Proposed by Jayna Le Baron (j), Daniel Hoffay (h) and Dan Pulju (p)
Background: The PGP platform is old and largely obsolete, and rarely updated enough to remain relevant to current issues.
Presented for Decision at the PGP Convention Jan 9 2021.
deletions indicated by s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶, additions by bold
Education
Action Items:
1. Withdraw Oregon from “Every Student Succeeds Act” as this top-down program centralizes and nationalizes the local issue of educating our children. Immediately abandon Common Core curricula and all associated testing and surveillance. (j)
2. Student loan indebtedness is a 21st Century version of indentured servitude. Make all Oregon public colleges and universities free to Oregon residents who have lived here at least three years.
3. Fully fund health and physical education as a response to the growing problem of childhood obesity.
4. Improve school breakfast/lunch programs to include more locally grown whole foods and less processed foods
5. Ensure that school grounds are zones of tolerance that do not accept any physical, verbal, emotional, or electronic bullying or harassment of any person for any reason
6. Investigate Oregon Education Association (OEA), and Oregon Department of Education (ODE) for conflicts of interest, financial, corporate, and partisan influence, and bribery. (j)
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Health Care
Action Items:
1. Institute a single-payer health care system for Oregon by seeking a waiver from the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, just as Oregon got a waiver for the initial introduction of the Oregon Health Plan (1993).
2. Until a single-payer system is instituted, no private health care insurance provider will be permitted to operate in Oregon unless it covers preexisting conditions, contraception, and abortion services for all its members.
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of good health. We acknowledge that personal health depends on public health. Public health requires the health of the natural, built, and social environments. The health status of others provides benefits to all, including future generations. We the People m̶u̶s̶t̶̶: (j)
Demand Compliance with the medical protections of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 2005, Geneva Convention and Nuremberg Code. (j)
• Use precautionary, preventive approaches in decisions regarding public and private health concerns.
• Insist that comprehensive health care not be tied to employment alone.
• See that health care includes medical, vision, dental, mental health services and hospitalization, and is protected as a basic right for all Oregonians.
• Guarantee the right of all patients to choose their health care providers.
• Support all modalities of healing including yoga, dance, herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture, ayurvedic, massage, reiki, et al., thus supplementing allopathic medicine with many forms of healing.
• Guarantee the sovereign (h) right of all patients to make personal medical decisions, including those involving abortion and the end of life such as Oregon’s Death with Dignity law.
• Support Oregon laws that p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶l̶d̶r̶e̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶i̶r̶r̶e̶s̶p̶o̶n̶s̶i̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶h̶o̶l̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶a̶f̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶d̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ strengthen the ability of parents and legal guardians to protect and make informed choices about the health of their children. (h)
• Ensure the administration of vaccines is on a voluntary basis with informed consent, and full transparency and accountability from the medical industries which develop and profit from them. (p,h,j)
• Ensure the availability of rehabilitation and adaptive aids, to allow those with disabilities to achieve maximum independence.
• Monitor toxic chemical facilities and high voltage power lines and prohibit locating such facilities near residential areas, other public areas such as schools, and minority and low-income communities.
• Oppose the implementation of 5G wireless technology, as the high density of non-ionizing microwave and millimeter-wave radiation in pulsed and phased radar arrays has not been adequately proven safe for public health or the environment.
Social Services
Action Items:
1. Maintain extended unemployment benefits for all unemployed workers within each county until the county unemployment rate drops below 7%.
2. Invalidate the foreclosure of any primary residential home when title recording rules are not followed. Grant full title to the purchaser and cause the bank or mortgage lender to forfeit any claim to that property.
3. Bar the use of drug-testing from public assistance qualifications.
Wall Street got bailed out, but Main Street Oregon remains deeply troubled by the Great Recession. Poverty and homelessness are on the rise. Many families are now reaching the limits of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Many unemployed and displaced workers are reaching the limits of their Unemployment insurance benefit. In order to reverse the trend of growing injustice to our most vulnerable citizens, We the People must:
• Restore and fully fund domestic discretionary programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) (j) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) and programs for persons who are unemployed or disabled.
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Equitable Distribution of Resources
Action Items:
1. Strengthen existing usury laws with a maximum cap on annual percentage rates to 12 percent.
2. Establish and maintain a minimum living wage.
3. Establish a maximum wage not exceed 50 times minimum wage.
4. Reclaim any and all properties owned by absentee landowners whose property remains vacant or foreclosed without sufficient action to make these properties accessible to the economic well being of Oregon.
Growing income disparity is undermining democracy. To promote a just distribution of the goods and services amongst all Oregonians, We the People must:
• Replace the measurement of Gross National Product with measures that internalize normally “external” measurements such as environmental impacts and human well-being.
• Seek passage for an Economic Bill of Rights as advocated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1944.
• Provide complete funding for continuing education and job training to all adults, especially the unemployed and underemployed.
• Protect the rights of injured people to sue negligent corporations. Revoke tort-reform legislation and protection of corporations and individuals hiding and operating within the protections of corporate status. (j)
• Shift our economic orientation towards continuous improvement in quality of life for our communities and away from:
• Unsustainable increases in rates of consumption,
• Prison incarceration, spending, and labor, and
• Military funding and misadventures.
• Demand total debt-forgiveness
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Urban Land Use
Action Items:
1. Repeal Measure 37 which prevents Oregonians from collectively making land management decisions.
2̶.̶ ̶R̶e̶q̶u̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶u̶r̶b̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶p̶o̶p̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶2̶0̶,̶0̶0̶0̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶U̶r̶b̶a̶n̶ ̶G̶r̶o̶w̶t̶h̶ ̶B̶o̶u̶n̶d̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶e̶n̶c̶o̶u̶r̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶s̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶m̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶g̶r̶o̶w̶t̶h̶.̶ (j)
3. Require all neighboring municipalities whose boundaries are less than ten miles apart to develop a non-competitive regional development plan.
4. Change building codes to allow alternative, earth-friendly building practices, including but not limited to straw bale, cob, adobe, and micro-homes.
In order for urban environments to provide residents with a high quality of life that has minimal impact on the ecosystem, We the People must:
• P̶r̶o̶m̶o̶t̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶-̶d̶e̶n̶s̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶v̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶u̶r̶b̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶p̶r̶a̶w̶l̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶o̶r̶p̶o̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶u̶r̶b̶a̶n̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶i̶g̶n̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶u̶t̶y̶.̶ (j)
• Develop communities that encourage interaction and involvement. Incorporate mass transit systems, bicycle and walking routes, and minimize dependence on automobiles.
• Retain, a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶g̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ pursue, and aggressively protect, (h) open public, (h) spaces, park lands, farmlands, privateh forest lands, wildlife passages, and green belts from private exploitation. (j,h)
• Block expansions of Urban Growth Boundaries without a vote of the people in the impacted regional development plan area.
Wilderness and Biodiversity
Action Items:
1. Repeal The Mining Act of 1872, minimize the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals, and tax extraction where it occurs.
2. Protect gray wolf packs that have migrated into Oregon while creating co-existence plans for range owners and farmers.
3. Maintain the ban on sport hunting cougars with dogs.
4. Ban the unsustainable practice of corporate clear-cutting on state and federal lands.
In order to preserve and expand the capacity of regional and global ecosystems to provide humanity with sustenance and enjoyment while allowing natural evolution to continue, We the People must:
• Strictly enforce the Endangered Species Act with an expanded scope.
• Permanently protect all remaining pristine public lands and all remaining old growth trees.
• Eliminate commercial logging on all public lands. Ban the use of timber from public lands for commercial purposes.
• Ban the construction of new roads and the use of herbicides in public forests.
• Mandate the use of sustainable logging practices (selective cut) on private forest lands.
• Increase the required buffer zone for stream corridors to 150 feet on both sides of any river, creek, or stream.
• Re-introduce native species of plants and animals into areas from which they were eradicated.
• Control the intentional and unintentional transport of species in order to prevent the introduction of non-indigenous species.
• Maintain the international ban on commercial whaling and offer sanctuary to groups like Sea Shepherd (including protection by the Coast Guard) who intercede on behalf of these giants of the sea.
• Ban the trade in coral reef species.
• Ban dragnet fishing.
• Create international accords that reduce fish harvesting to sustainable levels.
• Prohibit oil and gas drilling off our coast and on public lands.
Sustainable Agriculture
Action Items:
1. Eliminate barriers to hemp and cannabis production.
2. U.S. patents on naturally originating organisms and plants will be unenforceable in Oregon.
3. Ban the importation and sale of patented seeds in Oregon. Fine corporations holding such patents when their seeds cross pollinate the crops of any Oregon farmer. The amount will be 50% greater than any fine leveled by the corporation upon the farmer. The collected fine will reimburse the farmer for any federal court or corporate imposed fine or penalty.
4. Protect arable farmland as an Oregon resource from needless urban growth boundary expansion.
5. Ban concentrated animal farming.
In order to establish an ecologically-sound agricultural system that maximizes regional self-reliance and supports family farm communities, We the People m̶u̶s̶t̶: (j)
• Encourage strict standards for organic and biodynamic certification.
• Support organic and biodynamic farming by applying the principles of permaculture.
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Transportation
Action Items:
1. Block current efforts to create a “gas” tax on electric vehicles; electric vehicle owners should not be penalized for their conservation effort.
2. Support funding for and redirecting federal subsidies to mass transit and alternatives to single-occupancy automobile transit.
3. Pass the Idaho Stop Law in Oregon to legalize existing safe bicycle behavior on public streets.
Goods and people must be moved around. We currently rely far too heavily on trucking and on private automobiles. We the people must:
• Increase funding for mass transit. Redirect public funding back from unsuccessful and wasteful government programs, departments, etc. (j)
• Reduce both direct and hidden subsidies for trucking and private automobiles.
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Community Based Economics
Action Items:
1. E̶n̶c̶o̶u̶r̶a̶g̶e̶ Facilitate (j) the expansion of local economic initiatives, including the issuance of local currencies and work-time exchanges that foster community interdependence.
2. Establish a State Bank of Oregon (http://www.rop.org/oregon-state-bank-campaign-fact-sheet)
3. Maintain full funding for the Oregon Individual Development Account (IDA) programs, as these foster home ownership, business start-ups, and educational advancement.
We believe that the economy should be localized and decentralized. The current system puts the reins of economic power in the hands of distant executives and stockholders. Furthermore, local manufacturing keeps money in Oregon, avoids waste, and reduces the cost and carbon output of shipping goods thousands of miles from the producer to the consumer. We the People must:
C̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶x̶e̶s̶ Redirect misallocated public funds toward (j,h) loan programs, and other policies that favor small, local businesses over multinational corporations.
• Encourage Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), community gardens, and farmers’ markets.
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War and Foreign Policy
We will work to dismantle the US war machine, including both the military-industrial complex and the global hegemony it expands and maintains. To do this, we must overcome our government’s exceptionalism and bring it into compliance with the norms of international law and diplomacy.
Action Items:
1. Adapt the U.N. Charter explicitly into the U.S. code, so that government must adhere to it as domestic law as required by the Constitution.
2. Immediately cease all acts of aggressive war and other violations of national sovereignty, including assistance to rebellions, coup attempts and illegal occupations. Immediately withdraw U.S. Forces from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen, and CIA, JSOC and mercenaries under AFRICOM from over 50 African countries, and refrain from further interference in the affairs of other nations.
3. End the use of hostile diplomacy, color revolutions and other covert operations, and economic warfare against Iran, Venezuela and other nations, all of which violate the U.N. Charter that prohibits “the threat or use of force against the territorial sovereignty or political independence of other nations.”
4. End military aid and arms sales to countries engaged in regional aggressions in support of US hegemonic interests, in particular Israel in its repeated attacks on Palestine, (h) Syria, Lebanon and Iran and its continued illegal occupation and resource exploitation of Syria’s Golan Heights, and Saudi Arabia in its prolonged preemptive war upon Yemen.
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Drug Policy
Action Items:
1. End the war on drugs.
2. Support measures intended to legalize the sale and use of marijuana by adults age 21 and older.
The
violations of civil liberties and the violence that continues to result from the “War on Drugs” exceeds any o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ (j) benefits (j) derived from drug interdiction. Drug dependence is a public health problem that must be countered by treatment, not by war. We the People must:
• End the criminalization of drug use and possession.
• Demand treatment of drug abuse as a public health concern p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶, (j) rather than a crime.
• Usher in a general amnesty for all people in prisons, on parole, or charged with drug crimes in which no other violence was perpetrated.
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