Draft FCWPP Public Policy Work Plan: 2013

September 21, 2012; Updated November, 2012

CriminalJustice

Goals:

1. Give priority to efforts to repair the harm suffered by victims over attempts to punish offenders

2. Identify and address the causes of crime

3. Replace costly incarceration for both juvenile and adult offenders through diversion, drug treatment, job training, and education whenever appropriate

4. Redress the racial inequity of our current criminal justice system

5. Support offenders’ efforts to redeem themselves and reintegrate into society

Objectives:

1. Restorative Justice

2. Support educational programs on restorative justice statewide

3. Support increased use of restorative justice programs as options for diversion of juvenile offenders in jurisdictions statewide

1. Sentencing Reform and increased support for re-entry

   1. Repeal the Death Penalty

   2. Support higher education opportunities for prisoners

   3. Develop a program for earned release based on a sentence review board

   4. End the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for juveniles

   5. Reform Three Strikes law

2. Gun Violence

   1. Explore avenues to address gun violence such as resolving victim-offender tensions, gun control, and influences on gang dynamics

3. Drug Law Reform

   1. Educate legislators and public about racial disparities in arrests and prosecution

   2. Legalize marijuana, treating its abuse as a public health issue. I-502 has passed, with support from FCWPP.

4. Voting Rights

   1. Update wording on voter registration forms to match the voting rights restoration law

Equality and Economic Justice, including Health Care

Goals:

1. Protect the safety net for economically or physically challenged state residents, permitting them to be healthier contributors to their communities

2. Prevent levels of disparity in wealth and opportunity that lead to social dysfunction and increased criminal activity

3. Create and maintainprograms, systems, and institutions required to keep people in good physical health

Objectives:

1. Support increased access to health care by expanding Medicaid to restore coverage formerly provided through Basic Health Plan and Disability Lifeline

2. Maintain or increase support for women’s health and family planning

3. Protect remaining social safety net, seeking opportunities to repair that net

   1. Oppose any reduction of Basic Health Plan benefits and Disability Lifeline support, documenting the costs of not maintaining these programs

   2. Reinstate eliminated programs needed to support neighbors whose challenges have not been eliminated

4. Tax reform: Reform the state tax structure to be more equitable and create revenue needed to restore and retain basic services such as education, health care, and the support needed by those we label disabled

   1. Continue active work as part of the revenue coalition: Our Economic Future

   2. Support efforts to close special interest tax loopholes and regularly review such targeted benefits

   3. Support taxing incomes in excess of $200,000/year/individual and $400,000/year/couple

5. Marriage Equality: R-74 has been approved, with support from FCWPP.

Local Responses to Global Challenges

Goals:

1. Maintain the environmental balance that supports the needs of all living creatures while also protecting public health and providing an improved quality of life

2. Ensure an improved economic future by not wasting or compromising our environmental resources

3. Provide local control over state assets to increase state resources

Objectives:

1. Preserve and enhance environmental protections

2. Oppose ports for the transmission of coal

3. Advocate energy generation methods with the least impact on the environment

4. Establish a State Financial Institution

5. Develop and guarantee multimodal options for transportation

Support Peace

Goals: Support Quaker Testimonies for Peace

Objectives

1. Oppose amount of increase in national military budget to help support human needs in the state