WEBSTER COUNTY DEMOCRATS STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES & PLATFORM – 2024


We reaffirm our commitment to the basic policies and values that have helped to make Democratic Party principles a standard for aspiring humanity. 


We promise to work together to elect all Democratic candidates, united by our belief in justice, our passion for fairness, and our faith in the goodness of the people of America. 


THEREFORE, WE AFFIRM THAT: 

  • Government at all levels must be fair, open and honest, a progressive government that serves all its citizens consistently. Government should constantly strive to operate as efficiently and economically as possible. 

  • Every American should have access to professional health care, prescription drugs, wholesome nourishment, quality education, shelter, and useful employment regardless of color, race, religious beliefs, ethnic background, language, political beliefs, gender, physical or mental disability, and sexual orientation or gender identity. 

  • We continue our support for the family farm as the most useful and efficient way to produce crops and raise livestock, while preserving the quality of land, air, and water in rural Iowa. We further believe that family farms provide a unique quality of life. 

  • We continue to support the protection of our environment on the local, state, and national levels including the guarantees of clean water, clean air, and the protection of our non-renewable natural resources. 

  • We support the continued funding of support services for low-income housing, low-income elderly, and assistance for the unhoused.

  • We believe that government assistance at all levels should enhance opportunities for people to realize their potential as productive members of society. 

  • American education needs the full support of every level of government to accomplish its goal of a literate and creative population able to master fundamental knowledge of science, mathematics, technology, and the arts and humanities, and to make use of that understanding, to enrich the life of this nation and the world. 

  • We support federal funding for higher education, including student aid, student loans, and work study programs. 

  • Every child should have the right to professional pre-natal care, a wholesome diet, medical treatment, including immunization to prevent illness, and a free public education, including pre-school, after school programs, and the Head Start program. 

  • Older Americans should be cared for with compassion in an environment that preserves dignity and where their needs are best met. 

  • Americans do have the right to privacy and security in their persons and in their dwelling places. 

  • We continue our historic opposition to the death penalty, for both economic and moral reasons. 

  • We affirm our continuing support for working men and women who join together in labor unions at their places of employment. We support their rights to give or withhold their labor. We support their efforts to make each workplace safe and to guarantee that each worker is fairly paid and treated with respect. 

  • We continue to support the principle of the Sherman-Anti Trust Act to regulate monopolies. 


WEBSTER COUNTY DEMOCRATIC STATEMENT OF ISSUES 2024


THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE DEMOCRATS OF WEBSTER COUNTY THAT: 


AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT 

  • We support establishment of land stewardship grants for conservation measures and support of young people to enter the farming business. 

  • We support country-of-origin food labeling, and place the burden on manufacturers to prove before use that biotech farm inputs will not harm the ecosystem and human health

  • We support a moratorium on large-scale confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) and vigorous antitrust expansion to prohibit vertical integration and concentration in the food chain, crop and livestock production, food processing and retailing. 

  • We support a significant increase in government support for renewable and efficient energy technologies. 

  • We support a continued strategic investment from the federal government in clean energy and energy efficiency, emphasizing job growth, energy independence and strict environmental standards. 

  • We support expanding recycling efforts in Iowa. 

  • We support enacting a responsible carbon cap and federal legislation capping all forms of pollutants drastically by 2030. 

  • We support full funding of REAP. 

  • We oppose the use of eminent domain for non-government projects.


ECONOMY, COMMERCE & LABOR 

  • We call for the reduction of illegal immigration by providing legal channels of entry and earned legalization for law abiding immigrants who will come to achieve, belong, and contribute to the United States of America, including supporting DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

  • We will continue to work together in coalition with immigrant, labor, community, business, and religious groups to promote and protect the civil and human rights of Iowa’s immigrant families. 

  • We support the full disclosure of U S companies engaged in outsourcing American jobs and ending tax incentives for companies engaged in such practices. 

  • We support legislation that allows Iowa workers who are injured on the job to choose their own medical care providers. 

  • We support legislation that restores public sector bargaining rights and protect private sector bargaining rights. 

  • We support passage by Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act to protect the rights of workers to form unions and bargain collectively. 

  • We support a prevailing wage law for Iowa construction workers on government projects to promote its proven beneficial effects on the economy, on construction quality and on worker safety. 

  • We support state legislation amending Chapter 731 and the pertinent parts of Chapter 20 of the Iowa Code to allow private and public sector workers in Iowa to negotiate “fair-share” clauses that ensure that all workers covered by and benefitting from a negotiated contract would share in the cost of the service provided. 

  • We support a living wage. 

  • We support transportation safety policies that focus on crash prevention instead of crash protection. 

  • We support legislation that makes all forms of wage theft illegal. 

  • We support a new federal law that would guarantee four to twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave.

  • We support the restoration of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) as a fully refundable tax credit for parents with dependent children, for the purpose of substantially reducing child poverty.


EDUCATION 

  • We support full state and federal funding of all currently mandated education programs. The increase of Special Education and mental health services in schools 

  • We support providing full funding for public schools (preschool, after school, K-12, community colleges, regent universities) and AEAs, which will allow us to adequately improve our quality of education and raise our standard of competency for all Iowa public education students. 

  • We support funding and providing top quality, meaningful, professional development for teachers. 

  • We support increased state and federal funding to improve parents’ ability to access universal and quality pre-kindergarten and after- school programs for all of Iowa’s children. 

  • We support increased access to programs promoting competence in literacy, reading, math, writing, and English for high school drop-outs, the unemployed, under-employed, and new immigrants. 

  • We support increasing college tuition assistance for working and middle-class families and creating loan forgiveness programs for students who stay in Iowa and students who return to Iowa. 

  • We support yearly contracts that increase the wages of support staff in our public schools. 

  • We support anti-bullying programs in school to allow all children and staff to learn and work in an environment free from harassment and threat including all weaponry. 

  • We support on-line educational opportunities by the State of Iowa where there is appropriate oversight by the Iowa Dept. of Education plus appropriate oversight for home school programs. 

  • We oppose school saving accounts. 

  • We oppose state government banning of books.

  • We support affordable higher education by providing two years of free tuition for students enrolled in community colleges.


GOVERNMENT & LAW 

  • We affirm our historic support of affirmative action policies in higher education, government, and employment. 

  • We support equal rights for all Americans. 

  • We support working together to convince business and industry and our most valuable commodity, our youth, of the benefits of establishing their businesses, working, and raising a family in Iowa. 

  • We support enhanced specialized treatment and research for service-related illnesses, such as mental illness, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and Agent Orange, for our veterans. 

  • We support full accounting of POW/MIA’s and a quick declassification of documents.

  • We support increased enhancing of acceptability for veterans’ preference in health benefits, training programs and employment, and restoration and full funding of VA benefits. 

  • We believe disability compensation should not be taxed. 

  • We support the federal Arbitration Fairness Act to prevent corporations from forcing employees to give up their constitutional right to a jury trial in exchange for a job. 

  • We support legislation that prohibits any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. 

  • We support amending the Iowa Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act to restore the rights of the disabled which have been demitted by the courts. 

  • We support the securing of our borders and ports against internal & external enemy attacks. 

  • We support a full and adequately equipped military force. 

  • We support a woman’s right to choose when to have children and increased access to a variety of contraceptive options including emergency contraception. 

  • We support state funding to provide family planning services including contraceptives for persons who would otherwise not have access, with the goal of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies in the state. 

  • We support efforts to restructure the Patriot Act. 

  • We support raising the wage cap on Social Security to provide adequate funding for future retirees 

  • We support the expansion of community-based  correctional services. 

  • We support the adequate staffing of the state prisons system to ensure workers safety. 

  • We support legislation that will stop voter suppression efforts and will increase participation, including vote by mail options. 

  • We support strengthening retirement systems for our public employees by maintaining and enhancing the current defined benefit of the IPERS programs. 

  • We support increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit. 

  • We support requiring that all tax credits, tax expenditures or abatements are sunset each year and their effectiveness evaluated to make sure Iowans are getting fair return on their investment. 

  • We support term limits on Congress.

  • We support criminal justice reforms. 

  • We oppose the privatization of Social Security. 

  • We oppose the weakening or elimination of Medicare and Medicaid. 

  • We oppose any privatization of any and all facilities of the Iowa Department of Corrections. 

  • We oppose the sale of DNR lands. 

  • We oppose raising the age for Social Security benefits. 

  • We oppose conversion therapy for minors (LGBTQIA+) 

  • We support the resettlement of refugees from areas of conflict.

  • We support stronger gun safety laws, including universal background checks.

  • We support reforming America’s immigration courts, including increasing the number of judges and expanding their training and giving them more discretion to grab relief to noncitizens applying for asylum.


HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES 

  • We support the Affordable Care act, financed in a manner that is fair and equitable, that contains a core package of benefits. 

  • We urge the State of Iowa to use its bulk purchasing power to directly negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for the best prices on prescription drugs and to pass those discounts on to all Iowans. 

  • We believe Medicaid’s focus on institutional care should be shifted toward home and community-based services within the basic Medicaid program. 

  • We believe any proposals to block grant Medicaid should be rejected and the opened Medicaid matching funding structure, which guarantees 67% of the cost of services and allows the state to respond to fluctuations in the economy and changes in state-specific needs should be retained. 

  • We support legislation decriminalizing the use of cannabis. 

  • We support funding for the Older Americans Act. Programs and services should be increased by no less than 10% above current levels. 

  • We support full funding for VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) and the creation of a stable permanent federal funding for services to crime victims. 

  • We support the focus of the Affordable Healthcare Act by keeping people healthier through disease prevention, care management, and targeted incentives to encourage self-management. 

  • We support improving the quality of care for those with chronic diseases by encouraging innovation in the treatment of diseases at the research and bedside levels, as well as encouraging continued American investment in pioneering science that will result in better treatments to prevent and lessen the toll of chronic disease. 

  • We support public and private human service program funding that ensures salary levels that provide a wage and salary commensurate with professional credentials, skills, experience, and caseload. 

  • We support appropriately funded programs designed to offer support and counseling to victims of sexual abuse that ensure confidential, efficient, and effective treatment for victims. 

  • We support appropriate Medicaid reimbursement rates to expand the menu of services available in all Iowa communities. 

  • We support universal health care coverage of medically necessary services for all Americans. 

  • We support increased state and federal funding to eliminate abuse and neglect of children. 

  • We support acceptable health insurance for all Iowans including mental health parity. 

  • We support the elimination of statutes of limitations to enable the commencement of both criminal prosecutions against persons who have sexually abused children and civil legal actions filed on behalf of the victims of these crimes. 

  • We support increasing commitment to Alzheimer’s research and expanding diagnosis and care planning for people with Alzheimer’s as well as for their families and care givers. 

  • We support increased funding for mental health treatment, including services for children 

  • We support legalized end of life choice. 

  • We support increase use of drug courts and recidivate prevention. 

  • We support affordable childcare, subsidized by the federal government. 


INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 

  • We believe the US must take a decisive stand to end genocide and violations of human rights as defined by the UN. 

  • We support the continued participation of the United States in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)