2023 Platform (Draft)

Delta County Democratic Party

2023 Platform (Draft)

The Delta County Democratic Party's core values foster freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and equity for all Delta County citizens. This platform represents these values and aspirations, representing the views of Delta County residents who are proud to call themselves Democrats. A primary objective of a party Platform is to provide inspiration and declaration of what we, as Democrats, believe. It seeks to inform the public of our goals and show evidence that many of them are the same, regardless of political affiliation. We believe our efforts will help lead to material success and a full life. Our values provide guidance to current members of the party and identify issues supported by Democrats within the county. We honor the diversity across our county. We are all Coloradans and Americans… and respect our similarities and differences.

Building a stronger, fairer economy.

Protecting Workers and Families and Creating Jobs Across Delta County

Delta County citizens deserve an economy that works for everyone-not just for the wealthy and the well-connected. Democrats believe that it is a moral and an economic imperative that we support working families by rebuilding the middle class for the 21st century, making sure this time that everyone can make it and thrive, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, national origin, age, or ZIP code.

Raising Wages and Promoting Workers' Rights

Democrats will fight to raise wages for working people and improve job quality and security. We will support legislation to strengthen whistleblower and anti-retaliation protections for workers who speak for themselves or their coworkers. Democrats will hold executives personally accountable if they interfere in workers' efforts to organize, including issuing criminal penalties for intentional obstruction. Democrats will vigorously protect all private-sector workers' right to strike without fear of coercion, interference, and undue delay. Democrats believe we need to be much more proactive and aggressive in rooting out discrimination in our employment system.

Enacting Robust Work-Family Policies

Democrats will fight to implement paid sick days and a high-quality, comprehensive, and inclusive paid family and medical leave system that protects workers from the unfair choice between attending to urgent health or caretaking needs and earning a paycheck.

Investing in the Engines of Job Creation

We believe that the world's richest nation should have the world's best infrastructure system. Democrats will launch a clean energy revolution through investments in clean energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing. Democrats know that small businesses are among the best job creators in our country. We will invest in the American heartland and rural communities, after all, this is home. We will make it easier for new and beginning farmers, aquaculture farmers, ranchers, and foresters, including returning veterans, to start and grow their operations. America's farmworkers are essential to our economy, our communities, and our security. We will enforce labor and environmental protections for farmworkers, including overtime and safety rules protecting workers from exposure to pesticides and extreme heat, and ensure farmworkers are able to exercise their right to bargain collectively. Democrats support public investments in technology and innovation that help create a stronger economy for all Americans. We will support women innovators and innovators of color, encourage diversity in technology, and promote business models that reinvest in low-income communities and communities of any ethnicity.

Putting Homeownership in Reach and Guaranteeing Safe Housing for Every Delta County Citizen

Housing in America should be stable, accessible, safe, healthy, energy efficient, and, above all, affordable. Democrats believe the government should take aggressive steps to increase the supply of housing, especially affordable housing, and address long-standing economic and racial inequities in our housing markets. Democrats are committed to ending homelessness in Delta County. We will elect candidates that will give local elected office holders tools and resources to combat gentrification, penalize predatory lending practices, and maintain homeownership, including exploring targeted rental relief when exorbitant rent increases force long-term residents from their communities and tackling persistent racial bias in appraisals that contributes to the racial wealth gap.

Leveling the Economic Playing Field

Democrats will take decisive action to level the playing field for people of color, working families, women, small business owners, and others who have been left on the sidelines.

Guaranteeing a Secure and Dignified Retirement

Democrats are proud to be the party that advocates retirement security for all. We are the party that created and strengthened Social Security, and defended public and private retirement plans that provide a decent monthly income. We are fighting to make sure that all workers have the ability to save at work for emergencies and for retirement. Democrats will reject every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, including attempts to raise the retirement age, diminish benefits by cutting cost-of-living adjustments, or reduce earned benefits. We will ensure Social Security will be there forever.

Achieving Universal, Affordable, Quality Health Care

Democrats have fought to achieve universal health care for a century. We are proud to be the party of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Democrats will keep up the fight until all Delta County Citizens can access secure, affordable, high-quality health insurance-because as Democrats, we fundamentally believe health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the few. Democrats will always fight to save Delta County citizen's lives by making it easier and more affordable to go to the doctor, get prescription medicines, and access preventive testing and treatments. Generations of Democrats have been united in the fight for universal health care. We are proud our party welcomes advocates who want to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and those who support a Medicare for All approach; all are critical to ensuring that health care is a human right.

Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option

Democrats believe we need to protect, strengthen, and build upon our bedrock health care programs, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. Private insurers need real competition to ensure they have incentive to provide affordable, quality coverage to every Delta County Citizen. Democrats support doubling investments in community health centers and rural health clinics in Delta County, including increased support for dental care, mental health care, and substance use services like medication-assisted treatment, and why we will increase support for mobile health clinics.

Bringing Down Drug Prices and Taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry

No Delta County Citizen should find themselves foregoing or rationing medications because they can't afford to pay-especially when taxpayer money underwrites research leading to the development of many prescription drugs in the first place. Democrats will take aggressive action to ensure that Americans do not pay more for prescription drugs than people in other advanced economies, and ensure that all necessary medications are covered. We will empower Medicare to at last be able to negotiate prescription drug prices for all public and private purchasers-for families and businesses, as well as older Americans-no matter where they get their coverage. We will also prevent the price of brand-name and outlier generic drugs from rising faster than the inflation rate. We will cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and ensure that effective treatments for chronic health conditions are available at little or no cost.

Reducing Health Care Costs and Improving Health Care Quality

Democrats will work to increase price transparency in the health care system across all payers, and reduce paperwork through uniform medical billing. We will fight any efforts to cut Medicare benefits, and support finding financially sustainable policies to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing. Democrats will support policies that increase the number of primary care practitioners, registered nurses, dentists, and dental therapists, especially in our rural and low-income metropolitan areas, so it's easier for every Delta County Citizen to access preventive and primary health care.

Expanding Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment

Every Delta County Citizen who needs it should be able to access mental health care or substance use disorder treatment, no matter where they live. Democrats will enforce the federal mental health and substance use disorder parity law and ensure that health insurers adequately cover mental health and substance use treatment. We will back candidates who will invest in training and hire more mental health providers, substance use disorder counselors, and peer support counselors, including by expanding funding for health clinics, and increase access to these services through Medicaid.

Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to reproductive health and rights. We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care; medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, age-appropriate sex education; and the full range of family planning services are all essential to ensuring that people can decide if, when, and how to start a family. We are proud to be the party of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of sex and requires insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost. These efforts have significantly reduced teen and unintended pregnancies by making it easier to decide whether, when, and how to have a child. We condemn acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation of reproductive health providers, patients, and staff. We will address the discrimination and barriers that inhibit meaningful access to reproductive health care services, including those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, income, disability, geography, and other factors. Democrats oppose restrictions on medication abortion care that are inconsistent with the most recent medical and scientific evidence and that do not protect public health.

Strengthening and Supporting the Health Care Workforce

The COVID-19 pandemic has made plain to people across the country that our health care workers are heroes. Democrats believe that all jobs in the caring economy must come with family-sustaining wages, good benefits, access to paid leave, fair and predictable schedules, access to training and professional development, and the ability to join a union and collectively bargain. Although health care jobs are among the fastest growing in the economy, demand for services still far outstrips supply, especially in primary care.

Protecting Delta County and Building Trust by Reforming our Criminal Justice System

America is the land of the free, and yet more of our people are behind bars, per capita, than anywhere else in the world. Instead of making evidence-based investments in education, jobs, health care, and housing that are proven to keep communities safe and prevent crime from occurring in the first place, our system has criminalized poverty, overpoliced and underserved Black and Latino communities, and cut public services. We must start by preventing people from entering the criminal justice system in the first place. Democrats believe we must break the school-to-prison pipeline that too often relies on arrests and law enforcement to address misbehavior that ought to be handled and deescalated within the school.

Healing the Soul of America and Delta County

Democrats believe in bringing the American people together, not stoking division and distrust. Healing the soul of America means facing up to the deepest inequities in our society, from structural racism to misogyny to discrimination against people with disabilities, and enacting ambitious measures to fix them.

Protecting Americans' Civil Rights

Democrats are committed to ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status. Democrats are committed to restoring the full power of the Voting Rights Act and ensuring every citizen can access the ballot box.

Achieving Racial Justice and Equity

Democrats are committed to standing up to racism and bigotry in our laws, in our culture, in our politics, and in our society, and recognize that race-neutral policies are not sufficient to rectify race-based disparities. Democrats believe that we can only build a more just and equitable future if we honestly reckon with our history and its legacy in the present. Democrats support policies to end discrimination and unfair practices in the housing market.

Protecting Women's Rights

Democrats will fight to guarantee equal rights for women. Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to women's reproductive health and rights

Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

We will fight to enact the Equality Act and at last outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, public accommodations, access to credit, education, jury service, and federal programs. We will work to ensure LGBTQ+ people are not discriminated against when seeking to adopt or foster children, protect LGBTQ+ children from bullying and assault, and guarantee transgender students' access to facilities based on their gender identity.

Protecting Disability Rights

Democrats believe people with disabilities deserve to lead full, happy, and healthy lives. Democrats are committed to supporting Delta County Citizens on the autism spectrum and their families. We will vote in candidates that support expanded early childhood screening, and promote equitable treatment of students on the autism spectrum in schools and educational settings, in keeping with our commitment to providing equal educational opportunities for students with disabilities.

Ending Violence Against Women

Democrats are committed to ending sexual assault, domestic abuse, and other violence against women.

Ending the Epidemic of Gun Violence

Gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States. Democrats will enact universal background checks, end online sales of guns and ammunition, close dangerous loopholes that currently allow stalkers, abusive partners, and some individuals convicted of assault or battery to buy and possess firearms, and adequately fund the federal background check system. Democrats will ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

Combating The Climate Crisis And Pursuing Environmental Justice

Climate change is a global emergency. We have no time to waste in taking action to protect Delta County citizens lives and futures. We can and must build a thriving, equitable, and globally competitive clean energy economy that puts workers and communities first and leaves no one behind. We agree with scientists and public health experts that the United States-and the world-must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. Democrats believe we can build the clean energy infrastructure of the future using American-made materials. Democrats will partner with farmers to make the American agriculture sector the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, opening up new sources of income for farmers in the process. We will substantially improve water security and ecological health through conservation, protection, and maintenance of our water infrastructure, including water systems for home, commercial, industrial, and agricultural use. America's national parks and monuments, public lands, and marine protected areas are treasures that should be held in trust for future generations. We will protect these precious places and preserve Delta County's unspoiled wildernesses for hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping and grow Delta County's outdoor recreation economy, which supports jobs in our area.

Restoring And Strengthening Our Democracy

Our government and our elections are supposed to reflect the interests of the American people, not only the wealthiest few and the biggest corporations. Democrats will fight to restore and protect Americans' fundamental right to vote. Democrats are committed to the sacred principle of "one person, one vote"-and we will fight to achieve that principle for every citizen, regardless of race, income, disability status, geography, or English language proficiency. Democrats believe Election Day should be a national holiday, in celebration of our democratic institutions and to make it easier for everyone to cast their ballot. We must give voters the confidence that their ballot was counted as cast by supporting mandatory, statistically meaningful post-election audits and full transparency of all election results and data.

Creating A 21st Century Immigration System

Out of many, we are one. That bedrock American idea has animated our country from its earliest days, inspiring people from every corner of the earth to participate in our great democratic experiment. Democrats believe the United States should be a beacon of hope for those who are suffering violence and injustice, which is why we will protect and expand the existing asylum system and other humanitarian protections. Democrats believe that our fight to end systemic and structural racism in our country extends to our immigration system, including the policies at our borders and ports of entry, detention centers, and within immigration law enforcement agencies and their policies and operations. Democrats believe it is long past time to provide a roadmap to citizenship for the millions of undocumented workers, caregivers, students, and children who are an essential part of our economy and of the fabric of our nation. Democrats support policies and programs to make it easier for qualified immigrants and their families to become full and equal citizens, including increasing funding for culturally appropriate immigrant inclusion and citizenship services, legal support, English classes and bilingual education, workforce development, and adult education.

Providing Affordable And Excellent Education

Education is fundamental to the idea of America and to fulfilling our nation's promise. It is the key to addressing the challenges before us-to growing our economy, maintaining American competitiveness on the world stage, and building a more just, equitable, civically engaged, and socially conscientious nation. As Democrats, we believe that education is a critical public good-not a commodity-and that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that every child, everywhere, is able to receive a quality education that enables them to lead meaningful lives, no matter their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability status, language status, immigration or citizenship status, household income or ZIP code. Our education system must be inclusive of our diverse population, equally serving all ethnic and cultural, and religious groups, and students from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. Diversity is to be honored and respected. Every pre-K-12 student should have access to high-quality, balanced, engaging instruction at a neighborhood school. Educators and Educational Support Professionals deserve fair wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and legal rights, including the right to collective bargaining and should be part of the decision-making process. Students have a right to a safe, equitable, inclusive learning environment. Continuing education at institutes of higher learning should be available at reasonable cost to all qualified students.