After 16 Years of Democrat Rule, It’s Time to Put Families First Again

Introduction

Families are the foundation of a strong, flourishing society. Strong families lead to safer communities, better schools, and less dependence on government.

Steve Hilton believes that if California is serious about solving its biggest problems, it has to start with strengthening the family. When children are raised in stable, loving homes, they are more likely to thrive and far less likely to need intervention from the state.

Strengthening families is not just good social policy—it is how we reduce the size and scope of government in a real and lasting way.

After 16 years of one-party Democrat rule, California has moved in the opposite direction.

Families are paying the price: less safety, less control for parents, and higher costs.

This agenda sets out a clear, common-sense path to putting families back at the heart of public policy in California.

Protect Life and Support Mothers

California talks about values, but too often leaves women without real support. If the state is serious about valuing life, that has to include both mother and child.

Steve Hilton will move California toward life. That means building a culture where people want to have children and feel supported in doing so—not priced out or pushed toward one outcome.

Too often, abortion is treated as the only option. California can do better.

Steve will expand access to prenatal care, strengthen and promote adoption, and work with faith-based and community organizations to provide real, practical support for women.

He will also pursue policies that encourage responsibility and reduce unwanted pregnancies, while making it easier—not harder—for families to grow and thrive.

Strengthen Marriage and Family Stability

Strong families are the single biggest factor in whether children succeed. But too many policies in California ignore or even undermine marriage and family formation.

Steve will audit existing programs, including welfare spending, to identify and remove ways in which the government undermines family formation and stability.

He will support programs that help parents stay together and build stable homes, partnering with faith-based and community organizations to provide practical, decentralized support for families.

The goal is simple:
More children growing up in stable, loving homes—and fewer needing intervention later in life.

Put Parents Back in Charge of Education

Parents across California are being pushed aside in decisions that should be theirs. At the same time, academic performance is falling and schools are drifting away from core instruction.

Steve will require full transparency from schools on academic performance, teacher performance, and major decisions affecting students—including curriculum and student well-being.

Parents’ rights will be restored and enhanced. Classrooms will refocus on reading, math, and science, with real accountability for results.

Protect Girls’ Sports

California has abandoned common-sense standards that ensure fairness in athletics, undermining safety and opportunity for female athletes.

Steve will establish clear, statewide rules that protect girls’ sports as a space for biological girls.

The goal is straightforward:

• Preserve fair competition
• Protect safety
• Protect opportunities for girls

He will begin the process of overturning AB 1266, the 2013 law that enabled these policies.

Defend the Right to Self-Defense

State policy has increasingly targeted law-abiding gun owners while failing to deal with repeat offenders and violent crime.

Steve will defend Second Amendment rights and bring California law into line with the Constitution.

This includes ensuring concealed carry permits are applied fairly and consistently across every county, not dependent on location.

He will review firearm laws to remove unconstitutional restrictions and shift enforcement focus back to criminals—not law-abiding citizens.

Restore Safe Communities

California’s soft-on-crime approach has weakened consequences for repeat offenders and allowed organized retail theft to spread. Families see and feel the impact every day.

Steve will:

• Strengthen penalties for repeat and violent offenders
• Support law enforcement
• Take coordinated action against organized retail theft

Public safety will once again be treated as a basic obligation of government.

The prison closure program that released dangerous offenders or overcrowded local jails will be reversed. The focus will be on restoring accountability, deterrence, and rehabilitation.

Lower the Cost of Living

California families are being crushed by the cost of living—and it’s the direct result of bad policy.

Steve will:

• Deliver $3.00 gas by expanding energy production
• Cut electric bills in half by rolling back costly mandates
• Reduce regulations and taxes that drive up housing, food, and everyday costs

The goal is simple: make California affordable again for families.

This agenda is about restoring something basic and essential:

A California where families are safe, in control, and able to build a future again.