2024 Carson City Democratic Central Committee Platform
- WHEREAS efforts are being made in Carson City to reduce waste and petroleum product-based pollution: garbage and yard waste recycling, Green Up food take out and leftover boxes, available reusable water and/or beverage containers. In addition, charging stations have been installed in certain locations around Carson City.
THEREFORE be it resolved that there is a need for more non-fossil fuel powered vehicles to be used both in private homes and businesses, but more importantly, municipal vehicles. Carson City needs to replace fossil fuel-powered official City vehicles with electric vehicles and promote the usage of solar power on City property to power those vehicles. - WHEREAS the planet is warming much faster than is tolerable, the consensus is that the burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor to that warming.
THEREFORE local, state and federal government should increase the cost of all items and services which depend on the burning of fossil fuels through the levying and collection of taxes and fees, while simultaneously investing in renewable energy sources. - WHEREAS Carson City roads are rapidly deteriorating. A plan must be made and enacted upon to improve the City's roadway infrastructure to ensure safety for all users.
THEREFORE either grants or bonds must be made available in order to repair and replace existing roadways and build new roads. - WHEREAS our society is filled with dissection, bullying and intentional misinformation.
THEREFORE we will work with integrity to heal the divides, disavow harassment and bullying and set an example as worthy citizens and valuable community partners. We will be honest and honorable in our communications and stand up for and support civil society in Carson City and around the nation. - WHEREAS since 1973, Roe vs Wade has protected women's health and reproductive freedom, affirming and exemplifying that no form of government should intrude on private family matters and demonstrates that our living Constitution protects all persons.
THEREFORE women's health must be protected and individual freedoms must be defended. We oppose policies that remove or limit access to a full and complete range of reproductive healthcare including contraception and abortion. - WHEREAS Medicaid funds are essential to the very low income population. Very often this population risks secondary or tertiary care due to unaffordable proactive healthcare costs. Federal and State Medicaid reimbursements to health care providers are too low and these providers may refuse Medicaid patients.
THEREFORE Medicaid funding should ensure reimbursement sufficient for recruitment of healthcare providers. - WHEREAS Democracy cannot function without an educated populace.
THEREFORE the legislature must enact bills that strengthen, protect and sufficiently fund K through 12 public education, colleges and universities while prohibiting and vouchers for religious/church and private schools. - WHEREAS the level of gun violence has reached intolerable levels.
THEREFORE we support sensible gun laws regulating the purchase and distribution of firearms and ammunition, universal background checks, bans on military style weapons and devices that make other weapons function the same as assault weapons. In addition, a minimum age of 18 to purchase any weapon and initial and recurring firearms training must be required. - WHEREAS water is the most valuable resource for all forms of life. Nevada’s water sources have been stressed by drought in past years, overuse by a growing population and a warmer, drier climate that is now upon us.
THEREFORE we support a policy of sustainable water use to be included in all planning decisions which ensures that not only will human needs be met, but that our wildlife do not succumb and that environmental health can be maintained. - WHEREAS Congressional budgeting decisions are not selective enough. Inappropriate budget reductions harm revenue collection and do not protect programs from fraud.
THEREFORE Congress must fully fund all audit and anti-fraud programs in all arms of federal government, especially when those budgets are being reduced. - WHEREAS climate change is occurring at a rapid rate, the rapid increase of greenhouse gasses results from human activity, collective responses are possible through government actions; renewable fuel sources are encouraged via income tax incentives. Fossil fuels will eventually disappear; fossil fuel production is subsidized through government tax credits such as the Oil Depletion Allowance and
distort free market decision making.
THEREFORE all direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuel production and consumption must be eliminated. Fossil fuels should have carbon-based taxes. Tax incentives should favor renewable energy resources, encouraging the market pricing of said renewable resources. - WHEREAS whistle-blowers and a free press can provide effective oversight for government incompetence and fraud.
THEREFORE Congress should increase protection for whistle-blowers and enact a press shield law. - WHEREAS it takes a village to care for children.
THEREFORE funding for WIC (Women, Infants and Children), State Children's Health Insurance Program, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Safe and Stable Families Act and subsidies for adoption and guardianship must not be curtailed and instead, increased. - WHEREAS Yucca Mountain is not funded for nuclear waste storage, has serious seismic and aquifer risks for long-term storage, risks additional hazards relating to transportation and is opposed by most Nevadans.
THEREFORE the Federal budget should not include Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage and should not fund fuel re-processing at Yucca Mountain. - WHEREAS internet service is equivalent to a public utility and equal access to broadband services benefits users and producers.
THEREFORE net neutrality which treats all comers equally must be reinstated, maintained and advanced. - WHEREAS society owes and promises various services to veterans in return for their services and injuries, severely injured veterans now survive physical injuries, PTSD and other combat related wounds and require ongoing assistance over extended time periods.
THEREFORE Congress should fund community-based outreach programs to assist veterans needing services. Funding for veterans programs should not be diminished and increased funding is necessary. Often these injuries, both visible and not visibly apparent last a lifetime. All certified service animals should be provided and paid for. - WHEREAS undocumented children under the age of 18 brought into the US by their parents did not have the ability to consent, were educated by the public and private schools, and are now becoming adults who know no other society.
THEREFORE Congress must immediately pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, allowing qualifying persons to acquire residency. For the interim, continue the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) program. - WHEREAS human trafficking affects both children and adults and is equivalent to slavery. This issue crosses all lines of our society.
THEREFORE all public institutions and government entities, private employers and society in general must learn to recognize this violation of human rights and intervene. Laws need to be strengthened and vigorously enforced. Those perpetrating human trafficking must be prosecuted, not the victims. - WHEREAS the US Constitution provides for "the general welfare" through the National Environmental Protection Act, Clean Water Act, Water Quality Act, Wilderness Act, Endangered Species Act, Solid Waste Disposal Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act, among many others.
THEREFORE Congress must continue to to enforce existing law and carefully review changing conditions to improve existing law. The Federal administration must increase the clout of efforts made on behalf of environmental protections. - WHEREAS libraries are fundamental to a functioning democracy, are repositories of our history and are centers for access to knowledge.
THEREFORE library funding at every level must not only be adequate, but follow inflation and cost increases. - WHEREAS revenues for the consumption of public resources are not market based and may become subsidies for special interests, while not observing sustainable practices. This private use and profit taking by special interests on public land (ie grazing fees, drilling for fossil fuels) has not changed in decades.
THEREFORE Congress must require all fees to be collected from any and all private entities using public resources, must provide oversight and management of said resources and be based on equivalent free market costs. Transferring public land for private purposes, transferring public land to states and /or local governments without appropriate funding and oversight must cease. - WHEREAS prisons are a public obligation. Privately operated, for-profit prisons are morally wrong, expensive, ineffective and can promote recidivism for the sake of the bottom line.
THEREFORE there should be no privately operated prisons. - WHEREAS justice delayed is justice denied. Congress does not fully fund federal and immigration courts; nor does the Senate promptly affirm or deny judicial appointments and private proceedings cannot advance the general welfare.
THEREFORE Congress must fully fund the immigration and federal courts. - WHEREAS Nevada’s budget too often struggles from cyclical and structural deficits and a tax system that is too narrowly based.
THEREFORE the Nevada Legislature must overcome anti-tax ideology, recognize that structural reforms may encompass revenue increases and expenditure decreases and abandon tax abatements. - WHEREAS errant plastic refuse such as bags and packaging litter much of Nevada’s landscape, roadways and business centers.
THEREFORE Nevada should encourage the use of compostable materials in packaging and require a customer charge for retailer supplied bags and packaging. In addition, the use of Styrofoam containers, packing 'peanuts' and beverage containers must not be
allowed. - WHEREAS all citizens are encouraged to participate in the election process, early voting allows for many who would otherwise not vote to vote and mail-in and drop-off ballots increases voter participation. Nevada verifies voter ID during voter registration and Nevada has effectively and historically prevented voter fraud.
THEREFORE we support open and fair elections through current voter protection programs. We support voting by mail. We support expanding the times and locations for early voting. We oppose photo ID requirements for voting and/or any other efforts aimed at voter suppression. - WHEREAS The United States is a world leader in science and technology because of its outstanding university system and as a consequence it attracts the best and the brightest from around the world.
THEREFORE US immigration laws and regulations should be changed to allow these high achievers to stay in the US and be given a path to citizenship so they can contribute to the country's future posterity. - WHEREAS Democrats are in full support of liberty, are opposed to tyranny and are opposed to the invasion of Ukraine, a democracy, by Russia.
THEREFORE The US should provide all humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine to preserve a democratic sovereign nation.
Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Powell
CCDCC member
CCDCC Platform Committee member
Margaret Mello
Convention Secretary
Michael Greedy
File Keeper
Adopted at county convention 27 April 2024