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State Party Platform

INTRODUCTION

The Independence Party of Florida wants their platform to be meaningful and effective. This is achieved in three ways.

  1. The platform is adopted by the Independence Party of Florida State Convention, the largest and most representative body of the party.
  2. No plank is adopted with less than a 60% vote. Planks receiving between 61% and 74% of the votes are called " SUPPORTING PLANKS " and those receiving 75% or higher are called " CORNERSTONE PLANKS ".
  3. Each Independence Party of Florida candidate, as a condition of endorsement, agrees to support a majority or more of the Supporting planks and 75% or more of the Cornerstone planks, and if elected, to give one's best efforts to enact those planks as appropriate to one's public office.

The high vote percentage required to adopt a platform plank helps to keep divisive issues off the party platform, leaving such matters to individual activism and conscience.  Binding candidates to a large portion of the platform helps assure Independence Party of Florida members that their platform will be an effective influence in public policy debate.  Members are also assured that party resources, which are contributed by all, are used only for candidates that support a good share of the Independence Party of Florida public policy views.  Candidates are not bound to the entire platform. This allows them to uphold their core convictions and constituent interests without endangering their Independence Party of Florida endorsement.  On non platform issues, Independence Party of Florida candidates are free to maintain positions as they choose, even positions opposite those of other Independence Party of Florida candidates.  This arrangement strikes a balance between candidate, constituent, and party, allowing Independence Party of Florida candidates to maintain personal integrity, constituent fidelity, and meaningful party bond.

OUR CURRENT PROPOSED PLATFORM

Fiscal responsibility

  1. Require Federal and State Government agencies, departments, and separately identified functions ( i.e. licenses, permits, water etc. ) in addition to government accounting, to provide detailed financial reports using generally accepted accounting principles ( GAAP ) used by private companies so that more citizens can understand government finances.
  2. Eliminate the special tax privileges that riddle the tax codes, close all loopholes.
  3. Evaluate and overhaul Florida's State and local government to improve efficiency and performance, reduce cost and taxes, and eliminate duplication, unjust projects and waste.
  4. Require Federal and State government to provide full funding for all mandates they force on lower levels of government.
  5. Restrict legislation exclusively to single subjects, to promote accountability and prevent favoritism.
  6. Include sunset clauses in legislation along with a statement of the law's original intent.
  7. Give Florida citizens the right to recall their elected officials for cause.
  8. Enforce the Tenth Amendment to reserve to the States and to the people those powers not delegated in the US. Constitution to the Federal government.
  9. Restrict taxing authority to elected boards, and remove taxing authority from appointed governments such as water agencies, sports authorities, port authorities and airport authorities.
  10. Require State and Local government to satisfy the needs of the tax paying public for roads, water, sewer, health, fire and law enforcement, infrastructure. Eliminate monies for other causes such as, ( partnership groups and joint ventures ), spend tax money only on infrastructure needs.
  11. Require State or County government to add a 25% surcharge per ticket sold for events held at public financed stadiums, arenas, ballparks, to help pay for the added debt to tax payers with monies collected staying in the local general fund.

Voting

  1. Set term limits for all elected officials, to include other offices not held by the current office holder. End the career politics, going from one office to the next. This will cut off special interest roll over and eliminate part time pension funds.
  2. Make all political parties have the same requirements for getting on the ballot.
  3. Reduce the requirements for State and local citizens initiative and referendums.
  4. Inspect voting precincts for access and cleanness. Eliminate precincts with fewer than 100 voters, relocate to next nearest precinct to cut down on cost of elections.
  5. Make every vote count, support a system that makes sure that all votes are counted before leaving the voting booth.
  6. Support uniform voting system for all of the State.
  7. Require a position on the ballot at every choice that says �none of the above� and if �none of the above wins�, no candidate is elected and a new election will be held, for that office.
  8. Require that no vote count will be reported until the whole state has been counted, except where local elections for local offices are held and the precincts are closed and all votes for that office have been counted.
  9. Require that all precinct workers understand the ballot, and that they ask each voter if they understand the ballot before going into the voting booth.

Campaigns and Financing

  1. Eliminate campaign funding by PACs, unions, trade associations and corporations.
  2. Every contribution to an individual or to a political party must come from the contributing individuals directly to the candidate or party.
  3. Prevent the targeting of candidates in congressional elections by limiting campaign contributions from outside the district to 25%.
  4. Prohibit contributions to any political candidate or party, from any group, organization, corporation or institution which receives subsidies of any kind from State or Federal taxpayers monies, or to which its members are required to belong in order to keep their employment.
  5. Require unions to obtain permission form each member before using any portion of his or her dues for a political campaign activity.

Education

  1. Reduce the percentage of funds consumed by administration.
  2. Implement a uniform modular building blueprint for construction of all schools. Eliminate costly reproduction of blue prints for better communities, better schools.
  3. Eliminate forced school bussing for forced desegregation.

Criminal Justice

  1. Forbid criminals from suing or collecting damages from citizens or business for injuries during a criminal act, including injuries resulting from a victim's attempts at self defense.
  2. Encourage State and Local law makers to implement a system that will place the burden of cost on the criminal for justice served, not on the victims, or on the public.

Health

  1. Make individual medical insurance premiums and out of pocket medical costs deductible in computing income taxes.
  2. Enact a Health Care Bill of Rights to provide basic health care to all Florida residents, and to protect the rights of citizens to freely exercise self interest in choosing health care.
  3. Allow consumers access to alternative health care treatments.

Social Welfare

  1. Maintain a social safety net based on the goal of self sufficiency and self responsibility.
  2. Advance the personal success of people with disabilities through independent living and an opportunity for gainful employment.

Business and Economic Development
(includes Trade and Transportation)

  1. Pursue balanced trade programs that promote the economic interest and welfare of all our citizens and safeguard our national security.
  2. Support efficient, economical, handicapped accessible mass transit systems in urban areas.
  3. Promote a higher national saving rate, in order to lower interest rates and accelerate economic growth.
  4. Allow workers the right to organize democratically, bargain collectively and strike peacefully.
  5. Forbid corporate welfare through public funding of professional sports stadiums and other commercial enterprises.

Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

  1. Protect our environmental heritage by supporting the conservation of natural resources.
  2. Rigorously enforce anti trust laws to preserve the free markets for agricultural products.
  3. Ensure that farmers have access to open competitive markets to accurately determine the value of their products.
  4. Support continuous, measurable and sustained improvements of environmental quality.
  5. Support incentives for the research and development of new manufacturing processes, practices, materials and products that avoid, reduce, restrict or control pollution.
  6. Reject the use of agricultural products as a diplomatic weapon.

And Lest We Forget

We call for America to honor its commitments, promises and its obligations to our VETERANS.

GETTING INVOLVED

These platform planks are a continuous effort to bring about the needed change in our political landscape, from Local and State to the National level.

By looking at these planks, you are showing an interest in this needed change.

Get involved, join in this effort by writing what you feel is needed change to a policy, law, rule, or anything that has a profound effect on the way our Government is currently being operated, You must be a member of The Independence Party of Florida to help make change. Go to the Join Form and please fill out the complete form and send it to me. I will send your information to your county party chapter, and you and I together with others who share the idea that we can make a difference, can and will make the needed change we seek.

Together for better Government!
Peter Allen
Chairman,
Independence Party of Florida