Therefore be it resolved the National Standardized Testing System (part of the “No Child Left Behind” Act) and the State Standardized Testing System (WASL) have not been effective tools in public education;
Therefore be it resolved that these current testing systems be abolished; and
Be it further resolved that new testing systems be established which are more correctly aligned with national and state teaching standards; and
Be it further resolved that there be a standard national teaching system instituted commensurate with the national testing standards to measure the progress of our national teaching system.
Whereas: higher education is essential to the prosperity and safety of our nation, especially now that we are living in the age of "knowledge economy"; and
Whereas: the cost of higher education has skyrocketed several folds over inflation for the past two decades putting it out of reach for many qualified and deserving young people; and
Whereas: young people and their parents are burdened with enormous college debt and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight; and
Therefore be it resolved that the upfront cost of a college education can be lowered by mandating that all colleges (public, private) apply a set annual percentage of their endowments toward student tuition and fees or face losing their not for profit status and be taxed; and
Therefore be it resolved that we call upon our schools and policy-makers to lower student loan costs for both parents and students using the above method; and
Be it further resolved that we call upon our policy-makers to continue to encourage and extend pay back of student loans through national public service; and
Be it resolved that the upfront cost of a college education can be lowered by mandating that all colleges (public, private) apply a set annual percentage of their endowments toward student tuition and fees or face losing their not for profit status and be taxed; and
Be it further resolved that we call upon our policy-makers to make college education more affordable by reinstating federal grants and extending them to the ever-squeezed Middle Class Americans who make $40-125K/yearly; and
Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution be sent to appropriate lawmakers and public officials.
Whereas: the history of government-run performance in Medicare and Medicaid indicate a nominal overhead cost of approximately 1-3% in total administrative cost as opposed to the profit based industry whose CEOs earnings alone are in the multi-million dollars annually. The American people are ready to adopt a government sponsored and administered health care system; and
Whereas: there is a need to have a National Single Payer for the American Health Care System and establish an exit strategy for phasing out the profit motive-base Insurance companies from the national health care arena in 5 to 7 years; and
Whereas: over 46% of the Americans surveyed in a recent poll indicated a desire to have a government-run health care system only 37% opposed it. Over 50% of the current health care cost is paid by the government; and
Whereas: the health and welfare of Americans is a "right" and not a "privilege" and it is incumbent upon the United States government and particularly the "Democrats" to demand an end to this multi-billion dollar profit motive insurance industry.
Therefore be it resolved that we hereby call on public officials and lawmakers at local, State, and national levels, to enact a national single-payer health care system and phase out the multi-national insurance corporations during the first legislative year in 2009.
Discussions: Ultimately, the issue is who do we trust, the insurance companies or the government & who can be held accountable to ensure that we have proper access the health care? Let's outsource the insurance companies to where they belong.
Whereas:
Whereas:
Whereas: RCW 9.94A, which enacts the reforms called for under Initiative 593 and is often referred to as the "3-Strikes" law, includes Robbery 2 and Assault 2 on the list of "most serious offenses" that trigger life imprisonment;
Whereas: Washington's Sentencing Guidelines Commission (The Commission), the state agency charged with evaluating sentencing policies and recommending modifications to the Governor and Legislature, recommended to the Legislature 2001 that it remove Robbery 2, and consider removing some forms of Assault 2, from the list of offenses triggering life imprisonment under 3-Strikes, noting that the range of behaviors associated with Robbery 2 and some instances of Assault 2 do not rise to the level of "most serious" offenses and that, specifically, in the case of Robbery 2, these behaviors pose "little risk of physical injury";
Whereas: Life imprisonment for crimes that are not "most serious" violates the proportionality requirements of RCW 9.94A.010 and I-593, violates the intent in I-593 to address the "most dangerous" criminals, is unjust to individuals serving life sentences for these crimes and to their families, causes significant unnecessary expense, and reduces respect for the law;
Whereas: Each year, bills to comply with the recommendations of The Commission are introduced in the state legislature without success;
Whereas: Racial disparity exists throughout Washington State's criminal justice system but is perhaps at its most severe in the 3-Strikes population which comprises 45% African Americans in comparison to our state population which is 3.5% African American.
Whereas: The 2006 Washington State Democratic Party platform declares the following: "We also recognize that in the pursuit of civil order, we cannot abandon the legal principles upon which a free and democratic society relies. We ... believe that criminal justice and human rights are linked."
Therefore Be it Resolved: That we call upon Washington's governor and each of our state's legislators to vigorously support and defend legislation that removes Robbery 2 and any Assault 2 or other offenses not reasonably qualifying as "most dangerous" and "most serious" from the list of offenses that trigger life imprisonment under 3-Strikes;
Furthermore be it Resolved: That we call on Washington's governor and each of our state's legislators to acknowledge and address the racial disparity in our criminal justice system which manifests in perhaps its most extreme form among those incarcerated under Washington's 3-Strikes law, and to act with due haste to eliminate this disparity.
Whereas: Social Security benefits provide for the dignity of United States seniors; and
Whereas: United States citizens have paid into the Social Security program, trusting that sufficient benefits would be available to them at their time of retirement; and
Whereas: Medicare provides health care coverage for all eligible United States seniors, many of whom would themselves otherwise be unable to pay for health insurance and medical care; and
Whereas: To cut and/or insufficiently fund Social Security and Medicare benefits for eligible United States beneficiaries would be a breach of faith with the American people; and
Therefore be it resolved that the government of the United States of America be called upon to continue to fully and sufficiently fund Social Security and Medicare benefits to all eligible United States beneficiaries.
Discussion: Earlier this year, President Bush attempted to cut an extremely large portion of the national budget, a cut he specifically aimed at reducing funds for the Social Security Program. He claimed he was trying to eliminate “wasteful spending”. Had he succeeded, this cut could have negatively impacted the financial circumstances of millions of American seniors. Through the efforts of Congress these seniors were spared the brunt of President Bush’s callous actions. However, as Congress tries to come to terms with how to reduce our huge national debt, this scenario could be played out repeatedly in the future and perhaps without successful overrides because of those in government who are not particularly sympathetic to the Social Security OR Medicare Programs. Therefore, it is with respect and with grave concern for the future of our National Social Security and Medicare programs, that I present my resolution proposal to the Benton County Democratic Party, hoping that this proposal will be included in the resolution information to be forwarded to the Washington State Democratic Party Platform Committee for further serious consideration. Note from Platform Committee Chair: “seniors” should be “beneficiaries” since it is not only seniors that receive Social Security benefits.
Whereas: the United States has been mired in the war in Iraq for more than five years; and
Whereas: the cost of the war in Iraq already includes more than 4,000 dead American troops, hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and is approaching a trillion dollars; and
Whereas: U.S. troops are besieged by exhaustion and combat stress due to extended tours of duty and involuntary second and third tours; and
Whereas: the U.S. occupation of Iraq is the main cause of the armed resistance, termed an "insurgency"; and
Whereas: the Bush administration has further increased the violence in Iraq with a troop "surge" that provoked an equally violent response from those wanting to drive our occupying forces from their country; and
Whereas: General David H. Petraeus, the commander of American forces in Iraq, recently testified before Congress that there is no military solution — i.e., "victory" — possible in Iraq;
Therefore be it resolved that we call for an immediate cessation of all offensive military action by U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq; and
Be it further resolved that we call for the United States government to relinquish control of Iraq to the United Nations, thereby initiating a process of diplomatic resolution of the conflict by the international community, allowing U.S. troops to leave, and the occupation to be brought to an end.
Whereas: it has been shown that the shift between Daylight Savings and Standard time actually costs energy and money rather than saving either,
Therefore be it resolved that we call upon our policy-makers at the national level to choose either Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time, and change it no more; and Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution be sent to appropriate lawmakers and public officials.
Whereas: In 1935, the United States established, by law, that workers must be free to form unions; and
Whereas: the freedom to form or join a union is internationally recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a fundamental human right; and
Whereas: the free choice to join with others and bargain for better wages and benefits is essential to economic opportunity and good living standards; and
Whereas: unions benefit communities by strengthening living standards, stabilizing tax bases, promoting equal treatment and enhancing civic participation; and
Whereas: states in which more people are union members are states with higher wages, better benefits and better schools; and
Whereas: union workers receive better wages and benefits, with union workers earning 29% more than workers without a union, 35% more likely to have access to health insurance, and are four times more likely to have access to guaranteed defined-benefit pensions; and
Whereas: unions helped raise workers’ pay and narrow the income gap for minorities and women, by increasing median weekly earnings by 31% for Union Women workers, 31% for African-American workers, 50% for Latino workers, 9% for Asian American workers; and
Whereas: workers across the nation are routinely denied the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life with 25% of private-sector employers illegally firing at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns; and
Whereas: 77% of the public believes it is important to have strong laws protecting the freedom for workers to make their own decision about having a union, and 58% of workers would join if they had the chance; and
Whereas: employers often refuse to bargain fairly with workers after forming a union by delaying first contract negotiations for up to two years in 45% of successful organizing campaigns; and
Whereas: when the right of workers to form a union is violated, wages fall, race and gender pay gaps widen, workplace discrimination increases and job safety standards disappear; and
Whereas: a worker’s fundamental right to choose a union free from coercion and intimidation is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative remedies; and
Whereas: the Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress in order to restore workers’ freedom to join a union;
Whereas: The Employee Free Choice Act will safeguard workers’ ability to make their own decisions with these abuses, provided for first contract mediation and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties when employers violate workers’ rights;
Whereas: the Employee Free Choice Act would authorize the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union as the bargaining representative when a majority of employees voluntarily sign authorizations designating that union to represent them; provide for first contract mediation and arbitration; and establish meaningful penalties for violations of a worker’s freedom to choose a union
Therefore Be It Resolved and Proclaimed that we urge Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to protect and preserve for America’s workers their freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to form a union.
Whereas: U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars attempting to create a “drug-free” America; and
Whereas: heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to obtain than ever before; and
Whereas: almost 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges; and
Whereas: the social consequences of the drug war have been widely criticized by such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union as being racially biased against minorities and disproportionately responsible for the exploding United States prison population; and
Whereas: children of inmates of prisons are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency; and
Whereas: the punitive War on Drugs is an utter failure; and
Whereas: Harm reduction is a public health philosophy that seeks to lessen the dangers that drug abuse and our drug policies cause to society; and
Whereas: a basic tenet of harm reduction is that there has never been, is not now, and never will be a drug-free society; and
Whereas: Harm Reduction is grounded in the conviction that people should not be punished for what they put into their bodies, but only for crimes committed against others; and
Whereas: Harm Reduction principles should form the basis of a more effective, scientific and humane drug policy in our nation;
Therefore Be It Resolved that we hereby call upon public officials and lawmakers at local, state and national levels to reform the current drug policy.
Whereas: Every person has complete, unequivocal, and unalienable sovereignty over his own life and person; and
Whereas: medical technology, pain management, and palliative care have made great advances, et some persons still face intolerable suffering during a terminal illness; and
Whereas: Oregon in 1997 passed a “Death with Dignity Act” permitting a mentally capable dying adult to request and receive from a physician a prescription to hasten death, if the patient finds his or her suffering to be unbearable, but only if strict and specific safeguards are followed; and
Whereas: in Oregon since 1997 there have been no incidents of abuse of this law, and its use has been a rare choice, since the will to live is the greatest safeguard there is; yet
Whereas: thousands who will never use this law to hasten their own death are comforted to know that this option is legally available should they be among the few who need it and choose it; and
Whereas: the United States Supreme Court has affirmed Oregon’s right to have such a law; and
Whereas: many physicians religious leaders, ethicists, dying patients, and family members strongly support physician aid in dying with strong safeguards to prevent abuse;
Therefore be it resolved on the grounds of compassion and choice, and if strict safeguards to prevent abuse are in place, that a terminally ill mentally competent adult should have a legal right to request, receive, and self-administer medication prescribed by a physician to hasten death with dignity, if the patient finds his suffering to be unbearable;
Therefore Be It Further Resolved that Initiative 1000, the Washington State Death with Dignity Initiative, be supported.