The Platform of the California Young Democrats

Ratified by the CYD State Leadership Committee in Visalia, CA on August 19, 2023
CYD President Giovanni Chavez  |  CYD Platform Committee Chair Rachel Bracker

Preamble

We, the California Young Democrats, will fight for the rights of all Californians and against authoritarianism, unchecked corporate greed, and oppression.

Economic Justice and Opportunity for All

Young people have inherited an economy where even surviving is a challenge. We support policies that empower workers, invest in our wellbeing, and promote a sustainable planet.

Support workers and families

• Expand labor protections and meaningfully support workers, including increasing the minimum wage to a living wage
• Enshrine the worker’s right to organize unions and restrict the ability of employers to interfere with unionization efforts
• Support strikers by expanding unemployment qualifications and by ensuring public safety measures protect strikers’ physical safety and comfort
• Increase paid leave opportunities and access to affordable childcare
• Fight to end housing and food insecurity by expanding affordable housing availability, access to free meal programs, and CalFresh eligibility
• Support labor organizing efforts by loosening restrictions on strikes and boycotts and by increasing penalties for employer labor violations

Invest in education

• Increase Pre-K-12 spending by viewing Prop 98’s requirements on educational spending as a floor, not a ceiling
• Eliminate interest on student loans, eliminate student debt, and reduce the cost of tuition, with the ultimate goal of tuition-free public education and trade/vocational training
• Secure sustainable, dedicated funding streams for higher education
• Increase the number of teachers by reducing barriers to obtain credentials
• Improve teacher retention by funding training programs, increasing allowances for classroom expenses, and reducing class sizes
• Promote equitable payment in our education system by decreasing the pay gap between administrators and non-tenured educators, postdocs, grad students, school aides, adjunct professors, and non-academic, non-administrative staff
• Protect the labor rights of all academic workers — including international students and postdocs — to engage in activism, protest, organize, unionize, strike, and report misconduct or adverse workplace conditions
• Support programs to expand internet access, such as free public wifi, subsidies for rural high-speed internet, and programs offering laptop and cell phone rental

Transition to a Green economy

• Expand subsidies and incentives for green jobs training, protect and support workers during transitions to green jobs, and fund state and federal programs that provide students with resources to explore green jobs and careers
• Incentivize and subsidize the research, development, and implementation of water recycling programs, programs to reduce agricultural water use and waste, and renewable energy solutions; and stop incentives and subsidies for nonrenewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels
• Eliminate government subsidies for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (often called factory farms) and support efforts to improve livestock production sustainability
• Support national efforts to expand organics recycling, as well as statewide efforts to increase the accessibility of organics recycling programs, especially for renters

Ensure our Government Serves Young People

Democracy is under attack in our country, and our government is under assault by corporate influence, bigotry, and growing right-wing extremism. We strive to build a government that serves young voices.

Uphold a free, fair, and representative democracy

• Protect elections and electoral processes at the local, state, and national level, including independent, transparent redistricting processes at all levels of government
• Enfranchise more voters, such as by removing barriers to registration, increasing mail-in ballot access and ballot drop boxes, increasing polling locations at and around college campuses, increasing the languages that ballot materials are available in, and reducing poll wait times
• Reform municipal and statewide lobbying, through means such as enacting anti-corruption measures, increasing constituent access to politicians (including expanding seats), and empowering constituents to influence decision-making
• Support programs and initiatives that will better enable young people to serve as elected officials, such as fund-matching in local races
• Fight against political and electoral misinformation, including requirements for social media companies to be transparent regarding their content moderation standards
• Protect freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and free speech, including the ability of students and minors to criticize their schools or the state
• Work to overturn Citizens United and push for greater transparency and limits regarding campaign contributions and PACs, including donation disclosures

Expand civil and youth rights

• Pass the Equal Rights Amendment
• Repeal Proposition 209 and other barriers to enacting affirmative action
• Lower the voting age to 17 and expand efforts to engage young voters
• Include discrimination against youth in policies to combat ageism
• Require policymakers to collect and consider youth testimony when considering issues that disproportionately impact young people, such as education reform, healthcare privacy rights, and policy that impacts global boiling and the climate crisis
• Prohibit activity that infringes on minors’ right to self-determination, including the sentencing of minors as adults, LGBTQIA+ “conversion” camps, the “troubled teen” industry, and the marriage of minors
• Enshrine the privacy rights of LGBTQIA+ children and students to withhold information about their gender identity or sexual orientation from their parents or legal guardians
• Ensure access to gender-affirming healthcare, housing, education, jobs, and civic participation for trans and non-binary people

Provide us with resources to defend the environment

• Support the free speech rights of young people working to end global boiling and climate crisis
• Recognize that access to clean air and water are human rights and are important to the dignity and quality of life of all Californians, and that young people are disproportionately affected by pollution, global boiling, and the climate crisis
• Encourage elected officials at all levels of government to declare global boiling and the climate crisis as an emergency, to use the full extent of their powers to address this pressing crisis, and to join international efforts to combat global boiling and the climate crisis, such as the Kyoto Protocols
• Require educational programming on global boiling, the climate crisis and environmental literacy in all California Pre-K-14 schools, including the creation and promotion of resources for teachers to incorporate climate curriculum in class
• Advocate for the transition to 100% green energy by 2035

Solve our Housing Crisis

California’s deep-seated housing crisis can be solved through policy changes that will improve the sustainability and affordability of our cities and towns. We support policy changes that will increase the amount of attainable housing, expand public transit use, and prioritize affordability.

Increase housing availability and affordability

• Build or repurpose housing to increase the amount of market-rate, affordable, and permanent supportive housing for all community members, and take measures to accelerate the availability of transitional housing for unsheltered individuals
• Reform CEQA so that it is may only be used to protect wildlife, not suburbanization and other environmentally hazardous uses of land
• Support policies that prioritize urbanization in transit-oriented communities, especially over policies that subsidize the existence of suburbs and exurbs in wildfire zones
• Accelerate housing creation by upzoning and cutting red tape, while integrating equity and anti-displacement measures
• Remove barriers to building any type of housing, such as through YIMBY policies that address supply side-incentives for private developers
• Thoughtfully amend building codes to increase density, promote infill development, and improve access to light and green space in multi-family, family first, and intergenerational homes
• Increase the availability of student housing in proportion to acceptance rates, promote housing in and around college campuses, ensure all student housing is habitable, promote rent stabilization for student housing, and increase tenant rights for students

Build communities that serve all people, not cars

• Strive to provide residents with access to shops, schools, jobs, parks, entertainment, and healthcare within a 15-minute radius by foot or bike
• Support the development of pedestrian-only commercial streets and protected bike lanes
• Rapidly increase public transit use by building Bus Rapid Transit lanes, comfortable bus stops, convenient rail and subway options, and statewide High Speed Rail; and by discouraging the expansion of private transit through subsidies and car lane expansion
• Ensure transportation is a safe option for all riders through community safety initiatives that integrate healthcare workers, behavioral specialists, social workers, and housing providers
• Prioritize public transit over private transit in all spending requests and allocations
• Encourage pilot and permanent programs for “fare-free” transit, especially for students and other young people
• Stand against environmental racism that undermines the physical, economic, and mental health of communities of color though the placement of freeways, landfills, oil wells, and other environmental hazards
• Push agencies to work with local institutions to develop job training programs to build and maintain public transit systems and support collective bargaining for these workers
• Support embedding climate resilience measures in all forms of urban planning to protect our communities
• Create pocket forests in schools and municipalities through funding and zoning changes, prioritizing grants to build them in socio-economically disadvantaged communities and areas with little access to green space

Prioritize people over profit

• Support a universal tenant bill of rights that includes a right to organize a tenants union and a universal right to free counsel in housing court
• Protect renters’ right to a safe and habitable living environment with stable rent, access to legal help when needed, and protection from discrimination and unjust evictions
• Create a statewide Social Housing program that benefits renters and first-time buyers
• Reduce property purchases that do not increase housing stock overall, such as by penalizing the predatory purchase of homes with the purpose of converting them into investment properties, or conversions for new developments that do not increase the availability of housing near jobs and transit
• Reduce the financial impact of Prop 13 on the state budget, such as by excluding corporations from Prop 13’s tax benefits
• Reduce and stabilize the cost of electricity, such as by investing in renewable energy sources, increasing regulatory transparency, increasing public ownership, and supporting smart grid technology
• Support progressive taxation, wealth taxes, and vacancy taxes on commercial and residential properties

Build Safe and Healthy Communities

When basic necessities for a healthy life are out of reach, we have failed to build a just society. We support policies that prioritize health, safety, and the well-being of all Californians.

Promote healthcare access and equity

• Expand insurance affordability and access, such as through the national or statewide creation of a single-payer healthcare system, the addition of a public option, increased outreach to underinsured communities, and cultural competency training
• Ensure Californians with limited English proficiency are being served equally by increasing the availability of clinics and healthcare workers with bilingual proficiency
• Reduce the cost of completing degrees, training programs, and certification for healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and therapists
• Comprehensively support reproductive rights and justice, including affordable and convenient access to services such as abortion, birth control, and sexual health education
• Mandate the inclusion of dental, vision, and hearing in health insurance, including spending allowances for glasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids
• Fund programs to address misogyny, racism, transphobia, and other biases in healthcare, such as by correcting underrepresentation in published research, racial disparities in health outcomes, and the ability of marginalized groups to access healthcare professionals who share their background
• Ensure underserved and rural areas can access healthcare, including efforts to prevent the closure of healthcare facilities

Improve public safety equity

• Fund community and nonprofit programs that improve the security of spaces serving marginalized communities
• Promote restorative justice, economic assistance, and social programs that reduce crime
• Support the collection and reporting of hate crimes and incidents in order to more effectively promote education and outreach initiatives to protect minority groups
• Remove barriers to collecting and analyzing data on gun violence
• Support efforts to end intimate partner violence, including the funding of educational initiatives and expansion of protections for victims and survivors
• Reduce crime though smart urban planning, such as improved sidewalk lighting and housing with street-facing recreational space
• Support expanding unarmed, holistic public safety and mental health responses

Increase access to nutritious food

• Increase funding and access for grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and other sources of fresh produce in food deserts, as well as programs that encourage the purchase of local produce like CalFresh Market Match program
• Incentivize the creation and funding of urban farms and co-ops, free seed programs, and other efforts to make growing food more accessible for all
• Make free school meal programs more accessible by ending means-testing and encouraging schools to serve food that reflects their students’ culinary traditions
• Provide accessible, culturally-competent nutritional education programs and resources to uplift communities and areas experiencing health disparities related to nutrition
• Support urban planning and public services that are aligned with environmental justice principles by increasing the accessibility of food without using cars

Support Disenfranchised Communities

No matter who you are, where you come from, or who you love, your rights matter. We will work to uplift and represent all communities.

Stand against hate

• Respond to hate incidents in a timely, specific, and direct fashion — and hold elected officials and community leaders accountable for doing the same
• Engage with community leaders to ensure we support efforts that uplift Black, Latine, Indigenous, Asian, Jewish, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and other vulnerable communities
• Require Democratic Party spaces to provide anti-harassment training and enforce codes of conduct, and to meaningfully incorporate antisemitism education within the party’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility efforts and anti-bias initiatives
• Require social media companies to be transparent about their moderation criteria for hate speech
• Invest in multi-lingual anti-hate and anti-racism education and bystander trainings to serve communities with members who are not fluent in English, so that they are also equipped with knowledge and information to stand against hate
• Require the Democratic Party to increase the diversity of its staff to be representative of the state of California

Support Indigenous rights

• Acknowledge we stand on stolen, unceded land and commit to supporting equitable restorative justice with our tribes through voluntary land taxes, land back, and more
• Invest in efforts to preserve languages, record histories, and promote revitalization among Indigenous peoples
• Oppose language that erases or promotes harmful stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, as well as attempts to deny or distort the genocide of indigenous peoples by the United States and California
• Promote efforts to ensure public works and education do not glorify the genocide of indigenous peoples, e.g. curriculum standards, place names, etc.
• Support efforts to end the epidemic of violence against indigenous women — commonly referred to as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

Welcome immigrants and asylum seekers

• Provide undocumented immigrants with access to government benefits and end public charge inadmissibility
• Ensure all government documents and benefits for immigrants and migrants are in multiple languages
• Ensure the safety of immigrant communities by ending state and municipal cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Increase the number of immigrants and asylum seekers granted green cards annually and reduce wait times for green card holders to become citizens
• Protect the rights of immigrants to earn a living free from exploitation due to their immigration status
• Hold immigration workers accountable for abuses of power and promote measures to protect the safety and wellbeing of those who have, or are trying, to immigrate to the U.S.
• Oppose trafficking of migrants and provide support for victims of trafficking