California Young Democrats Platform

Preamble

As Californians, we take great pride that the Democratic Party is the Party of the People. We value a fair and responsive government and the merits of an active citizenry. As California Young Democrats, we recognize the need to actively participate in the political process and encourage all people to become informed and involved in public decision making. We promote social awareness, community involvement, and political activism as a means to achieve a more fair and just society. To this end, we oppose discrimination on the basis of race, gender, physical features, sexual orientation, age, national origin, creed, religion, disability or socioeconomic status.

Health and Social Issues

We are committed to working towards the implementation of a national universal health care system. We must strengthen and expand programs to protect the health and well being of all Californians regardless of socioeconomic status. We believe that healthcare decisions should be made between the individual and their doctor.

1. We applaud programs that provide free or low cost health care to Californians such as the Healthy Families and Medi-Cal program and support the passage of a true Patients Bill of Rights in Congress. In that area, we support the proposed expansion of Healthy Families to include more patients. Furthermore, we support coverage of prescription drugs for seniors and other persons in need.
2. We believe in the equitable treatment of women and men in insurance coverage. Contraceptive methods should be included in medical coverage.
3. We support reproductive rights of all women regardless of ability to pay. We believe that family planning is a vital component of health care.
4. We support substantial funding for research, education and prevention of all diseases with the goal of finding cures, with special emphasis on deadly diseases. In that regard, we recognize the positive role that stem cell research can play in finding a cure for deadly diseases. We support this research and urge the federal government to allow such research to continue unfettered. Further, we urge the federal government to take the lead in this research and provide funding as such.
5. We strongly support adequate funding for HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and research. We believe every person with HIV/AIDS should receive adequate funding for HIV/AIDS medications.
6. We support fact based, age appropriate sexual education.
7. We recognize that access to quality affordable housing is one of the most important issues facing Californians, and young people in particular. Because of this, we support access to affordable housing for low and moderate-income individuals, families and students.
8. We believe that publicly funded facilities and the private sector should fully comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
9. We support mandatory labeling of food products consisting of genetically modified organisms.
10. We recognize mental health as a significant health care issue and we support substantial funding for education, research, and treatment.
11. We support a comprehensive strategy that will fund prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation of substance abuse.
12. We recognize that demographic changes will make our current social security system an economically challenging program in the future. A consensus must be reached on reform that is fair and equitable to both current retirees, provides future generations a strong reliable program, and does not increase the federal debt. We do not support privatization as it is considered risky and thus not a sensible reform option. We strongly implore Congress and the President to act expeditiously on Social Security reform.
13. We support increased funding for access to affordable in-home support and dependent care.
14. We promote the growth of microentrepreneurs by supporting the development of nontraditional/alternative lending institutions to provide greater access to capital for start-up businesses, especially for would-be entrepreneurs who face barriers in the form of education, language, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Education

We believe that education is the key to prosperity and is the wisest investment we can make in the future of our nation. Access to quality public primary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, professional, and technical education is essential to providing equal opportunities for all Californians. In pursuing this goal, we should recognize that education is a life-long pursuit and state and federal policies should reflect support for educational opportunities during all stages of life.

1. We recognize the contribution private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities make to the California school system, however, we believe that there is a federal, state, and local responsibility to ensure that public schools are adequately funded to ensure the success of our children. To that end, we do not support programs such as vouchers that take funding away from public schools.
2. We believe that access to education is critical, and that all students should have an equal opportunity for a quality education. No one should be denied opportunities based on physical, emotional, mental, learning disabilities, socio-economic status, immigration status, or language barriers. To that end, we support full state and federal funding for programs, such as bilingual education, special education, and funding equalization for schools.
3. We believe that government should help families ensure that opportunities exist for affordable, quality, early childhood education. We support efforts to establish universal preschool and mandatory kindergarten.
4. We support the principles of excellence, affordability, and inclusiveness in higher education. To this end, we oppose the University of California's decision to repeal affirmative action as a consideration in the University's admissions policy. We applaud the efforts of individual University Chancellors and College Presidents to ensure that diversity remains a consideration during the admissions process.
5. We believe the government should make higher education funding in the forms of Cal Grants and loans a high priority to help ensure that no one is denied the opportunity to attend college because of the inability to pay. We support further efforts to make improvements in the Cal Grant system.
6. As the first generation of the digital age, we support promoting education and universal access to technology, including Internet access, to close the digital divide.
7. We support the separation of church and state and oppose organized prayer in public schools.
8. We strongly support the teaching of scientifically sound principles and theories such as evolution in our public schools. Although we respect the religious beliefs of all individuals, we believe our children can receive the best education through the well-rounded learning of sound theories and principles based in science.
9. We believe that children learn best when they are prepared to learn. To this end, we support ensuring that children are provided nutritious breakfasts and lunches through the full funding of the National School Lunch Program. To this end we support increasing the number of pupil support services, such as librarians, school nurses, counselors, resource officers, social workers, and teacher aides (bilingual, special education, and others), available to students and their families.
10. Further, we recognize that parent participation and a supportive learning environment at home are essential to a youth's educational advancement.
11. We support the education of civic responsibility in schools that stress the importance of individual participation in democratic society.
12. We support accountability for students and teachers alike. While we support assessment in the form of standardized testing, we also recognize that a standardized test alone cannot adequately reflect the entire scope of a student’s performance or understanding. We support broad-based measures to help more accurately assess the performance of public schools.
13. We believe that class-size reduction has had a positive effect on California’s students. We support the expansion of class-size reduction that includes qualified teachers and adequate facilities in public primary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, professional, and technical education.
14. We believe that tuition is not the only significant cost associated with higher education. In this regard, we support a tax break on textbooks and supplies, either in the form of a sales tax holiday or sales tax rebate.

Law and Justice

1. We support legislative initiatives prohibiting the personal possession of all semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Short of this end, we support gun safety initiatives that include extended background checks and other preventative measures for purchases of guns through unregulated venues such as gun shows and Internet sales. We also support additional safety measures such as mandatory licensing, trigger locks, a ban on "Saturday Night Specials," and a tax on bullets. Additionally, we are proud that California has the toughest gun purchasing law in the country that limits individuals to buy only one gun per month, which will significantly reduce the amount of guns sold illegally.
2. We support the full prosecution of individuals or organizations that commit crimes of hate against people where race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or age is a contributing factor.
3. We recognize that domestic violence and child abuse pose a serious threat to the American family. We support all efforts to educate communities on ways to reduce the incidence of domestic violence. We support legislation that expands personal leave time for victims of domestic violence without fear of losing one's job. We also support protection and support programs to help those in abusive relationships to work beyond those situations.
4. We support all efforts to increase child support enforcement.
5. We support legislative and law enforcement efforts to combat youth violence and ensure safe communities and schools. We recognize that the criminalization of youth is a problem that diverts attention and resources from truly securing our communities. We oppose rhetoric and actions, such as Prop. 21, that cite our youth as the exclusive cause of societies' ills, ignoring the contributing factors of these problems.
6. We strongly support domestic partnership laws that provide identical privileges to married couples and same-gender couples in long-term, committed relationships. To this end, California should recognize same-gender marriages and civil unions performed in other states as legal marriages. Further, we support the ability of same-gender couples to legally adopt children, and oppose efforts to restrict or deny the ability of same-gender couples to legally adopt children.
7. We oppose the practice of racial profiling by law enforcement officials and support measures to eliminate this practice. We also oppose any prejudice in sentencing individuals.
8. We oppose the incarceration of persons for the simple possession of controlled substances and oppose drug laws that penalize non-drug related activities such as suspension of driver's licenses and we support rehabilitation over incarceration in the war against drugs.
9. We oppose the death penalty and instead support the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital crimes. There are serious inequalities in the application of the death penalty in California; and until these inequalities can be addressed, California should follow the lead of Illinois to institute a moratorium on the death penalty.
10. We support the discretion of judges and juries and oppose mandatory sentencing.
11. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we recognize the need to improve and enhance the security of all Americans. We wholeheartedly support the efforts of law enforcement officials to protect public safety. At the same time, we urge lawmakers not to forsake civil liberties and privacy rights in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
12. We support the continued expansion and implementation of immigration rights and laws at the state and federal level without sacrificing the protection and integrity of our borders. We further support improvements to the standard of conduct in processing illegal immigrants.

Elections

We believe responsible government should serve all people and encourage their active participation in the political process regardless of their race, age, disabilities, sexual orientation, religion, creed, gender, or criminal record in accordance with federal standards. In addition, we believe that no one should be denied his or her constitutional right to vote. We support measures to improve access to voting and to end discrimination and confusion at the polling place.

1. We support programs and initiatives that encourage young people to vote and become active participants in civic life. We are committed to enhancing youth voter participation and get-out-the-vote activities.
2. We believe that voting is both a right and a responsibility and impediments to the exercise of that right will not be tolerated. We support efforts to register and encourage underrepresented groups including low-income and minority populations to exercise their right to vote through the availability of multi-lingual voter information and ballots, as well as through other means. We applaud recent state legislation encouraging students to register to vote by making available voter registration forms on public college and university campuses.
3. We believe that the public should maintain the right to elect representatives to office without the imposition of term limits.
4. We supports continued an effort for campaign finance reform to ensure that money is not an overwhelming factor in the outcome of elections.
5. We believe that candidates and public officials should continually adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct and be held accountable for their behavior.
6. We recognize that electronic technology can help facilitate political participation and encourage voter turnout. We believe that the Internet can be a safe and accessible tool to use for voting and elections, and encourage legislation that supports the development of Internet voting. Short of Internet voting, we strongly support ending the use of “punch-card” style ballots, and instead utilizing optical scan or electronic voting devices.
7. We support the efforts to implement same-day voter registration to facilitate increased voter turnout and participation in the political process.

Environment

Environmental protection justice, restoration and enhancement must be integral components of California's environmental policy. Our parks, coastlines, and waterways and other natural resources are among our greatest assets. We strongly believe that future generations deserve clean air and water, undamaged land and preserved coasts.

1. We support the strengthening and coordination of agencies charged with coastline protection, extensive reforestation efforts, preservation and rehabilitation of water resources and habitats, and cultural resources, including historical and archaeological sites.
2. We oppose any further offshore oil drilling or mining along California's coast. We also oppose further onshore oil drilling that has been to shown to be harmful to the environment, such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Californians should be provided with notice of all public beaches that pose health risks due to pollution.
3. We support efforts to encourage counties and local governments to expand recycling incentives and encourage communities to actively participate in these Earth conscious programs.
4. We support efforts to decrease air pollution and promote the use of public transportation and alternative fuels, statewide. In addition, we support transportation initiatives aimed at reducing single-occupancy vehicle use and promote alternative transportation methods such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes and non-motorized transportation. We encourage the State of California to research and develop statewide transportation initiatives, such as the statewide high-speed rail system proposal.
5. We support statewide expansion of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and oppose the construction of new nuclear power plants. Further, we urge all levels of government to fund research and technology in these renewable energy sources.
6. We support smart growth initiatives aimed at revitalizing urban areas and protecting California open spaces and agricultural areas, which are vital to California’s economy. We oppose any initiative that would permit unregulated urban and suburban sprawl.

Labor Standards

We strongly supports employment practices that prevent discrimination in the workplace based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, creed, religion, disabilities, and socioeconomic status. We also support free collective bargaining, non-discriminatory, equitable employment practices, and the use of affirmative action to achieve these goals.

1. We applaud the efforts of state and local governments to increase the minimum wage beyond the level currently mandated by the federal government.
2. We strongly support the reinstatement of voluntary daily overtime pay, which puts more money back into the pockets of working Californians.
3. We advocate for incremental increases in the minimum wage to real cost of living levels that allow California families to have real purchasing power and to be elevated from poverty. Further, we recognize research indicating that “living wage laws” have had a positive effect on workers living in areas with such ordinances. We support further efforts to provide workers with a true “living wage.”
4. We believe that all workers should be guaranteed the right to organize, join the union of their choice, and bargain collectively with their employer, free from anti-union tactics.
5. Unions provide and protect workers’ general standard of living. Therefore, we support free collective bargaining; non-discriminatory, equitable employment practices; and the use of affirmative action to achieve these goals.
6. We applaud recent California law that allows California workers to use their sick leave to take care of ill family members.
7. Migrant workers are an integral part of California’s economy. Accordingly, we support initiatives that ensure fair wages and living conditions for migrant workers along with their right to unionize and bargain collectively.