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Official party documents

Iowa Democrats State Platform

for a pdf version with a table of contents and page numbers, click on IDP Platform Reformatted at https://iowademocrats.org/party-documents/

June 2024

Statement of Principles

1.  Iowa Democrats believe passionately in the ideals set forth in 1787 in the Preamble to the United States Constitution, embedding in it the wisdom to construct a democratic republic, which would “form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

2.  Democrats believe the purpose of government is to act on behalf of every one’s human rights equally, to engage in environmental stewardship and establish the right to clean air, soil, and water, and to oversee the distribution of resources, affording all citizens the opportunity to attain their highest level of social, cultural, economic, mental, and physical well-being.

3.  Iowa Democrats support the equal application of justice in all courts, a government separated from the influence of a particular religious belief, respect for each person’s liberty and potential, and religious freedom while respecting the beliefs of others and their rights.

4.  Iowa Democrats support the progressive taxation of public dollars for PreK-12 public education and area education agencies to provide special education, training, and media services to all certified schools in the state.

5.  We support honesty and transparency in government and political communications and political contributions, and elections that focus on policy issues.

6.  Our young and idealistic democracy, nationally and in Iowa, has been a testament to the advancement of the ideals bequeathed to us in our founding. We are proud of the Democratic Party’s contributions to our nation’s heritage, accomplishments, diversity, and movement toward a “more perfect union.” We preserve and advance diversity, sustainability, opportunity, and equality. We embrace our rights and sacred duty to continue the work of national improvement that began two centuries ago.

Table of Contents

Agriculture, Energy, and the Environment 1-89

Agricultural Development

Livestock Management

Food Supply and Safety

Energy

Clean Water Availability

Planning and Zoning

Economy, Commerce, and Labor 90-225

Banks and Financial Institutions

Consumer Protection

Tax Policies

Commerce

Wages, Benefits, and Hours

Workplace Safety and Workers Compensation

Union Rights

Job Protection and Unemployment Compensation

Education 226-307

Funding

Educators

PreK-14

Higher Education

Equity

Library and Media

Government and Law 308-626

Immigration

Transportation

Internet

Campaigns, Elections, American Institutions

Consumer Protection

Criminal and Racial Justice

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Government Services

Firearms

Taxation and Social Security

Military and Veterans

Health and Human Services 627-785

General Healthcare,

Reimbursement & Coverage

Aging & Disabilities

Children & Families

LGBTQIA+

Mental Health and Addictions

Reproductive Rights and Family Planning

Veterans

International Affairs 786-903

Peace and Security

Israel and Palestine

Immigration

Military

Nuclear, WMDs, Conventional Weapons

Trade

Agriculture, Energy, and Environment

Productive Living Through a Healthy Food Supply, Promoting Clean Air, Water, Diverse Ecosystems, Parks, Oceans, Forests and Enhancing National Security

  1. Constitutional right to clean air, safe drinking water, and healthy food.
  2. Sustainable, regenerative, diverse, and climate-smart agriculture.
  3. Minimizing climate change.

Agricultural Development

We support:

State

  1. Local control.
  2. Funding for farmers transitioning to sustainable agriculture and new underrepresented farmers.
  3. Hemp crop options for farmers.
  4. Legal protection from pesticide drift.
  5. Incentivizing nutrient reduction strategies.
  6. Farmer cooperative-owned marketing, processing facilities, and grain reserves.
  7. State incentives for conservation compliance and livestock and crop diversification.
  8. Fully funding Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP), Iowa Water and Land Legacy (IWILL),

Leopold Center, Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund (NRORTF), Land and Water

Legacy Trust (LWLT), and Nutrient Management Plans (NMP) for Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO).

Federal

  1. Reinstating Revised Universal Soil Loss 3 Equation Version 3 (RUSLE3) with data access.
  2. Federal incentives for conservation compliance and livestock and crop diversification.
  3. Capping crop insurance subsidies.
  4. Antitrust regulation.

We oppose:

  1. Subsidizing large agribusiness.
  2. U.S. food aid commodity dumping.
  3. Ag-Gag laws
  4. Vertical integration.
  5. Farm consolidation.
  6. Foreign ownership of agricultural lands and operations.
  7. Prophylactic antibiotic use in farm animals.

Livestock Management

Protecting Our Environment

We support:

State

  1. Confined and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Regulation:
  1. Moratorium on new construction and expansions,
  2. Environmental impact control monitoring,
  3. Notifying landowners and residents within ten miles before permitting changes,
  4. Commercial and industrial classification,
  5. Strict oversight of liquid manure management.
  6. Increased inspection funding, and
  7. Increasing Matrix requirements.
  8. Strengthening animal abuse laws.

Federal

  1. Fair livestock market access.

Food Supply and Safety

Ensuring A Safe, Contaminant-free Food Supply

and Safety for Food Processing Workers

We support

State

  1. Utilizing all federal food aid funds.
  2. Strong food safety and Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) labeling requirements.
  3. Right-to-save seeds.
  4. Community and urban gardens.
  5. Locally owned fixed and mobile meat processing plants.
  6. Food waste elimination programs.
  7. Slower food processing line speeds.

Federal

  1. Increasing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) & other U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) Food Programs

  1. A timely Farm Bill with equitable insurance benefits provisions.

We oppose

  1. Granting tort liability immunity to companies
  2. Contaminating our water, air, and soil environment.

Energy

Combating Climate Change with Responsible Production and Use

We support

State

  1. Climate resilience and an emergency response mitigation plan.
  2. Smart-grid and micro-grid improvement.
  3. Energy-efficient and accessible public transportation.
  4. Green methanol carbon reduction solutions.
  5. Rapid conversion to clean and renewable energy.
  6. Energy conservation.
  7. Net-metering of wind and solar energy without discriminatory fees.
  8. Energy-efficient and accessible public transportation.

Federal

  1. Renewable clean energy tax credits and incentives.
  2. Fusion and nuclear research.
  3. Researching safe transport, storage, and disposal of biological, nuclear, and fracking waste.
  4. Expanding electric vehicle infrastructure subsidies.
  5. Subsidizing renewable energy storage, research, and development.
  6. Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACER).
  7. Subsidizing renewable energy storage research and development.

We oppose

  1. Mandates and subsidies for nuclear, biogas, and fossil fuel.
  2. Fossil fuel extraction and consumption.
  3. Deep-water arctic oil drilling.
  4. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

Environment

Stewardship and Livability: Placing Our Children’s Future Above Corporate Profits

We support

State

  1. Iowa’s drainage laws.
  2. Municipally supported composting and recycling centers with incentives.
  3. Strengthening environmental and consumer protection laws.
  4. Ongoing restoration of wetland, prairie, forest, and boreal ecosystems.
  5. Protecting and conserving healthy soil.
  6. Increasing the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Conservation Services Program (CSP).
  7. Enforcing Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and Endangered Species Act (ESA).
  8. Using money set aside in the federal infrastructure bill for the removal of forever toxic chemicals

containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS), Nitrates, & Nitrites Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in Private Wells.

  1. Reinstating Volunteer Source Water Testing (IOWATER).
  2. Banning neonicotinoid pesticides.
  3. Preserving sensitive and unique natural areas, habitats, and public lands.
  4. Bottle Bill expansion to include tea, water, juice and other drink containers.
  5. Implementing Iowa Water and Land Legacy (IWILL).
  6. Expanding funding for the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REPR).

Federal

  1. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) be seated at Cabinet Level.
  2. Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
  3. Holding oil and chemical companies accountable.

We oppose

  1. Pipeline subsidies.
  2. Corporate polluter exemptions from regulation through “grandfather” clauses.
  3. Ecological abuse of public lands and eco-sensitive areas.
  4. Limiting the ability of citizens and government to sue polluters and pesticide companies.

Clean Water Availability

Promoting Clean, Affordable, Accessible Water to Ensure Healthy Populations

We support

State

  1. Returning waterways to healthy, swimmable, fishable conditions.
  2. Expanding Iowa Watershed Management Authorities.
  3. Publicly owned and affordable clean water supplies.
  4. Completely accessible Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) well data and testing.
  5. Monitoring water quality at an agricultural drainage tile outlet
  6. Amending the Clean Water Act (CWA) for “Point Source” including at and in intermittent streams,

aquifers, and wetlands.

Planning and Zoning

To promote livable and walkable neighborhoods,

preserve farmland, and unique and sensitive natural resources

We support

State

  1. Smart Growth.
  2. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and International Energy Conservation Code

(IECC) requirements.

  1. Tribal Sovereignty.
  2. Replacing topsoil to a minimum 10” depth.

We oppose

  1. Eminent Domain abuse.
  2. Divesting and subsidizing urban growth on farms and parklands.
  3. The sale or improper leasing of state and national monuments and parks.

Economy, Commerce, and Labor

Economy and Jobs

We support

State

  1. Universal Basic Income set by local government.
  2. Prioritizing American companies for government contracts.
  3. Local material, union-made products, and local labor sourcing for public works.
  4. Accountability by businesses receiving tax incentives.
  5. Promoting small local businesses and enterprises.
  6. The Main-Street Iowa Program.
  7. Redeveloping rural areas through infrastructure-based employment for young people and

development of remote work opportunities.

  1. Re-opening Iowa Workforce offices.

Federal

  1. The 2024 Green New Deal.
  2. Improved Federal infrastructure funding.
  3. Financial deterrents to outsourcing U.S. jobs and businesses.
  4. Retention and return of jobs and production to the U.S.
  5. 90% minimum U.S. content for “Made in USA” products.
  6. Federal infrastructure programs in Puerto Rico.
  7. Creating a federal jobs program similar to the 1935 and 1939 Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Banks and Financial Institutions

We support

State

  1. Financial liability for officials who intentionally break the law.
  2. Fully disclosing competing and conflicting interests in financial transactions.

Federal

  1. The ‘Prohibiting Anti-competitive Mergers’ Act.
  2. The 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act.
  3. Strengthening and enforcing antitrust laws.
  4. Eliminating offshore tax shelters.
  5. Effectively regulating and taxing financial speculation and high-frequency trading.
  6. Corporate penalties that exceed benefits from malfeasance.
  7. Corporate tax penalties for excessive officer compensation.
  8. Strengthening the Dodd-Frank Act to prevent ‘too big to fail’ and risky financial practices.
  9. Regulating private equity firms like publicly traded companies.
  10. Public disclosure of senior management stock ownership, options, warrants, and other tools for

publicly traded corporations.

  1. Insider trading laws and penalties covering government employees and officials.

Consumer Protection

We support

State

  1. Protection against predatory lending.
  2. Capping of annual interest rates on small consumer loans and full transparency of financial products

and services.

  1. Iowa Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA).
  2. Foreclosure safety nets.
  3. Expanding Do-Not-Call lists and Robocall blocking.

Federal

  1. Consumer protections Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Tax Policies

We support

State

  1. Progressive income tax policies.
  2. Property tax credits for lower-income veterans, elderly, and disabled people.

Federal

  1. Tax audits on high-asset individuals and corporations.
  2. Imposing a financial speculation tax.
  3. Eliminating Social Security and Medicare wage taxable income cap.
  4. Treating all investment earnings as ordinary income.

We oppose

  1. Privatizing government services, infrastructure, and utilities.
  2. Using bankruptcy to avoid lawsuit liability.
  3. ‘Flat Tax’.
  4. Rent-Gouging.
  5. Use of credit scoring for insurance and employment decisions.
  6. Excessive and hidden fees.
  7. Telemarketing without permission.
  8. Trickle-down economics.
  9. Corporate welfare.
  10. Deregulation of industry.
  11. Private non-banking entities establishing banks.
  12. Bailouts without financial oversight.
  13. Tax deferment and credits for foreign subsidiary profits.
  14. Reducing social safety nets.
  15. Personal data collection without consent.
  16. Media consolidation.

Commerce

We support

State

  1. Right-to-Repair laws.
  2. Statewide broadband access as a public utility.
  3. Net neutrality with universal internet access.

Federal

  1. Penalizing corporations moving outside the U.S.
  2. Full transparency and protection of the workers’ rights and environment protection in trade

agreements.

  1. Importer financed quality inspections of all imports.
  2. Increased investment in high-speed and passenger rail, mass transit, and alternative transportation.
  3. Creating a National Rail Dispatching service that places passengers on an equal footing as cargo.
  4. Mandatory two-person crews on all operating trains.
  5. Establishing a federal trust fund for Amtrak and other passenger rail.
  6. Regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  7. The ‘Uniform Regulation of Virtual-Currency Businesses Act’.
  8. USPS offered basic banking services.

We oppose

  1. Trade wars.
  2. Tax inversion policy.
  3. Fast-tracking trade agreement legislation and provisions that supersede local, state, andnational

jurisdictions.

Labor

Wages, Benefits, and Hours

We support

State

  1. Fully funding and protecting Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for public pension plans.
  2. Same retirement benefits for elected officials as other public employees.
  3. Removing minimum wage exemptions and subminimum wage, including for tipped workers.
  4. Local mandate for higher minimum wage.
  5. Fair and reasonable compensation for volunteer firefighters and first responders.
  6. Replacement of the minimum wage with MIT’s ‘living wage’ would enable one wage earner to support

a family of four outside of the poverty level by working at the living wage for forty hours a week.

  1. Legislation requiring that temporary part-time employees receive wages and benefits equivalent to

permanent and full-time employees for the same work.

  1. Predictive scheduling requirements ensuring that employers provide written work schedules at least

14 days in advance, and with a good faith estimate of hours upon hiring.

  1. Banning employers from reducing hours to avoid paying health insurance and benefits.
  2. Whistleblower protections.
  3. Increasing and strengthening paid vacation, family, medical, parental, and sick leave without punitive

repercussions for employees.

  1. Paid ‘Family Medical Leave Act’.
  2. Overtime pay for work in excess of eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.
  3. Restoring Iowa’s Child Labor Laws to Federal standards, including the prohibition on dangerous jobs,

and how late 14 and 15-year-olds can work.

  1. Annual Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increases for all state employees and biennial increases in

the merit system’s pay grades’ “step” maximum salary levels.

Federal

  1. Protecting, strengthening, and expanding Social Security, Medicare, and Railroad Retirements.
  2. Mandated full funding, protection, and portability of worker’s pension funds.
  3. Reducing inequity between executive worker wages and other compensation.
  4. Protection against employment discrimination, including the ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’.
  5. Laws discouraging ‘temps’ replacing permanent employees.
  6. Increasing and strengthening paid vacation, family, medical, parental, and sick leave without punitive

repercussions for employees.

  1. Paid ‘Family Medical Leave Act’.
  2. ‘Fair Labor Standards Act’.

Workplace Safety and Workers Compensation

We support

State

  1. Covering all agricultural workers by health and safety statutes.
  2. Workers’ court redress in worker compensation rights, including the right to choose their own doctor.

Federal

  1. Mandatory employee and union participation in OSHA inspections.
  2. Mandatory Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) protection training for all

employees as well as management.

  1. Full staffing and funding for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other worker

safety agencies.

  1. Rights of workers to refuse unsafe work.
  2. Labor protection for Home care and residential workers.

Union Rights

We support

State

  1. Enforcing labor contracts and arbitrators’ decisions.
  2. Reinstating the rights of Iowa public employees to strike and negotiate all working conditions,

binding arbitrations, and relief from recertification requirements.

Federal

  1. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
  2. Protecting the Right to Organize, with the ‘PRO Act’ and similar legislation to allow card check

certification and fair share fees, prohibit mandatory meetings for anti-union presentations,

replacement of striking workers, and other strengthening of employee rights.

  1. Adding ‘Union Made’ to the ‘Buy American Act’.
  2. Prevailing Wage, Project Labor Agreements (PLA), and verifiable contractor safety records on all

Government-funded projects.

  1. Requiring contractors bidding on public projects to participate in accredited apprenticeship

programs via the United States Department of Labor (USDOL).

Job Protection and Unemployment Compensation

We support

State

  1. Fully funding worker and displaced worker training, retraining, and community college jobs programs.
  2. Tax on all industrial robots replacing individual workers.
  3. ‘Ban the Box’ in employment and housing.
  4. Increasing penalties for employers who violate worker’s rights.
  5. Strengthening laws protecting employees during plant closing and employer or corporate bankruptcy.
  6. Employees as first-in-line creditors in bankruptcy.
  7. The right of workers to form co-op ownership of a company including having the first option to buy.
  8. Penalizing employers whose employees qualify for public assistance due to low wages and benefits.
  9. Making all forms of worker misclassification and wage pension theft illegal.
  10. Closing loopholes permitting wage theft.
  11. 26-week unemployment benefits with immediate availability.
  12. Reauthorizing long-term unemployment benefits.
  13. Unemployment compensation to cover victims of domestic violence, seasonal workers,

and spouses of military personnel.

Federal

  1. Enforcing immigration laws on employers.

We oppose:

  1. Privatization of public-sector jobs and services.
  2. Exploitation of prison labor.
  3. Prison labor displacing non-incarcerated workers.
  4. Exploitation of foreign, domestic, and undocumented workers.
  5. Union-busting.
  6. Government contracts for union busters.
  7. Right-to-work laws.
  8. Employment-at-Will Doctrine.
  9. Uncompensated Internships.
  10. Social networking Identification and Passwords as a condition of employment.
  11. Employment-related polygraph tests.
  12. Overburdensome and unrealistic job search requirements for unemployment compensation.
  13. Privatization of Social Security and public pension plans.
  14. Raising retirement age/cutting Social Security benefits.

Education

General Education for putting Iowa children first, returning local control to school districts,

and moving away from running schools as “businesses”.

We support

State

  1. Full, equitable funding for public schools, rea Education Agencies (AEAs), community colleges,
  2. and public universities.
  3. Radon and asbestos removal for public schools.
  4. Faculty and students owning their intellectual property.
  5. District improvements in energy efficiency.
  6. Private and Charter Schools following the same laws and rules as public schools if they receive any

voucher funds.

We oppose

  1. Arming school employees.
  2. Property tax as a school revenue source.

Funding

for public education only

We support

State

  1. Re-establishing the School Aid Formula.
  2. Supplemental State Aid (SSA) of no less than 6% within the first 30 days of the legislative calendar.
  3. Restoring full funding and services to Area Education Agencies (AEAs).
  4. Funding on-site Educational Support Professionals (ESPs), including but not limited to:
  1. Librarians
  2. Paraprofessionals and associates
  3. Nurses
  4. Licensed mental health providers
  5. School counselors.
  6. Full, sustainable funding for programs addressing:
  1. Mental Health (MI)
  2. Poverty
  3. English Language Learners (ELL) and English as Second Language (ESL)
  4. Career and vocational education
  5. Literacy
  6. Age-level appropriate technology Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math (STEAM)
  7. Civics
  8. Performing Arts
  9. Personal financial literacy
  10. Special and twice-exceptional education
  11. Wrap-around services
  12. Talented and Gifted (TAG)
  13. Educational Talent Search (TRIO)
  14. Classic Upward Bound (CUB), Veterans Upward Bound (VUB), Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS), Student Support Services (SSS), Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC Training Grant (for Special Programs Staff and Leadership Personnel (TR).
  15. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Science Foundation (NSF), National

Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
  2. At-risk dropout prevention
  3. Before and After School Program (BASP)
  4. Reducing student-to-counselor and student-to-teacher ratios
  5. Safe and modern facilities and equipment
  6. School broadband and technology upcycling
  7. Distance learning.
  8. Free and fully funded Head Start and Early Childhood Education (ECE) meeting Head Start

and National Association for the Education of Young People (NAEYC) performance standards.

We oppose

  1. Using tax dollars to fund PreK-14 private schools.
  2. Unfunded mandates.
  3. For-profit colleges and universities.

Educators

We support

State

  1. Salaries, benefits, and pensions in the top 10% nationally for all public PreK-1, higher education, and non-administrative staff, including Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) and Adjuncts.
  2. Unemployment benefits for Educational Support Professionals (ESPs) who experience seasonal layoffs.
  3. Protecting Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) benefits.
  4. Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program (TLC).
  5. Iowa Mentoring and Induction Program (M&I).
  6. Right-to-strike and engage in collective bargaining.
  7. Top-quality Professional Development (PD), that includes anti-bias training.
  8. Teaching and Learning Provision Schools (TLPS).
  9. Assisting teachers to gain endorsements and secondary credits in shortage areas, and paying for certifications for paraeducators and subs.
  10. Increased tax credits for education materials and instructors’ purchases.

We oppose

  1. Lowering standards for teacher and administrator licenses.
  2. Merit pay for educators.

PreK-14

We support

State

  1. Medically accurate and evidence-based age-appropriate sex education and family planning, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and Agender, (LGBTQIA+), nonbinary, and community in all schools.
  2. Evidence-based, peer-reviewed, and all-inclusive approach to teaching science and American and world history that includes Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC/).
  3. Adequately funding anti-hate and anti-bullying education, including prevention, intervention, and conflict-resolution training.
  4. Requiring credentialed supervision for home-schooled students.
  5. Fully funded, universal, free, high-quality, and full-day preschool.
  6. Efficient and free school transportation for all children.
  7. Education on the effects of social media.
  8. Middle and high school health curriculums including information about consent and dating violence.
  9. Multi-lingual opportunities for PreK-14 learning in written, verbal, and reading formats.
  10. Funding for early identification and treatment of special-needs, emotional, hostile, or violent behavior.
  11. Third-grade students attending summer learning programs in lieu of retention.
  12. Equal access to free driver-education courses.
  13. Dual-credit programs.

Federal

  1. Free nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks for all students, including special diets, food backpacks, and summer food programs.
  2. Adopting universal mental health and educational standards.

We oppose

  1. Criminalizing and fining educators, schools for teaching evidence-based curriculum concepts.
  2. Restraints and seclusion rooms for children in schools.
  3. Standardized test scores for determining the success of students/schools.
  4. Criminal prosecution for truancy.
  5. Forced busing of elementary students outside of local neighborhoods.

Higher Education

We support

State

  1. Fully funding community college librarians, media specialists, counselors, and health programs.
  2. Free tuition for vocational programs, state universities, and community colleges.
  3. The rights of faculty, staff and students to bargain collectively.
  4. Faculty tenure.
  5. Academic freedom for instructors and adjuncts.
  6. Faculty governance of colleges and universities.
  7. Party balance of the Board of Regents.

Federal

  1. Increasing federal funding for veterans’ educational benefits.
  2. Access funds for financial aid for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people for accredited basic adult higher education, including Pell Grants.
  3. Student-loan forgiveness.

Equity

Enable the inclusion of stories, experiences, and contributions of people who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Agender (LGBTQIA+), and who have Disabilities (PWD) in our learning communities and provide them all with strong protections

We support

State

  1. Eliminating racial disparities including discipline policies.
  2. Attracting and retaining educators from underrepresented populations.
  3. Enforcing Title-IX protections against gender-identity discrimination.
  4. District Voluntary Diversity Plans (DVDP).
  5. All educational institutions serving as sanctuaries for undocumented students.
  6. Sport participation aligning with students’ gender-identity.
  7. Universal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance.
  8. Learning disability screening in PreK-14 schools and Iowa Juvenile Justice System (IJJS).
  9. Education of blind and low-vision and deaf and hard-of-hearing students consistent with their

communities’ recommendations.

  1. Bathroom choice based on student gender identification.
  2. Requiring schools’ use of students’ preferred names and pronouns.
  3. Equal access to all educational services for Students with Disabilities (SWD)
  4. Special Education (SPED) teachers implementing all Individual Education Plans (IEPs).

We oppose

  1. Religious bias, including clergy in public schools.
  2. School-sanctioned religious practice.
  3. The school-to-prison pipeline and school-prison nexus.
  4. Sanctioning and endorsing any group or club recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center

(SPLC) as a hate group.

  1. Outing students, including to parents and guardians.

Library and Media

Create a diversity of evidence-based ideas in public education.

We support

State

  1. Fully funding public libraries with independent boards.
  2. Evidence-based teacher and librarian-developed curriculum, instructional materials, and selection of

library materials, without legal penalty.

  1. Critical thinking and media literacy education.

We oppose:

  1. Banning books/literary resources and suppressing academic discourse.
  2. Mandatory pre-publication of comprehensive curriculum materials.

Government and Law

Immigration

We support

State

  1. Undocumented immigrant vehicle registration and driver’s licenses after testing.
  2. Active resettlement programs, including Governor Ray’s refugee programs.
  3. Legal representation for immigrants.
  4. Applying fair labor laws and due process to all.

Federal

  1. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA),

Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM), and Temporary Protected Status

(TPS).

  1. Humane Immigration Reform.
  2. Judicial review for visa denial or removal orders.
  3. Expedited admission of conflict-impacted refugees.
  4. Prioritizing family unity.
  5. Human rights open hearings.
  6. Refugee and detainee rights.
  7. Abolishing immigration quotas.
  8. Abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  9. Streamlining judicial processing.
  10. Earned citizenship paths for undocumented workers.
  11. Improving border security and conditions.
  12. Community-based alternatives to immigrant detentions.
  13. Enforcing immigration laws on employers.
  14. Sponsor-less immigration.
  15. Recognizing same-sex marriage for immigration purposes.

We oppose

State

  1. “Papers please” laws.
  2. Immigration laws enforced by local police.
  3. Legislation requiring local jails to hold immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  4. Detaining undocumented minors.

Federal

  1. Unconstitutional detention.
  2. Religious tests for immigration.
  3. Deportation quotas.
  4. Border walls.
  5. Unnecessary travel bans.
  6. Mass raids related enforcement practices.
  7. Abrogating birthright-citizenship.
  8. Internment and Concentration camps.
  9. Limiting admissions for humanitarian refugees.
  10. Dangerous, harmful, and life-threatening border barriers.
  11. “Remain in Mexico” family separation.
  12. Paying Mexico to deter migration.
  13. Closing borders.

Transportation

We support

State

  1. Expanding public transit, including in rural areas.
  2. Electrifying transportation infrastructure.
  3. Infrastructure repair and replacement.
  4. Helmet laws.
  5. Crash-prevention road engineering.

Internet

We support

State

  1. Universal Municipal High-Speed Internet Access (HSIA).
  2. Public Cybersecurity Education.
  3. Internet publication of all public documents.

Federal

  1. Online privacy-rights.
  2. A modernized “Fairness Doctrine.”

We oppose

  1. Internet Censorship.
  2. Broadcast Monopolies.
  3. Warrantless bulk-data collection.
  4. Cyberbullying.

Campaigns, Elections, American Institutions

We support

State

  1. Promoting accessible voting methods for all citizens.
  2. Safeguarding against voter fraud.
  3. Ensuring voters’ and election workers’ safety.
  4. Ensuring the accuracy of election results.
  5. Ranked-choice voting.
  6. Eliminating superdelegates.
  7. Vote by Mail.
  8. Early voting.
  9. Free and equal media time for candidates.
  10. Paid holidays for federal and state elections.
  11. Returning to Iowa’s previous judicial merit selection system.
  12. Independent commission on electoral violations.
  13. Personal financial responsibility for any law-breaking elected officials.
  14. Iowa Constitutional amendment for recalling elected officials.
  15. Direct ballot Initiatives.
  16. Secretary of State (SOS) Renewal Notices sent by mail and email.
  17. Electing Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) members.
  18. Publicly disclosing legislative proposals including source and intent.
  19. Truth in Advertising Act (TAA) encompassing politics.

Federal

  1. Nonpartisan redistricting.
  2. Significantly diminishing the influence of money and disinformation in the electoral process.
  3. Term limits and ethical standards for Governor, Congress, and SCOTUS.
  4. Full transparency in lobbying.
  5. John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) of 2023.
  6. Campaign finance reform.
  7. Comprehensive congressional ethics reform.
  8. Popular vote for presidential elections.
  9. 10-year tax records for presidential candidates.
  10. Candidates revealing all financial obligations.
  11. Statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
  12. Government transparency.
  13. Iowa’s First-in-Nation status.

We oppose

  1. Voter suppression.
  2. Citizens United.
  3. Dark money.
  4. Members of Congress, the President, the Vice, the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS), an

their immediate families trading securities.

  1. Congressional exemptions from laws.
  2. Gerrymandering.
  3. Establishing an official language.
  4. A National constitutional convention.
  5. Caucusing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Consumer Protection

We support

State

  1. Foreclosure safety nets.
  2. Increased regulation of taxing derivatives markets.
  3. Prosecuting corporate crime.
  4. Penalties that deter corporate malfeasance.
  5. Holding elected officials personally and financially accountable for their unlawful actions.
  6. Prohibiting private health insurance providers from denying or limiting coverage based on gender or

sexual orientation.

  1. Strengthening product safety standards and enforcement for all consumer goods.
  2. Prohibiting payday loans.
  3. Fair use rights.

Federal

  1. Antitrust laws.
  2. Genetic patent reforms.
  3. Fully funded Food and Drug Administration (FDA.)
  4. Fully funding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
  5. Consumer Protection Act.
  6. Honest Ads Act.
  7. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) level Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data

protection.

We oppose

  1. “Minimum floor area requirements” for single-family homes.
  2. Patents on genes.
  3. Limiting corporate liability.
  4. “Pork-Barrel Amendments.”

Criminal and Racial Justice

We support

State

  1. Expanding community-based corrections.
  2. Community policing.
  3. Defendant compensation for damages when found not guilty.
  4. Decriminalizing personal use of schedule-III drugs.
  5. Eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent offenses.
  6. Non-violent crime incarceration alternatives including restorative justice.
  7. Treating non-violent and minor drug offenses as public mental health issues.
  8. Criminal justice reform centering rehabilitation, including post-release programs and restorative

justice.

  1. Parties’ open access to official files post-conviction, excluding confidential identities.
  2. Timely and affordable Freedom of Information Act

(FOIA) request and responses.

  1. Legalizing, regulating, and taxing recreational cannabis.
  2. Adequately staffing prisons, ensuring staff and inmate safety.
  3. Expunging criminal records of all cannabis possession convictions.
  4. Minimum wage and income retention to meet incarcerated persons’ basic needs and Human

Rights.

  1. State and Federal Supreme Court retroactivity in criminal cases.
  2. Reforming civil and criminal forfeiture laws.
  3. Eliminating bail requirements for non-violent offenses.
  4. The Whistleblower Act.
  5. Eliminating abuse of statutes-of-limitations.
  6. Fully funding Iowa’s Judicial System and Violence Against Women (VAWA) victims’ services.
  7. Preventing human trafficking through public and Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) education,

identifying and treating victims.

  1. De-escalation instead of use-of-force.
  2. Prosecuting “white-collar” crime.
  3. Classifying attacks on abortion clinics and providers as domestic terrorism.
  4. Establishing an Iowa Cold Cases Unit.
  5. Sentencing, bond, and incarceration reform, including juvenile justice.
  6. Citizens review boards.
  7. Balanced funding for public defenders and county attorneys
  8. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA).
  9. Independent investigation of domestic violence claims vs against Law Enforcement Officers

(LEOs).

  1. Mental health evaluation and conviction for animal cruelty.
  2. Right-to-record interactions with police.
  3. Ending penalties for sex work, homelessness, poverty, mental health crises, disability, and Human

Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status and addiction.

  1. Barring law enforcement from having sexual contact with detainees, limiting cavity searches.

Federal

  1. Timely Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) nomination hearings.
  2. Fully funding and expanding drug courts and diversion programs following Drug Addiction

Treatment and Recovery Act (DATRA) Judiciary Act and Supreme Court Ethics Act.

  1. Department of Justice (DOJ) independent investigation of Law Enforcement Officer (LEO)

involved deaths.

  1. Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) following the judicial code of conduct, including

enforcement provisions.

We oppose

  1. Defendant required reimbursement for court appointed representation.
  2. Death penalty.
  3. Mandatory minimums.
  4. Gay Panic Defense.
  5. Shackles and Restraints during childbirth.
  6. Driver’s License (DL) suspension for non-payment of child-support.
  7. 3-strike laws.
  8. Disproportionate impacts of the criminal justice system on poor and minority communities.
  9. Law enforcement militarization.
  10. Solitary confinement as punishment.
  11. Privatized prisons and detention centers.

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

We support

State

  1. Expanding gender options on government forms.
  2. Adopting the Equal Rights Amendments (ERA) to the Iowa and U.S. Constitutions.
  3. Local autonomy to expand civil rights protections.
  4. Maintaining and enhancing the Iowa civil rights code.
  5. Affirmative action.
  6. Habeas corpus.
  7. Protecting tenants’ rights.
  8. Strengthening fair housing law and enforcement.
  9. Public ownership of utilities.
  10. Reclassifying the Internet as a public utility.
  11. Community-led public health and safety agendas.
  12. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender

(LGBTQIA+) as a protected class.

  1. Gender-neutral markers issued identification.
  2. The right of persons to use public facilities which align with their gender identity.
  3. Automatic, consensual, co-parent recognition of same-gender and nonbinary couples.
  4. Gender-inclusive security at airports and points of entry.

Federal

  1. First Amendment Freedoms.
  2. The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  3. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
  4. Respect for Marriage Act.
  5. Separation of church and State.
  6. Protecting migrant workers from deportation and discrimination in housing, health, education, and

social services.

  1. The 2024 Equality Act.
  2. The expansion of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA).
  3. The 1965 Voting Rights Act and the enforcement thereof.
  4. The 1968 Fair Housing Act

We oppose

  1. Discrimination against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex,

Asexual, and Agender (LGBTQIA+) community.

  1. Surgical requirement for transgender and nonbinary persons changing sex-marker on government

issued identification.

  1. Enemy Detainee Status.
  2. Religious Freedom Restoration Act. (RFRA) as passed by the Iowa legislature.
  3. Conversion Therapy.
  4. Red Light Cameras.
  5. Insurrection.
  6. Compelling anyone to divulge the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of a minor under their

supervision to that minor’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s).

  1. Prohibiting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender

(LGBTQIA+) individuals from donating blood, tissue, and organs based on sexual

orientation, gender identity, or sexual activity.

  1. Involuntary surgical intervention and compulsory prescription of hormone treatment for intersex

individuals, including newborns, and individuals with ambiguous genitalia.

  1. Involuntarily disclosing gender identity expression on government documents.
  2. White supremacy.
  3. Religious Nationalism.
  4. Systemic discrimination.
  5. Elimination of gender-balance requirements in law.
  6. Federalist interpretation of Iowa and national civil rights code.
  7. Using law enforcement against non-violent protest, encampments, and sit-ins.
  8. The Patriot Act, Freedom Act, and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provisions violating

civil liberties.

Government Services

We support

State

  1. Full access to public records and judicial processes.
  2. Adequate funding for rural county and city services.
  3. Fully funding and enforcing Federal and State mandates.
  4. Social services, dependent care.
  5. Ending privatization and outsourcing of government functions, services, and assets.
  6. Governmental Cost of Living Adjustment (COLAs), including medical costs, food, and energy.
  7. Local and international food-aid programs.
  8. State Boards and Commissions having diversity in representation.
  9. Substantive government funding for:
  1. Safe, reliable, well-maintained bridges, and roadways
  2. Secure ports, water supplies, and infrastructure
  3. Rural county and city emergency services
  4. Food safety inspection
  5. Public Broadcasting
  6. Art in public buildings
  7. SHS projects and goals
  8. Public Prisons
  9. Rural Public Transportation.
  1. Home Rule.
  2. Clean bills and amendments.
  3. Funding TUPAC to support education/prevention/enforcement.
  4. Indexing Congressional and Legislative raises to Social Security cost of living allowance (COLA).
  5. Non-partisan State Bank.

Federal

  1. Secure ports and infrastructure.
  2. Postal Service Reform Act.
  3. Increased funding for the Family Violence Prevention and Service Act (FVPSA) and Violence

Against Women Act (VAWA).

  1. Ensuring that federal fines and penalties collected under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) are

used to compensate victims.

  1. The Presidential Transition Act.
  2. Prosecuting government officials charged with quid-pro-quo, bribery offenses.
  3. Nationwide standardized workforce development program.
  4. Cabinet positions for the Arts.
  5. Ameri-Corps volunteers to work as media specialists in under-served communities nationwide.
  6. Separation of church and state.
  7. Enforcing the Johnson Amendment.
  8. Audit the Pentagon Act.
  9. Restricting Congresspersons from becoming paid lobbyists.
  10. Transparent Representation Upholding Service and Trust in Congress Act (TRUST).

We oppose

  1. No-bid government contracts.
  2. Politicalization of Government Services.
  3. Settling sexual harassment suits with taxpayer money.
  4. Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act (PAEA).
  5. The unlimited power of individual U.S. Senators to block legislation and appointments.
  6. Fast-tracking legislative voting without public debates.
  7. Compact Theory of the Constitution.
  8. Limiting state and county auditor’s authority.

Firearms

We support

State

  1. Universal background checks and waiting periods.
  2. Responsible firearm ownership.
  3. Training and firearm proficiency requirements.
  4. Mental health screenings.
  5. Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs).
  6. Registering all gun sales.
  7. Purchase log for ammunition.
  8. Ownership liability insurance.
  9. Gun-free zones, private property rights.

Federal

  1. Including “no-fly” list members and domestic abusers as firearm Prohibited Persons.
  2. Expanding National Firearms Act (NFA) to include assault-style weapons, rate-of-fire enhancers,

higher-capacity magazines, and frangible munitions.

We oppose

  1. Stand-Your-Ground laws.
  2. Open carry.
  3. “Strict Scrutiny”.
  4. Ghost guns.

Taxation and Social-Security

We support

State

  1. Progressive comprehensive corporate and individual taxation.
  2. Taxpayer Empowerment Agenda (TEA).
  3. Limiting Tax Increment Financing (TIF).
  4. Grow Iowa Values Financial Assistance Program (GIVFAP) prioritizing small business.
  5. Capping residential property taxes for low-income citizens.
  6. Homestead exemptions.
  7. Earmarking lottery and gambling taxes for public educational and medical funding.
  8. Fully funding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
  9. Improving Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) formulas.
  10. Gender equalization of Social Security benefits and appropriate equitable reparations.
  11. Separating Social Security Trust Fund from the federal budget.
  12. Federal elected officials’ benefits parity with government employees.
  13. Tax-neutral full repayment of the Social Security Trust Fund.
  14. Minimum 25% corporate tax.
  15. Continuing the exemption of Social Security benefits from state income tax.

Federal

  1. Estate taxes on estates over $35 million.
  2. Wealth taxes.
  3. Charitable deductions.
  4. Expanding college tuition and student loan interest tax credits.
  5. Increasing and expanding Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
  6. Taxing all stock exchange transactions.

We oppose

  1. Diverting Social Security funds.
  2. Taxing unemployment, worker compensation, and disability Social Security benefits.
  3. Increasing Iowa sales and gas tax.
  4. Refundable corporate tax credits.
  5. Off-shore tax havens, corporate inversions, and loopholes.
  6. Carried interest loophole.
  7. Student Loan bankruptcy priority.
  8. Fossil fuel company tax breaks and subsidies.
  9. Regressive taxes.
  10. Iowa implementing the “Kansas Experiment.”

Military and Veterans

We support

State

  1. Ending Veteran homelessness.
  2. Family assistance for activated reserve component personnel.
  3. Equitable benefits for Reserves and National Guard.
  4. Raising all Iowa veterans benefits to the highest national standard, adjusting yearly for

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).

  1. Protection and expansion of Military Home Ownership Assistance (MHOA), Iowa Veterans Grant (IVG), Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Iowa Veteran Homes Programs (IVHP).
  2. Property tax exemption for owners and renters with a disability rating.
  3. Increased funding for the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) and Iowa Veterans Trust Fund (IVTF).
  4. Assistance for Veteran business start-ups.
  5. Job protection for Veterans with service-connected disabilities.
  6. Veterans Diversionary and Treatment Courts.

Federal

  1. Rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran Affairs (DoVA).
  2. Expedited citizenship for those who have served.
  3. Military and Veteran suicide prevention.
  4. Improving standards and methods for mental and physical care.
  5. Use of Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for Veterans care.
  6. Expanding Veterans Administration (VA) outreach centers and mobile units.
  7. Generational benefits for those affected by toxic exposures.
  8. Full rights and privileges of adulthood for all persons serving or having served in military forces.
  9. Fully funding and escrowing full costs of all military actions, including legacy costs.
  10. Balancing funding the military with other societal, environmental and diplomatic needs that

support our principles and objectives.

  1. Transparent recruitment.
  2. Living wage for active-duty personnel.
  3. Equitable benefits for Veterans regardless of the declared status of incursion.
  4. Expanded education benefits for Veterans and Military Families.
  5. Independent non-military judicial process for military physical, sexual assault, and domestic

violence.

  1. Removing time limits for GI Bill
  2. Gender equity Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender (LGBTQIA+).
  3. Mandatory military or civil service.
  4. Accounting of all Prisoner of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIAs).

We oppose

  1. Mercenaries.
  2. Privatizing the Veterans Administration (VA).
  3. Stopping Veterans Administration (VA) disability benefits in lieu of Social Security

benefits.

Health and Human Services

General Healthcare, Reimbursement and Coverage

We support

State

  1. Healthcare staffing based on acuity care levels.
  2. Medical cannabis with comprehensive access and product variety.
  3. State Electronic Health Record (HER) exchanges.
  4. Medical services without discrimination or personal bias.
  5. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and abuse recognition training for first responders.
  6. Funding for organizing standardized Iowa Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) with
  7. Consumer and provider representation on the Health and Human Services (HHS)

review boards.

  1. Requiring evidence-based cannabis education for providers.
  2. Adequate funding and staffing of Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Human Services (DHS), and county health departments.
  3. Equitable reimbursement rates for Medicaid, Medicare, and HAWK-I with expanded formulary

price negotiation.

  1. Culturally competent healthcare.
  2. Funding for organizing standardized Iowa Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) with statewide

coverage and expanded access to Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSUs) real-time available psychiatric beds database.

  1. Healthcare training and retention programs to expand state licensing for technician professionals Sexual Abuse Nurse Examiners (SANE).
  2. Affordable education and student loan forgiveness for healthcare professionals.
  3. Expanding telehealth services, especially in rural areas.
  4. Requiring insurers to cover air ambulances and non-emergency emergency medical

transportation.

  1. Safe access to sterile needles, Naloxone, and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
  2. Interim Disability Assistance (IDA), Regional Heritage Area Agency on Aging (HAAA), and Ombudsman’s Office for oversight programs.
  3. Child, elder, and disabled abuse prevention.
  4. Improving early diagnosis and preventative healthcare.
  5. Patient’s Bill of Rights and right to litigate.
  6. Right to Try.
  7. Limiting work hours for interns, residents, and fellows.
  8. Healthcare and housing as a human right and expanding low-income access.
  9. Funding protection for violent crime, domestic violence (DV) sexual abuse (SA) and trafficking

survivors and investigating and processing of abuse reports and rape kits.

  1. Eliminating Statutes of Limitations for sexual abuse (SA).
  2. Statewide specialty courts and diversion programs.
  3. Protecting negotiated health insurance benefits.
  4. Good Samaritan laws.
  5. Generic drugs.
  6. Insurance reimbursement for wellness programs, centers, and gyms.
  7. Funding medical research at public institutions.
  8. Healthcare cost transparency.
  9. Coverage for telehealth care of eating disorders.
  10. Meaningful penalties for violating laws and regulations protecting patients.
  11. Efficiently resolving the drug shortage via production diversity & incentivizing companies to

maintain sufficient supplies.

Federal

  1. Medicare-for-all.
  2. Prescription prices capped to global average.
  3. Increased funding National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  4. Independent oversight of Medicaid disputes.
  5. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researching and regulating vitamins and supplements.
  6. Funding research on stem cells, gun violence, psychedelics, opioids, narcotics, toxins, and chronic disease.
  7. Fast Track Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval.
  8. Adequate funding and staffing of Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
  9. Prompt funding and provision of food, shelter, healthcare for disaster, pandemic readiness

response.

  1. Medication re-importation.
  2. Public services access for the undocumented.
  3. Recognizing gun violence as a health emergency.
  4. Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace.
  5. Financial support for research, prevention, and diagnosis of incurable diseases and chronic

conditions.

We oppose

  1. Privatizing Medicare and Medicaid.
  2. Non-medical exemptions for immunizations and healthcare.
  3. Pharmaceutical advertising.
  4. Pharmaceutical kickbacks.
  5. Insurance company antitrust exemptions.
  6. Iowa Smoke-Free Air Act (ISAA) exemptions.
  7. Medicare and Medicaid vouchers and block grants.
  8. Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver waiting lists.
  9. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).
  10. Unfair limitations on medical malpractice/negligence claims.
  11. Undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
  12. Criminalizing homelessness.
  13. Healthcare coverage is dependent on employment, citizenship, residency, or economic status.
  14. For-profit Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).

Aging and Disabilities

We support

State

  1. Availability of Long-Term Care (LTC) and Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) with proper staff ratios.
  2. Long-Term Care (LTC) coverage without prior hospitalization.
  3. Increasing inspections of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF), Long-Term Care (LTC), Mental Health Facilities (MHI), and Community Care Facilities (CCF).
  4. End-of-life options including advance care directives and insurance coverage.
  5. Consumer-controlled Home and Community Based (HCBS), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS), and service therapy animals.
  6. Home caregiver support training, earning tax credits, and living wage.
  7. Accessibility and accommodations for People With Disabilities (PWD).
  8. Access to respite, adult day care, community-based, and in-home services.
  9. Funding programs for prosthetic use, care and repairs.
  10. Employment transportation.

Federal

  1. Age 65 Medicare eligibility.
  2. Medicare coverage of hearing, vision, dental, and medically necessary products.
  3. Eliminating Medicare “donut hole”.
  4. Older Americans Act (OAA).
  5. Area Agencies on Aging (AAA).
  6. Free prescriptions for Medicare enrollees.
  7. Increased Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and enforcement.

We oppose

  1. For-profit insurance advertised as “Medicare C and Advantage”.
  2. Taking an individual’s assets, savings, and home before receiving medical care Long Term Care

(LTC).

Children and Families

We support

State

  1. Eliminating state restrictions on federal food assistance programs.
  2. Investment in food security, including access to nutritious food, food banks, and other funding

sources.

  1. Custodial gender neutrality.
  2. Kinship-care and foster-care parity.
  3. Funding foster children through age 26.
  4. Strengthening and expanding the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), the Department of

Human Services (DHS), and the Ombudsman in foster care.

  1. Reduced social worker caseloads.
  2. Publicly funded family and marriage therapy.
  3. Addressing economic disparities to improve health outcomes for women and minorities.
  4. Children and juvenile health and welfare safety development programs, and separate mental

health system.

  1. Child Support Recovery Act (CSRA) and Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act (DPPA).
  2. Affordable, subsidized, regulated, inspected, and universal childcare with child-to-staff ratio caps

in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

  1. Group care facilities and pet-friendly shelters for children, domestic violence (DV), unhoused families, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender (LGBTQIA+).
  2. Adoption subsidies.
  3. Expanding income limits for child-assistance programs.
  4. State-run facility for adjudicated minor females.
  5. Repealing Iowa Code sections: §232.68(2)(a)(4)(c) exempts the denial of medical treatment

based on religious beliefs as child abuse and neglect, §237A.1(2)(b) exempts religion-based childcare from regulation, and §139A.8(4)(a)(2) exempts immunization

requirements based on religious belief.

  1. Clergy as mandatory reporters.
  2. Financial and prenatal support for biological mothers of adopted children.
  3. Placing foster youth according to gender identity.
  4. Department of Human Services (DHS), Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), and Child Protective Services (CPS).
  5. Lead and radon testing and remediation.

Federal

  1. National convicted abuser database.
  2. Expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants & Children (WIC),

Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP.)

We oppose

  1. Separating families.
  2. Parental notification requirements absent imminent harm.
  3. Fees on child support payments.
  4. Chaplains in public schools.
  5. Homeschooling foster children.
  6. Private, Second-Chance adoptions.
  7. Religious-based adoption exemptions.
  8. Expanding the Federal Child Tax Credit (CTC)

LGBTQIA+

We support

  1. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender

(LGBTQIA+) protection, inclusion, acceptance, marriage, adoption, healthcare, and freedom from

systemic discrimination.

  1. Requiring insurance coverage and availability of gender-affirming care, including medication,

puberty blockers, surgical services, and mental health services at the discretion of patients and

providers.

  1. Gender identity-oriented placement of detainees.

We oppose

  1. Conversion therapy.
  2. Prohibiting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and

Agender (LGBTQIA+) individuals from donating blood/tissue/organs.

Mental Health and Addictions

We support

State

  1. De-stigmatizing mental illness.
  2. Equitable, comprehensive mental health parity, coverage, availability, and affordability.
  3. Transitional programs from shelters and prisons into care, treatment, permanent housing, and

vocational training.

  1. Increased availability of beds in Mental Health Facilities (MHF).
  2. Restoring and expanding funding for Mental Health Institutions (MHI) and Community Mental

Health Centers (CMHC).

  1. Funding comprehensive mental health care, family counseling, suicide prevention, Substance

Use Disorder (SUD), and treatment prevention by clinically credentialed providers.

  1. Narcan, Naloxone, and Fentanyl Test Strips for first responders.
  2. Targeted services for people with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
  3. Supervised injection sites.
  4. Mental health services in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF), Assisted Living Facilities (ALF), and

incarceration.

  1. Incentives to attract mental health professionals.
  2. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

We oppose

  1. Correctional facilities as primary treatment for the mentally ill.
  2. Government-funded religious-based therapies.

Reproductive Rights and Family Planning

We support

  1. Reproductive self-determination for all.
  2. Contraceptives and abortion coverage.
  3. Non-restroom breastfeeding/lactation accommodations.
  4. Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) care.
  5. Comprehensive access to contraception, emergency contraception, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF),

family planning providers, and abortions without waiting periods, regardless of parental consent.

  1. Codifying Roe v. Wade.
  2. Iowa Constitutional Amendment protecting abortion rights.
  3. Full funding for comprehensive-family-planning programs, providers, Planned Parenthood (PP)

and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), cancer testing

and screening.

  1. Abortion alternatives without restricting the right to abortion.
  2. Free barrier-based contraceptives in public high schools/universities.
  3. Universal free pre and postnatal care.

We oppose

  1. Fetal personhood laws.
  2. Embryonic and Fetal Heartbeat bills.
  3. Criminalization of abortion, abortion assistance, and abortion education.
  4. Targeted Restrictions on Abortion (TRAP) laws and harassment.
  5. Hyde and Helms Amendments.
  6. Requiring admitting privileges for abortion providers.
  7. Prosecuting healthcare providers for medically necessary treatment.
  8. Transvaginal ultrasound preceding abortion.
  9. Coercive and misleading family planning and abortion services.
  10. Public funding for Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs).
  11. Forced sterilization, castration, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and default

circumcision.

Veteran Health

We support

  1. Free, public, and timely healthcare for veterans and their families.
  2. Non-profit emergency response teams for veterans and their families in crisis.
  3. Full Veterans Administration (VA) medical benefits for reserve components.

International Affairs

Peace and Security

We support

State

  1. Increase Sister City program funding.
  2. All nations and peoples’ territorial integrity and self-determination.
  3. Ending human trafficking, protecting survivors, prosecuting perpetrators.
  4. Defending equality of rights and political empowerment regardless of sex, gender, sexual

orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, immigration status, disability, and gender identity.

Federal

  1. Laws, treaties, and policies prioritizing diplomacy, human-rights, and peaceful conflict resolution.
  2. The World Health Organization (WHO), National Safety Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) addressing global pandemics.
  3. Ensuring free, fair, and transparent democratic elections and the peaceful transfer of power.
  4. Self-determination for all US territories and protectorates.
  5. Normalizing Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran relations.
  6. Treating Native Americans’ nations, land, and sacred sites with territorial integrity.
  7. Humanitarian aid and disaster relief addressing global hunger, extreme poverty, education, clean

water, infectious disease prevention and treatment, via food, medical, capital, and

microeconomics.

  1. Ukraine sovereignty
  2. Stopping genocide, religious oppression, and ethnic cleansing.
  3. Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM).
  4. Comprehensive reproductive health care and family planning programs.
  5. Establishing a Federal Peace Department.
  6. Repealing American Service Members Protection Act (ASPA).
  7. Joining and enforcing the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice

(ICJ).

  1. International law ratification and full participation:
    1. Human-rights
      1. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) Convention on the Rights of the Child, aka Child Soldier Treaty (UNCRC), Rome Statue International Criminal Court (RSICC), International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED), Geneva & Vienna Conventions, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) International Bill of Human Rights (IBHR) Human Rights Campaign (HRC), United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) #1325 Women, Peace and Security and #1888 Special Representative on sexual violence in conflict
    2. Trade
      1. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLS)
    3. Environment
      1. Paris Agreement United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Global Plastics Treaty (GPT), Convention on Biological Diversity, Cartagena, and Nagoya Protocols (CBDCNP)
    4. Diplomacy
      1. Global Ocean Treaty aka High Seas Treaty (GOT), Organization of American States (OAS), United Nations (UN) and its Agencies
  2. Stricter Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) enforcement
  3. Peace efforts in Afghanistan.
  4. Holding Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s assassination.
  5. Peaceful resolution of disputed Pacific Islands status.
  6. Tibet, Kashmir, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Autonomy.
  7. Ending China persecuting Uyghurs.

We oppose

  1. Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formally School of the Americas) WHINSEC.
  2. Assassinating, killing, jailing, and unlawful detention of journalists, aid workers, and opposition

leaders.

  1. Aid enabling oppression.
  2. Foreign interference in US elections.
  3. Subverting democracy under the guise of national security.
  4. Genocide and ethnic cleansing.
  5. Apartheid regimes.
  6. Threats against United Nations (UN) nation-states.
  7. Sanctions, blockades, and embargos which harm civilians.

Israel and Palestinians

We support

  1. Palestinians and Israelis security, democracy, equal rights.
  2. Immediate permanent ceasefire and return of hostages and detainees”.
  3. Palestinian self-determination and Nationhood.
  4. Palestinian refugees’ Right of Return and to just compensation.
  5. Automatic political asylum for Palestinians.
  6. Full Palestinian United Nations (UN) membership.
  7. Moving the US embassy to Tel Aviv.
  8. Reopening the East Jerusalem US consulate to Palestinians and Washington, D.C.’s Palestinian

Authority (PA) office.

  1. Ensuring Palestinian civilians’ safety.
  2. An end to all military aid and arms sales to Israel until the following conditions are met: a

permanent cease-fire in Gaza, the expulsion of illegal Jewish settlements, and full compliance

with the Oslo Accords.

  1. Israel and US compliance with international law.
  2. American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)

registration.

  1. Swiftly Rebuilding Gaza, especially hospitals.
  2. Immediately restore United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near

East UNRWA funding and unconditional humanitarian Gaza aid.

  1. Journalists’ free access to all of Gaza without reprisal.
  2. South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel.
  3. Ending Israel’s apartheid.

We oppose

  1. Anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) legislation.
  2. Israeli occupation, blockades, settlements, checkpoints, Separation-Wall, and property

confiscation against Palestinians.

  1. Attacking civilians.
  2. Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
  3. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab racism.
  4. Israel’s nuclear weapons.
  5. The US vetoed the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) against Israel.

Immigration

We support

  1. Humane treatment, due process, legal representation, labor rights for all immigrants.
  2. Protecting and reuniting separated children.
  3. Sponsor less Immigration.
  4. Recognizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and

Agender (LGBTQIA+) relationships for immigration proceedings.

  1. Humanitarian border.
  2. Addressing push factors.
  3. United Nations Refugee Convention (UNRC).
  4. Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA).

We oppose

  1. Closing borders.
  2. Inhumane and for-profit detention.
  3. Border militarization, walls, and barriers endangering health, life, wildlife.
  4. Safe third-country agreements.
  5. Discriminatory visa regulations.
  6. Separating families.

Military

We support

  1. Reducing spending, Eliminating United States Department of Defense USDOD budget waste and

corruption.

  1. Subjecting US personnel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of

Justice (ICJ)

  1. Closing “black sites” and Guantanamo Bay.
  2. Selective Service System (SSS) Gender equality.
  3. Deployed Active Guard Reserve (AGR) pay and benefits parity with regular military personnel.
  4. United Nations (UN) multinational peacekeeping.
  5. Removing Unexploded Ordnance (UXO).
  6. Ensuring civilian protection in war including from drone strikes.
  7. Curtailing presidential nuclear strike powers.
  8. Funding cybersecurity infrastructure.
  9. Repealing Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
  10. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
  11. Prohibition of weapons sales to human-rights-violating countries.

We oppose

  1. Preemptive unilateral military action.
  2. Signature extrajudicial assassination drone strikes.
  3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) identifying and engaging military targets.
  4. Military privatization.
  5. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Agender

(LGBTQIA+) service ban.

  1. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) indefinite detention provisions.
  2. Military support for repressive regimes.
  3. Space Militarization.
  4. Torture, extraordinary rendition, suicide bombing, human shields, and collective punishment.
  5. Military action against Iran.
  6. US military actions in Yemen.
  7. US-sponsored coups.
  8. US participation in war crimes.

Nuclear, Weapons of Mass Destruction,

Conventional Weapons

We support

  1. The Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

(CTBT), the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Arms Trade Treaty (enforcement regarding arms for Israel) (ATT),

the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC),

the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), and the Convention on Certain Conventional

Weapons 648 (CCW).

  1. Expanding International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.
  2. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) disarmament.
  3. Rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal

(JCPOA).

We oppose

  1. Nuclear first strike.

Trade

We support

  1. Reducing international arms trade, with an increase in transparency.
  2. Unfreezing finances for humanitarian aid.
  3. Debt forgiveness.
  4. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  5. Renegotiating trade agreements to Federal Transit Administration (FTA) standards.
  6. Emerging Countries Developmental Assistance, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World

Food Program (WFP) promotes long-lasting growth, improved fair trade, and increased economic

opportunity.

  1. Federal Transit Administration (FTAs) with strict minimum standards (environmental, social, labor

protections).

  1. International collaboration for human rights guided economic development.

We oppose

  1. Economic exploitation and imperialism.
  2. Trade wars.
  3. Poverty wages, modern slavery, and child labor.
  4. Currency manipulation.
  5. Intellectual property theft.
  6. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
  7. Deforestation.

We encourage you to read the Democratic platform in its entirety. For the rest of the 2024 platform, go to this page:

https://iowademocrats.org/resources/

The previous platform is archived here.  The Iowa Democratic Party updates its platform every two years.

LP-2022-Iowa-Democratic-Party-Platform-Final

As to the Republican platform, we aren’t sure they have a more recent one, but we think it’s important to recognize a few key points extracted below from their 2022 platform.

Iowa Republican Platform 2022

iowa-republican-platform-2022 searchable text doc

Their first key point under Life: “Life begins at conception and must be protected to natural death.” (forcing women to carry nonviable fetuses to term). Elsewhere in this section: “We oppose the use of chemical abortifacients to end human life” (this would outlaw IUDs and probably other forms of birth control).

Their first key point under Liberty: “Repeal sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class.” Elsewhere: “We recognize only two biological sexes: male (XY) and female (XX)…We encourage the repeal of any laws allowing any marriage that is not between one natural man and one natural woman.”

Under Property: “9. We demand the end to property tax, and restructuring funding to a sales tax.”

Under Commerce: “4. We oppose all government mandates and efforts associated with alleged man-made global warming or climate change.”