California’s youth prison system, which transferred the responsibility to care for young people charged with the most serious offenses from the state to the counties. Many young people who are currently detained in county-run juvenile detention facilities are disabled and reenter their communities with unaddressed and/or additional disabilities. There are also some juvenile detention facilities that the Board of State and Community Corrections have deemed unsuitable for housing young people, and yet they remain open. What ideas do you have to support young people with disabilities before and while they encounter the juvenile legal system?

Our platform will work to abolish the prison system, for adults and children. We must partner with organizations working at the intersection of marginalized youth justice and disabled rights. Our platform will fully fund education from pre-K to college, including education and support for disabled students.

21. With federal civil rights enforcement severely weakened, state agencies are now carrying more of the burden. What specific steps will you take to strengthen California’s civil rights enforcement agencies—through funding, staffing, authority, and coordination—so that rights violations are investigated and remedied promptly and effectively across the state, including violations that implicate AI developers and deployers?

We will prioritize dismantling a justice system that places burden on victims to submit complaints, creates barriers to repair, and is weak on holding powerful corporations accountable. We will implement an immediate moratorium on AI systems in government decision-making, and instead transfer power to impacted communities through funded community enforcement. We will work to abolish the medical-industrial and carceral approaches to disability that frame civil rights violations as individual problems rather than systemic violence.