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I. Preamble
WE, the members of the Democratic Women's Club of Florida, come together to declare our vision as Democrats for the great State of Florida. We join our fellow Floridians in the pursuit of liberty, equality, prosperity and personal satisfaction in our lives and livelihood. We are mindful of the challenges the people of our state face daily; therefore, we commit ourselves not only to the task of seeking solutions, but to taking the very real steps necessary to make our vision a reality. From every walk of life, we rejoice in our ability to come together in this common cause.
II. Secure in Our Future
As residents of Florida, we share a vested interest with future generations in protecting the diversity that makes Florida great. We recognize taxes as the price we pay for living in one of the most beautiful states in the greatest nation in the world. We do our utmost to preserve our environment, secure our homes and create infrastructure for those who come after us. We honor those who came before us, those whose sacrifices built bridges, schools, hospitals and roads. We support a government in Florida that will invest our portion wisely-- protecting our future, rather than catering to special interests and projects for the privileged.
In our own lives, we are forced to make tough choices each day on how to invest our time and money. We claim the right to hold elected officials to the same high standards. Taxes should be assessed equally, fairly and accurately at all levels. We believe funds that we have entrusted to the government, through taxes, should be used for the purposes for which they are allocated and that trusts should be irrevocable, rather than pots to be plundered.
As Floridians, we know that the future of our state depends upon each of us doing our part to secure a stable economy, emphasize the building of a well-trained work force and protecting the natural environment that provides us with clean air, fresh water and ever changing beauty.
We call upon our Economic Development Councils to seek out clean industries, to support the development of eco-tourism and businesses with zero or neutral impact on our environment. Our families suffer without jobs that provide a living wage; therefore, we charge local governments to ensure companies pay a living wage for every employee before concessions are made to attract a business or industry and that affordable housing will be available so that employees can live in the communities in which they work.
We come from all corners of Florida, but one thing we each acknowledge is that growth should be sustainable and mutually beneficial. There are checks and balances already in place to assure that the infrastructure needed, including roads, sewers, water, emergency services such as fire and rescue, schools and jobs, are already in place before new growth is approved. We recognize the impact of new development and support development paying for itself through impact fees and a fair share of taxes. We take to task those who would sell our future for a fleeting reward or personal gain.
Our veterans, active duty military and National Guard members know the price of freedom is often bought with blood. As patriots, we seek first to be the world's peacemakers. We know our soldiers will bravely go where we send them. We owe it to our men and women in uniform to be sure our cause is just, that the lives we save will far exceed the lives we lose and that the price our soldiers' pay is justified.
We call upon those who represent us to deal fairly and even-handedly with one another and foreign nations, so that those who would make war with us will find no justification in the eyes of the world. When calling upon our soldiers to risk their lives, we are committed to seeing they are well-trained, fully equipped, fully supplied and supported.
III. Quality Health Care for all Floridians
As doctors, nurses, licensed practitioners and medical assistants, we strive to provide the best possible care available. We understand the need of each citizen to have a personal relationship with a trustworthy health care provider. We honor the sacred relationship between health care providers and their patients, realizing that all citizens deserve to be treated with dignity and should possess the freedom to make informed decisions about their own care and treatment options, as long as they are able, and when unable to make those decisions, to have a trusted person to make necessary medical decisions without interfere4nce from state or federal authorities. We know the value of honest, factual education on issues including dietary needs, human sexuality, communicable diseases and ideas for living a longer, healthier life.
As women, we cherish our right to control our own bodies. We support programs designed to empower women, men, girls and boys with age-appropriate, medically accurate information on family planning, all birth control options, and reproductive choices, including the morning after pill and abortion; as well as, information on sexual health. We support full access to quality prenatal, obstetrical, post partum, neonatal and pediatric care.
As citizens of Florida, we delight in our diverse population and look toward a system of health care that provides each person access to health care according to his/her needs. We understand that health care is too great a commodity to be limited to those who can afford the high cost of insurance, treatment and prescription drugs. We recognize the needs of Floridians to be secure in their ability to have affordable treatment and medication; to be confident that, should they need help, Florida stands ready to provide them with the life-giving treatments they need. We applaud efforts to assure that our elderly and infirm are treated with respect and care.
As researchers and practitioners, we seek out a haven for the development of new treatments, therapies and drugs that can provide a better quality of life or a more peaceful end. We challenge politically motivated decisions that affect our ability to pursue scientific studies or treat our patients.
In our communities, we work as advocates for the mentally ill and drug dependant. We come together recognizing the special needs of families dealing with addiction or the mentally ill, calling for programs that handle mental illness and drug dependency as medical issues before they become criminal justice problems. We know this transition from criminal justice to health care is morally correct and fiscally sound.
IV. Public Education and the Pursuit of Learning
The members of the Democratic Women's Clubs of Florida, Inc support the life-long pursuit of learning, acknowledging education as the great social equalizer. To encourage lifelong learning, we support free, accessible, adequately funded public libraries. We believe in the right to privacy for library patrons. We defend increasing state funds to the public school system and advocate equal access to post high school funding for all Florida residents. We challenge the use of public funds for private institutions, believing rather that we should bolster the public system to better meet the individual needs of the student.
Through our voice, our vote and our spirit of volunteerism, we maintain the importance of early childhood learning provided in partnership among the parents, the community, and qualified educators. We support the development of special needs programs in our public schools, including curricula designed for those with emotional, physical, mental or social challenges and those with exceptional talents. Further, we support vocational programs and apprenticeships that prepare Floridians to take their place in the workforce.
As concerned citizens, we recognize the importance of the teachers in our classrooms; we seek the best and the brightest teachers available, knowing their contribution to the future of Florida is limitless. Our emphasis must be on providing equitable salaries, incentives for teaching and supplying classrooms with the highest quality materials available.
As educators, we value the administrators and support staff that makes it possible for us to provide the most conducive atmosphere for learning. We honor the job they do, the organization they provide and community support they foster.
We challenge any barriers to higher education, including the felony preclusion to receiving Bright Futures Scholarship dollars. We accept the value of private partnerships with our schools and universities, but believe that discoveries, inventions and patented formulas belong to the taxpayers of Florida who fund our facilities and student scholarships.
V. Protecting Florida's Environment
From the Panhandle to the Keys, each day we risk losing another portion of our native lands to over-development, widespread pollution and the foreseeable consequences of irresponsible human actions. As stakeholders in the future of Florida, we emphasize the need to enforce strong environmental protections through whatever means necessary. We call for closing the loopholes that allow the pollution of our waterways, our coastlines and the very air we breathe. Even with strong protections in place, a lack of enforcement and a “look the other way” attitude threaten the very state we hold dear.
We support the acquisition and maintenance of public lands, not only for public parks and recreation but to preserve natural habitats and the pristine beauty of wild, native Florida.
We applaud programs designed to help Floridians be better caretakers of the state we have chosen to call home, from home and industrial recycling to smart packaging to reduce the buildup of waste. We rise to the challenge of finding new ways to dispose of the millions of pounds of waste produced each year, before more of our precious acreage is used for landfills.
We encourage our businesses and universities to create alternative fuel sources to reduce our dependence on oil and ways to reverse the damage done by our reliance on fossil fuels.
We look toward the agricultural community to partner with us to reduce the amounts of herbicides and pesticides used in farming; to help us bring to market abundant produce and meats free of chemicals, additives and hormones potentially harmful to people and our land.
VI. Let the Punishment Fit the Crime
Each of us desires to be safe in our homes. We acknowledge the rights
of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves by use of appropriate force, to own guns and to secure themselves. To provide for the common welfare, we seek well-trained, physically fit, educated law enforcement officers to work within well-equipped, cooperating agencies.
We recognize our duty to provide the men and women of law enforcement with our full support and we demand that they hold themselves to the highest standards. We have no tolerance for abuse of authority in any capacity on any level, but least of all in those sworn to protect and serve us. We cherish the idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty and require our law enforcement officers to hold this ideal paramount in their dealings with those accused of a crime.
We recognize acts of violence against women and children as a serious problem and we support programs that protect women and their children and legislation that holds the offender accountable. We believe in the adoption of programs designed to change the behaviors and patterns of abuse.
We recognize poverty or perceived poverty as a motivator for much of the petty crimes committed among us. Through access to education and economic development we hope to lift the burden of poverty, eliminating many economically motivated crimes. But, for those who would seek to victimize us, we say, “Let the punishment fit the crime”.
Recognizing the vast overcrowding in our jails and prisons, combined with the high cost of incarceration, we seek alternatives to confinement such as restitution and community control for those who commit property crimes or theft. We acknowledge the harm created by drug abusers and those suffering from mental illness. We seek ways to treat individuals' medical issues, while seeking accountability for the real crimes they committed.
Prisons protect us from those most dangerous to society and, therefore, the cost of housing them should fall upon the community. We challenge the privatization of prisons and uphold the idea that prisons should be used to
house those who have been proven to pose a quantifiable threat to our citizens; therefore, the burden of housing them should fall upon the very people being protected. We agree that there are some people who should live out the remainder of their natural lives in prison. As just and compassionate people we believe that those persons incarcerated should be treated humanely and guarded by the highest caliber of correctional officers.
Prosecutors hold the lives of real people in their hands, and prosecutorial discretion in filing charges should be used with an even hand, applying the same standards regardless of race, gender or social economic status. Sentences should be meted out by judges and juries fully informed of the details of the crime. While the rights of the accused should not outweigh the rights of the victim, we have a duty to assure each person is granted equal access to a quality defense regardless of their circumstances. As a free society, we cannot bear the burden of one innocent person being found guilty of a crime of which they are innocent. Since death is irreversible, and since the justice system is administered by humans and thus prone to error, we urge that prosecutors be charged to give all due consideration to any new exculpatory evidence at any stage of the process prior to execution of a sentence; therefore, we strongly support the ability of the accused to access DNA testing, regardless of their ability to pay and without time constraints.
While there needs to be a punitive element to committing a crime, as criminal justice workers, mental health professionals and concerned citizens, we emphasize the importance of rehabilitating those who have committed a crime and who would benefit from education and training. We desire to receive prisoners back into our communities, trained and fully prepared through re-entry programs and half-way houses, to take a meaningful place in society. We strongly support the full restoration of civil rights to former felons upon the completion of their sentences, allowing them to hold meaningful jobs and participate in the electoral process.
VII. Equality for all Floridians
We cherish living in a nation that is governed “for the people and by the people.” Florida is stronger for its diverse cultures, ethnic flavor, big cities and small towns. To us, equality does mean equal pay for the same day's work. It means equal access to the political system through our ability to vote, hold office, demonstrate and petition the government for the redress of grievances. We hold fast to the notions that voter registration should be simple, that polling locations should be easily accessible, that election laws should be fair and that our ballots be clear, easy to understand and always have a voter- verifiable paper trail. We believe these things to be the cornerstone of a true democracy. Recognizing the importance of equal access to government, we support the drawing of legislative districts by a non-partisan commission. Equality embodies the rights of the individual to be free of unnecessary intrusion by Government. It means equal access to benefits provided by the Government and the private sector, such as health insurance and inheritance, to those united by domestic partnerships, or by marriage and their children. Equality means the freedom to worship as we choose when we choose and how we choose or not at all. It means the equal application of respect for our agenda by those elected to represent us, even if they disagree, and we challenge those in office to constantly seek us out to hear our concerns. Equality means having the right to enter into contracts, be represented in court, and have equal benefits regardless of our race, age, gender, or socio-economic status.
We, the delegates of the 49 th Annual Convention of the Democratic Women's Club of Florida, Inc do hereby attest to participation in the ratification of this Platform this 22 nd day of October of the year two thousand and five.
Adopted October 22, 2005 Jacksonville, Florida