2008
As amended and adopted by the
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
We reaffirm that the Democratic
Party should be the party of the common person and should stand strongly for
jobs at a living wage, decent and affordable housing, adequate health care,=
and
a fiscally sound social security system for all.
We oppose discrimination based=
on
gender, age, race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, economic status, di=
sability,
or ethnicity.
The increasing flow of our nat=
ion's
wealth into the hands of fewer people continues. Tax cuts should not disproportiona=
bly
benefit the wealthy at the expense of low and middle-income families.
Corporations continue to offer=
part-time
and temporary jobs with no benefits and low wages. We believe that
Iowa must continue to maintain=
the
highest standards for all levels of our schools, all students, and all
teachers. All
We support the family farm rat=
her
than the large corporate operations (such as, but not limited to, corporate=
hog
factories) that are moving into
We reject the position that ec=
onomic
development is not compatible with environmental preservation. We support the concept of governme=
nt
programs and regulations to preserve the environment, and we support resear=
ch
into environmental hazards and into the means to overcome them.
We recognize the responsibilit=
y of
governments to facilitate economic development by means of supporting
education, scientific research, and infrastructure. We oppose corporate welfare, the s=
ystem
of government subsidies to businesses.&nbs=
p;
These include cash grants, tax breaks, subsidized loans, and free pu=
blic
services from the federal government and the State of
A top priority of all governme=
nts
should be to provide our citizens a safe place to live, to make the streets=
of
our cities safe, and to keep our people from having to live in fear of crim=
e.
We recognize that the United N=
ations
has contributed much to our global security through health, education, fami=
ly
planning, UNICEF, and other programs as well as by providing peaceful measu=
res
for resolving international conflicts.&nbs=
p;
We strive to become instruments of peace.
We support the national fight
against terrorists. We also s=
alute
the men and women who have given life or limb because of terrorist action as
well as those who are risking life and limb as part of this effort.
No one including the President=
of
the
Furthermore, the President and
Vice-President have been using the very real terrorist problem as an excuse=
for
egregious violations of the US Constitution including the use of false
intelligence as an excuse for going to war and massive surveillance without
legal warrants. We believe in
defending
(AE) AGRICULT=
URE
AND ENVIRONMENT
AE-1 The
AE-2 To keep climate disruptio=
n from
becoming dangerous to human life or health, the
AE-3 The United States should =
pursue
vigorously only renewable power sources including, but not limited to solar,
tidal, hydrogen, biomass, and wind energy.
AE-4 We support immediate acti=
on in
controlling the odious odor pollution and solids pollution of our environme=
nt,
and we oppose using studies to delay such action.
AE-5 The
AE-6 We support a bike and wal=
king
trail along
AE-7 We oppose placing trees a=
nd
other plants used by wildlife for food and shelter in areas that limit driv=
er
visibility next to our highways.
AE-8 We should implement a zer=
o tax
base loss policy for all public lands acquisitions by federal, state, and
county governments. When fede=
ral
and state governments take land out of the tax base, they should reimburse =
county
and city governments for the loss of revenue.
AE-9 We oppose road building i=
n the
national forests for the purpose of private logging. We support preservation of the Ala=
skan
National Wildlife Refuge and all national parks and refuges, and we urge
restrictions of commercial development including harvesting of lumber and
mineral resources.
AE-10 We support the family fa=
rm and
support startup economic assistance to young family farmers. We should proh=
ibit
packer ownership of livestock. We
propose a cap on subsidy payments to large corporate farms and agriculture
subsidies to other large corporations.&nbs=
p;
AE-11 Current environmental la=
ws and
regulations must be strictly enforced, and applied to offshore manufacturin=
g.
AE-12 We support increased fun=
ding for
federal inspections for all food processing.
AE-13 Wetlands should be prote=
cted.
AE-14 We urge that recycling
programs be expanded and that items such as paper plates be included.
(EL) ECONOMY, COMMERCE, AND LA=
BOR
EL-1 We support strict controls
regarding predatory lending including home mortgages and limits on adjustab=
le
rate interest increases.
EL-2 We support sufficient fun=
ding
in the state Health Department for funding plumbing licenses.
EL-3 We believe that all cities
should adopt the Uniform Plumbing Code to be consistent with the law in the
State of
EL-4 We support project labor =
agreements
and using Vision
EL-5 We support enforcement of
contractor licensing.
EL-6 Government entities shoul=
d lead
the way by paying their own employees a living wage.
EL-7 We support establishing a= COLA for the minimum wage. <= o:p>
EL-8 We support a tax or tariff on all =
goods
imported into this country by American corporations that have manufactured
those goods outside of the
EL-9 We should repeal all tax
benefits for companies that move off-shore.
EL-10 NAFTA, CAFTA, and the WTO
should be renegotiated to include tougher fair worker rights and environmen=
tal
standards. We support g=
reater
congressional oversight of trade negotiations rather than being limited to =
yea
or nay.
EL-11 Goods should not be impo=
rted
into the United States produced by repressive child labor, or from factories
that have unsafe or unhealthful working conditions, or from factories that =
do
not pay workers a living wage, or when the goods are unsafe or unhealthy.
EL-12 Public entities should be
required to pay prevailing wage on construction projects.
EL-13 We support legislation t=
hat
allows
EL-14 We support the Employee =
Free
Choice Act, which would require union recognition if a majority of employees
sign an authorization. We sup=
port
the rights of workers to organize by supporting card check recognition for
public sector workers in
EL-15 We support the repeal of=
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
EL-16 We support funding of all
public employment retirement systems at a level to achieve full actuarial
funding within an actuarially reasonable period of time. With respect to the
EL-17 We oppose diversion of a=
ny
pension fund by private entities.
EL-18 The tax laws should apply
equally to all who live or work in the
EL-19 The Federal Railroad
Administration should enact comprehensive rules and regulations enforcing t=
he
utmost safe operations of remote control locomotives. All remote control locomotive oper=
ations
should cease and desist until such time as the FRA issues comprehensive rul=
es
and regulations.
EL-20 We call for continued
government support and subsidies for long distance passenger train service,
full funding for Amtrak, and we call for the extension of passenger train
service to
EL-21 In order to keep top fir=
efighters
and law enforcement employees in the state of Iowa, the state needs to ensu=
re
that adequate protection is available to care for the families of any emplo=
yee
killed or injured in the line of duty.
EL-22 If a temporary employee =
works
in a company over 90 days, he/she should become a regular employee with
benefits.
EL-23 We support equal pay for=
equal
work.
EL-24 The hiring of replacement
workers during a labor dispute should be illegal.
EL-25 The laws prohibiting
redefining workers as independent contractors not eligible for benefits or
protection should be enforced.
EL-26. Prison labor should not be used to
replace bargaining unit workers.
EL-27. Wages, hours, and terms and condit=
ions
of employment should be mandatory subjects of bargaining for public employe=
es.
EL-28 Employers with four or m=
ore
workers, including the state, must provide family and medical leave.
EL-29 The "employment at =
will
doctrine" should be eliminated.
Discharged workers should be given access to the courts.
(ED) EDUCATION
ED-1 We support extending the =
school
infrastructure local option sales tax to a statewide tax distributed on a p=
er
pupil basis, recalculated annually to adjust the statewide revenues per
student.
ED-2 We call for funding meani=
ngful
professional development for teachers and support collective bargaining abo=
ut
pay for professional development time.
ED-3 Local sales and property =
taxes
should be de-emphasized for educational funding provided sufficient funding=
is
made available.
ED-4 We support statewide
educational standards.
ED-5 We support an allowable g=
rowth
of at least 6.0%.
ED-6 We support adequate fundi=
ng for
pre-kindergarten programs, K-12, AEA’s, community colleges, and other
educational programs including after school programs and including support =
for
increased enrollment and protection in the case of declining enrollment.
ED-7 The No Child Left Behind =
Act
should be corrected and fully funded. Sanctions against schools should be
suspended until such funding is in place.&=
nbsp;
Corrections should be planned with the help of educators and should
include realistic and attainable goals, flexibility in measuring schools=
217;
progress and in improving schools, avoiding sanctions on entire schools bec=
ause
of problems among subgroups, avoiding evaluations based on a single high-st=
akes
test, giving consideration to circumstances inside and outside classrooms t=
hat
affect the ability to learn, and other necessary corrections. Federal and state mandates should =
always
be fully funded.
ED-8 We support full federal f=
unding
for special education. We support funding for early identification and
treatment of special-needs and hostile/violent behavior.
ED-9 Federal and state educati=
onal
funds should be used for public education.=
These funds should not be diverted to private K-12 schools in the fo=
rm
of vouchers or in other forms.
ED-10 We support raising the p=
ay of
K-12 and community college teachers to at least 25th in the
nation. We support a three-ye=
ar
phase-in of $60 million per year for K-12 and $2 million per year for commu=
nity
colleges.
ED-11 We support a plan to reduce college tuition rates and make col=
lege
affordable for those who wish to attend without students sacrificing their
futures for their degrees. We support increased aid to students including
federal Pell Grants, college work-study, veterans’ educational benefi=
ts,
college tax credits and grants, and other scholarships, grants, low-interest
loans, and forgivable loans. =
We
support a program to forgive the student loans for graduates who remain in =
ED-12 We support funding for
Headstart, for the Iowa Communication Network, for achieving and maintaining
proper class sizes, for repair and maintenance of public school buildings a=
nd
infrastructure, for school equipment and technology, for compliance with the
Americans for Disabilities Act in schools, and for School Resource Officers=
.
ED-13 Funding should be increa=
sed
for public libraries, the arts, fine arts in schools, the National Endowment
for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and for individual
artists.
ED-14 Programs and grants shou=
ld be
developed to assist holders of baccalaureate, masters, and PhD degrees to
complete the courses necessary for gaining secondary teaching credits in ar=
eas
of need.
ED-15. We oppose lowering
teacher-licensing requirements in pre K-12.
ED-16. Federal school-to-work opportuniti=
es
should be renewed and re-funded.
(GO) GOVERNME=
NT
GO-1 We oppose exemptions for
cross-border trucking.
GO-2 Anyone who ever served in=
the
GO-3 We should stop cheating a=
rmed
service members, including National Guard members who served their country,=
out
of their benefits.
GO-4 In Iowa, individuals shou=
ld
have the right to bring consumer fraud lawsuits.
GO-5 We support, without excep=
tion,
the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
GO-6
GO-7 We oppose any constitutio=
nal
amendment that attempts to define marriage.
GO-8 We support eliminating the
statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse cases.
GO-9 We support a publicly fin=
anced
system for campaigns for federal, legislative, and statewide offices.
GO-10 We support comprehensive
immigration reform.
GO-11 The legislature should r=
efuse
to consider reestablishing a death penalty in our state. We call for the abolition of capit=
al
punishment in the
GO-12 In child custody cases, =
the
courts should consider the welfare of the children and the merit of the
individual parent without regard to gender. Children should be ensured of home=
s that
are safe and free of crime regardless of mandates to keep families intact.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The welfare of all children should=
be
foremost in decisions regarding placement.
GO-13 We promise to appoint pe=
ople
to office on the basis of proven competence and not on the basis of campaign
contributions.
GO-14 We oppose the creation o=
f a
national ID card and the requirement that voters carry such a card in order=
to
vote.
GO-15 Software used in voting
machines should be transparent enough to allow the auditing of its operation
and verification of its honesty. A
verifiable paper trail should be mandatory in all voting systems.
GO-16 The Electoral College sh=
ould
be eliminated in favor of a popular vote system.
GO-17 We support election-day =
voter
registration.
GO-18 We support efforts to pr=
otect
the nation from terrorist attacks without suppressing basic human rights or
allowing war to
1.
preempt needed diplomacy, scar=
ce
resources, and peace and justice options
2.
give license to the war effort=
s of
others
3.
militarize our nation.
Therefore be it resolved that =
we
support necessary adjustments to the Patriot Act to protect human and civil
rights of US citizens.
GO-19 We support the making of
Highway 30 into a four-lane, primary, full-access highway across the state =
of
GO-20 We oppose the use of
government rules or actions to intimidate dissenters.
GO-21 We support a revision of=
the
GO-22 Government workers, pilo=
ts,
airline security workers, and other workers should maintain their rights to
union membership regardless of the Patriot Act/Homeland Security Act.
GO-23 Anti-trust laws should be
strengthened and enforced.
GO-24 Existing gun control laws
should be strengthened and enforced.
GO-25 It should be illegal to
"tag-tail" bills onto other bills. Each bill voted on in Congress sho=
uld
stand alone on its own merits.
GO-26 We oppose utility
deregulation.
GO-27 Bicycle organizations and county a=
nd
local governments should work together to resolve their safety and liability
issues.
(HR) HUMAN RESOURCES AND HEALT=
H CARE
HR-1 We support the creation o=
f a
national comprehensive health care plan to include all citizens.
HR-2 The government should stop
neglecting the health care of veterans and ensure that veterans’ heal=
th
care is properly provided for.
HR-3 The law should allow the
government to use its bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices for
prescription drugs and to save money by importing FDA-approved drugs from <=
st1:country-region
w:st=3D"on">
HR-4 We oppose direct to consu=
mer
advertising of prescription drugs.
HR-5 Congress should change the
Medicare geographical adjustment to reflect the true relative cost of livin=
g in
each area and discontinue reimbursement based on historic norms.
HR-6 We support comprehensive =
mental
health parity including substance abuse and treatment for all organic and
inorganic mental illness. Fur=
ther
we support requirements that insurance companies and managed care companies
provide mental health benefits for all adults, adolescents, and children. We
support ending arbitrary assignment of benefits which limit the number of
outpatient visits, in-patient care, and medications for mental health patie=
nts.
HR-7 When Medicaid is paying f=
or
long term care, we support protecting the finances of the spouses of nursing
home residents.
HR-8 Any managed care consumer
should be provided with basic patient protections.
HR-9 We respect human life but
recognize that constituents have differing opinions on how to address the
difficult abortion/human rights issue. We respect everyone’s differen=
ces.
We favor social and comprehensive sexuality education programs that will
actually reduce the number of abortions without criminalizing it.
HR-10 We support increased fun=
ding
for chronic disease research. Any
health care plan should include coverage for chronic disease.
HR-11 We support increasing fu=
nding
for stem cell research.
HR-12 We encourage the legisla=
ture
to support funding for low and moderate income housing.
HR-13 The Social Security prog=
ram
should be preserved as a social insurance program and not privatized.
HR-14 We propose the creation =
of a
new WPA type program to rebuild
HR-15 State and federal fundin=
g to eliminate
domestic abuse and neglect should be increased.
HR-16 We support separating wo=
rkers
compensation into two parts; one based on medical costs and the other based=
on
wage replacement. We support giving the employee a choice of doctor and
eliminating the 1998 changes to the Occupational Hearing Loss Statute. Workers' records should not be rel=
eased
to firms that blacklist them; current law on first reports of injury and
in-state claims reports should be enforced. Time frames to decide cases should=
be
enacted. The secondary injury
clause should be eliminated from the workers compensation law.
HR-17 Unemployment compensation
should be extended to more than the current percentage of eligible workers =
and
should be extended to people who have to leave employment due to domestic
violence. We oppose diversion=
s from
the fund.
HR-18 We support high-quality,
affordable childcare for all children.
HR-19 We support adequately fu=
nding
legal services for low-income people.
HR-20 We support funding for t=
ransitional
housing programs (i.e. housing for those who may be homeless or leaving abu=
sive
relationships).
(IA) INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
IA-1 We support efforts to ins=
till a
lasting peace among Israel, Palestine, and the region.
IA-2 Congress should revoke the
President’s unlimited authority to commit our forces to
IA-3 As we protect ourselves a=
gainst
attacks by terrorist organizations, we should focus military action on area=
s with
clear connections to threatening organizations. Any expansion of military action s=
hould
be undertaken only with clear, attainable antiterrorist goals, only with the
concurrence of traditional American allies, and only with the fully informed
assent of the
IA-4 We support efforts to red=
uce
and prevent the international development, proliferation, and use of nuclea=
r,
chemical, biological, and other weapons of mass destruction but caution aga=
inst
using military means for this purpose.
IA-5 We support the eliminatio=
n of
extreme poverty worldwide.
IA-6 We support the continuing
participation of the United States in the United Nations as a useful and
efficient means for reconciling international issues and dealing with mutual
concerns facing the global community.
We support a full budget for the UN so that it can achieve
organizational reform. We sho=
uld
pay our legitimate UN debts.
IA-7 We support international
environmental, human rights, and arms control agreements.
IA-8 We strongly oppose all fo=
rms of
torture specifically including waterboarding perpetrated on individuals by
citizens of any country.
IA-9 We support the internatio=
nal
banning of land mines.
IA-10 We believe that there are
wasteful practices in military procurement including overcharges and pursui=
t of
systems that won't work. Such
practices should be eliminated
IA-11 We support closing the W=
estern
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the
IA-12 We support humanitarian =
aid to
needy populations. Food and US made goods should be sent rather than money.=
IA-13 Americans should become =
more
educated about the problems caused by global overpopulation.
IA-14 We oppose military aid to
repressive regimes.
Platform Committee Report 2008