DC Statehood Greens announce the party's 2007-2008 legislative agenda
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
Monday, March 19, 2007
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty@greens.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The DC Statehood Green Party has introduced its 2007-2008 legislative agenda,
with a range of positions on health care, education, housing, taxation and budget,
democracy and statehood for the District of Columbia, and many other issues.
The text of the legislative agenda is on line, on the party's home page
<http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org>
under 'Testimony.'
"The DC Statehood Green legislative agenda, along with our party platform, express what our party
stands for. It's a guide for Statehood Green candidates for public office, and for party
activists involved in local issues," said David Schwartzman, coordinator of the Statehood Green
Party's Tax and Budget and Legislative Agenda Committees.
The DC Statehood Green Party has two candidates running in the May 1 special election: Renee
Bowser, for the Ward 4 seat on D.C. Council <http://www.reneebowser.com/ward4.php>,
and Mai Abdul-Rahman, for the District 2 (Wards 3 and 4) seat on the D.C. Board of Education. Statehood
Greens now call themselves D.C.'s 'second party,' since the DC Statehood Green Party has replaced
the Republican Party in terms of electoral participation and numbers of votes received
by candidates.
The legislative agenda address the District's budget, and urges adoption of the Fair Budget
Coalition's budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2008. On March 23, Mayor Adrian Fenty will
announce his 2008 budget, and Statehood Greens are urging the Mayor and Council to address
economic inequality and injustice in the District:
"Any budget surplus should go to better meet essential needs of D.C. residents, especially of
our youth.... Because of continuing under-funding of federal assistance to all states and the
District of Columbia and chronic under-funding of essential programs, especially since the Control
Board regime, the District government must rely on its own tax base to
better meet essential needs of its residents. This will require modest
tax increases for wealthy residents, elimination of corporate welfare including closure of
loopholes, thereby insuring a sustainable revenue stream for the future as well as a
fair tax burden. The District does have the tax base to improve the quality of life for all its
residents. The District now has the highest income inequality and the lowest life expectancy
in the nation."
The agenda emphasize the party's leadership in the movement for democracy and statehood for the
District of Columbia, with support for a local legal holiday on October 1 to rally residents
behind statehood and self-determination. The party endorses the agenda of Save our Schools
<http://www.saveourschoolsdc.org/index.html>,
which opposes Mayor Fenty's plan to strip the D.C. Board of Education of its powers.
The Statehood Green legislative agenda also recommend several new initiatives, including the
following:
-
free wireless Internet service and a program for digital empowerment for D.C. residents
-
movement towards a plan to guarantee health care for everyone in D.C.
-
a 'Congestion Charge' to reduce air pollution and congestion while providing revenue to expand
public transportation; enactment of California-style tailpipe emission standards for
all new cars registered in D.C. ('D.C. Clean Cars Program' <http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org>)
-
a comprehensive plan for 'greening the District,' by retrofitting photovoltaics, solar
heating and cooling, green roofs on existing infrastructure, promoting water harvesting,
thereby generating 21st century employment for District residents,
reducing air and water pollution
-
'sunshine' laws to increase transparency in D.C.'s budgetary process and real property tax
assessment (already passed by D.C. voters in Initiative 51)
-
measures to correct flaws in the reporting and
administration of elections in the 2006 election
-
a raise in the minimum wage to $8.00 per hour,
including tipped wage earners, with a annual adjustment for cost of living
MORE INFORMATION
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org