Gerald Klaas, a computer analyst for the state, and part-time community college instructor, formally announced today his intention to seek the State Senate District 6 seat being vacated by retiring incumbent, Leroy Greene. Mr. Klaas is a candidate in the Libertarian Party, and his name will be on the June 2nd primary election ballot.

When asked about his priorities, Mr. Klaas responded, "My primary goal is to reduce the size of government, and its influence in the personal lives of all citizens. I would work to defeat or repeal any law where the government infringes on the Bill of Rights and the right of citizens to make decisions involving their own personal activities."

Mr. Klaas introduced his version of a public school voucher system with, "Schools already get half of our state budget. I think that's plenty. What schools need is healthy market competition. I would like to see a system where parents can opt out of the public school system, much like some employers allow employees to opt out of their health care system. Parents would receive a 50% rebate of the cost of public school tuition. The instant savings would still go to the schools, increasing the per pupil funds, and the free market would go after the increased demand for private education, shifting the burden of future construction projects away from the state. "

Mr. Klaas was born and raised in Sacramento. He attended Jesuit High School (Class of '81), American River College (AS in Math and Physical Science) and CSUS (BA in Mathematics with an emphasis in statistics). Presently he works as a database and Internet programmer for the state, and instructs night classes for American River College about the Internet and web page programming. You will find more about Mr. Klaas and his views online at http://sacto.com