Baldwin County DemocratsOur Guiding Principles
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- Increasing Economic Opportunities
- Investment in Small Businesses
- Quality Public Education
- Equal Rights for All Individuals
- Mobilizing Voter Participation
- Improving 21st Century Infrastructure
- Clean and Safe Environment for All
- Expansion of Medicaid
- Lowering Health Care Costs
- Criminal Justice Reform
Baldwin County DemocratsLocal Priorities
- Protect Baldwin’s environment and natural resources
- Smart development and infrastructure planning
- Support our small businesses and sole proprietors
- Ensure quality public education for every child in Baldwin County
- Protect the right for every eligible citizen to easily cast their ballot and vote without disenfranchisement
Don't Get Frustrated – Focus.
The issues that are crucial to you are areas that the Baldwin County Democrats are focused upon every day. We need you to organize with us and let our collective voices be heard!
Economy
The Baldwin County Democrats believe that our economy works best when it works for everyone. Increasing economic opportunity for our citizens means increasing the minimum wage to a living wage, eliminating the gender pay gap to ensure equal wages for women and minorities, eliminating the unfair grocery tax, and practicing fiscal responsibility so that we can grow our economy without growing our debt. We must also continue our investment in small businesses, which are the backbone of the Baldwin County economy.
Education
A quality public education system is the cornerstone of societal improvement and the foundation for our future. The Baldwin County Democrats believe we must relentlessly strive to attain a system that offers teachers the wages they deserve, invests in our children through improved technology and innovative classroom methods, and makes certain that every child learns in a classroom that is modern and in facilities that are safe and comfortable.
Equality
Every citizen, no matter their race, gender, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, is entitled to equal treatment before the law. This means paying women equal wages with men, not discriminating against LGBTQ or transgender individuals, and ensuring our lawmakers are held accountable for their votes against these principles. The Baldwin County Democrats are dedicated to protecting the rights of all individuals.
Voting Rights
The Baldwin County Democrats strongly believe that every citizen’s vote should be heard at the ballot box. We support many ways to improve voter participation, including no-excuses absentee voting, curbside voting for the elderly and disabled, and easing burdensome restrictions on voter ID aimed at limiting minority voting participation. We wish to see the Voting Rights Act re-established, not weakened or diluted. And, we strongly support the fair and independent drawing of legislative districts and the elimination of partisan or racial gerrymandering for fair elections.
Infrastructure
Improving infrastructure means more than fixing the roads we drive upon. It also includes expanding and maintaining reliable, cost-efficient public transportation options, addressing the repair of hundreds of structurally deficient bridges across the county and state, and expanding affordable broadband access to every citizen in rural and underserved locations. These investments will help ensure that small business and citizens can utilize the tools and technology to compete in the modern workforce, improve communication, and capture innovative ways to increase economic development.
Environment
The Baldwin County Democrats are committed to a clean and safe environment for all citizens to enjoy. We recognize the complex problems of our era require government to properly oversee the preservation and protection of our natural resources, including our precious watersheds, Mobile Bay, the Gulf Coast, and our inland farm fields. As the fastest growing county in the state, we are keenly aware that taking care of our environment must be at the forefront of local, state, and national policy or we risk overdeveloping our lands and leaving countless environmental problems to current and future generations of Alabamians.
Healthcare
The Baldwin County Democrats strongly endorse the expansion of Medicaid to ensure that affordable and accessible healthcare is available to everyone regardless of income level. Nearly one out of every five dollars in the United States is spent on healthcare. Leaving people uninsured or underinsured is more than just a moral issue; it has a significant negative impact on our economy as a whole. Expanding Medicaid would cover nearly 300,000 Alabamians, save rural hospitals from closing, and add tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in the healthcare sector. Medicaid expansion is an investment, not an expense. With the federal reimbursement over the next two years slated to be 100%, we must not fail to act at this critical juncture.
Criminal Justice Reform
Alabama is in desperate need of reform within our criminal justice system. Our penal system is overcrowded and conditions of many prisons do not meet constitutional requirements. We believe strongly that Alabama should not invest in private prisons, which profit from incarceration and promote filling our jails rather than finding positive ways to rehabilitate those with minor offenses. The BCD supports programs that focus on improving recidivism and believes that petty drug offenses should be removed from criminal records so that former offenders can reestablish themselves in society and improve their chances at a quality life that contributes positively to their communities.
“What a privilege to be here on
the planet to contribute your unique
donation to humankind.”
MORRIS DEES
ALABAMIAN AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER
