FCWPP Public Policy Agenda: 2012
This is a broad statement of FCWPPP’s goals and objectives. Specific action items will develop out of this agenda and will be communicated through action alerts as the legislative session progresses.
Criminal Justice
Criminal Justice Goals: i. Give priority to efforts to repair the harm suffered by victims over attempts to punish offenders. ii. Identify and address the causes of crime. iii. Replace costly incarceration through diversion, drug treatment, job training, and education whenever appropriate. iv. Redress the racial inequity of our current criminal justice system. v. Support offenders’ efforts to redeem themselves and reintegrate into society. Criminal Justice Objectives: i. Restorative Justice: Support increased use of Restorative Justice programs as options for diversion of juvenile offenders ii. Sentencing Reform and increased support for re-entry
- Maintain and expand earned early release and parole
- Retain funding for alcohol and drug dependency programs
- Repeal the Death Penalty
iii. Drug Law Reform
- Legalize and regulate marijuana use and cultivation, treating its abuse as a public health issue
iv. Voting Rights
- Protect and increase voting rights for ex-prisoners
Economic Justice, including Health Care and Marriage Equality
Economic Justice Goals: i. Maintain and protect the safety net for economically or physically challenged state residents, which benefits society by permitting individuals to be healthier contributors to their communities ii. Prevent levels of disparity in wealth and opportunity that lead to social dysfunction and increased criminal activity iii. Create and maintain programs, systems, and institutions required to keep people in good physical health Economic Justice Objectives: i. Health Care Public Option: Help implement federal health care reform to enhance access, maintain and improve quality while controlling costs, and support a Public Option for comprehensive delivery of quality Health Care at the lowest cost possible on the state level. ii. Increase state support for Family Planning iii. Social Safety Net: Protect and repair what is left of the social safety net and look for opportunities to repair that net
- Oppose any additional reduction of Basic Health Plan benefits or reductions of support provided through Disability Lifeline
- Reinstate programs still needed by our challenged neighbors
iv. 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
- Support efforts to close tax loopholes that do not benefit our state as a whole
v. Marriage Equality: Support marriage for same-sex couples
Local Responses to Global Challenges
Global Challenges Goals: i. Maintain the environmental balance that supports the needs of all living creatures while also protecting public health and providing an improved quality of life ii. Ensure an improved economic future by not wasting or compromising our environmental resources iii. Provide local control over state assets to increase state resources Global Challenges Objectives: i. Fulfill Clean Energy Initiative supporting jobs and economic development ii. Prevent attempts to weaken, delay, or roll back state environmental laws and programs that are critical for clean air, clean water, and healthy communities iii. Reduce the costs born by taxpayers, such as for regulation, to protect our environment iv. Establish a State Financial Institute v. Support Family Planning (see 2.b.ii, above) vi. Public Transit: Seek new revenue to restore and expand service
Support Peace
Peace Goals: Support Quaker Testimonies for Peace Peace Objectives i. Oppose funding of the expansion of the explosives handling wharf at the Kitsap/Bangor naval base ii. Prevent exploitation of the public investment in education to support military recruitment