2008 Texas Democratic Party Platform
Beliefs Shaped by Democratic Values

“We have a vision of a Texas where opportunity knows no race, no gender, no color - a
glimpse of what can happen in government if we simply open the doors and let the people in.”
Governor Ann Richards, Inaugural address, 1991

Texas Democrats believe government can be as good as the people. We have faith that democracy,
built on the sacred values of family, freedom and fairness, can afford every Texan, without
exception, the opportunity to achieve their God-given potential.
We believe democratic government exists to achieve as a community, state, and nation what we
cannot achieve as individuals; and that it must not serve only a powerful few.
We believe every Texan has inalienable rights that even a majority may not take away
…the right to vote
…the right to fair and open participation and representation in the democratic process
…the right to privacy.
We believe in freedom
…from government interference in our private lives and personal decisions
…to exercise civil and human rights
…of religion and individual conscience.
We believe in equal opportunity for all Texans
…to receive a quality public education, from childhood through college
…to have access to affordable health care
…to find a good job with dignity
…to buy or rent a good home in a safe community
…to breathe clean air and drink clean water.
We believe a growing economy should benefit all Texans
…that the people who work in a business are as important as those who invest in it
…that every person should be paid a living wage
…that no person who works full time should be paid a wage below the poverty level
…that good business offers a fair deal for customers
…that the burden of taxes should be fairly distributed
…that government policy should not favor corporations that seek offshore tax shelters, exploit
workers, or pollute our environment
We believe that our lives, homes, communities and country are made secure
…by cooperative efforts of involved citizens, law enforcement, and emergency personnel
…by retirement and pension security
…by encouraging job security where it is possible and providing appropriate assistance and retraining
when it is not
…by the preservation of our precious natural resources and quality of life
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…by compassionate policy that offers a safety net for those most vulnerable and in need.
We believe America is made stronger by the men and women who put their lives on the line when it
is necessary to engage our military to secure our nation.
We believe America is made more secure by competent diplomatic leadership that uses the moral,
ethical, economic assets of a powerful, free nation to avoid unnecessary military conflict.
We believe in the benefits derived from the individual strengths of our diverse population. We
honor “family values” through policies that value all our families.
We believe an honest, ethical state government that serves the public interest, and not the special
interests, will help all Texans realize economic and personal security.
We believe many challenges require national solutions, but talented and resourceful Texans, blessed
with economic opportunities provided by agriculture, “old” and “new” energy sources, renowned
medical and research institutions and high tech industries, should not need federal action to make
progress in providing quality education, affordable health care, a clean environment, economic
growth and good jobs.
Based on our belief in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we
recommend specific policy goals to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and
our posterity.

Putting Beliefs and Values into Action
Texas Democrats base public policy priorities on values that guide our daily lives. Good
government addresses the priorities of the people and solves problems.

EDUCATION
Texas Democrats believe quality public education is essential to American democracy and
economic opportunity, recognizing that a free public education provides all Texans a
real opportunity to achieve their potential. All children should be able to attend a safe, secure school
and have access to an exemplary educational program that meets their needs and abilities.
All school districts must be adequately and 100% equitably funded. All Texans should have access
to affordable, quality higher education and career education programs.

PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING
Texas must have a world class education system to provide our children the skills to compete in a
global economy. The Texas Constitution provides for free public schools. Most Texans support our
public schools, yet Republicans want to siphon off limited public education funds for inequitable,
unaccountable voucher and privatization schemes.
Texas Democrats believe improving public education is more than a constitutional obligation - it is
a moral imperative and an economic necessity. To fulfill this commitment, Texas Democrats
continue leading the fight to improve student achievement, lower dropout rates, maintain or extend
22-1 class size limits, expand access to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs, attract and
retain well-qualified teachers and increase funding for public education.
Texas Democrats believe:
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• the state should establish a 100% equitable school finance system with sufficient state
revenue to allow every district to offer an exemplary program;
• the state should equitably reduce reliance on "Robin Hood" recapture and fully reflect in
state funding formulas all student and district cost differences and the impact of inflation
and state mandates; and
• the federal government should fully fund all federal education mandates and should reform
and fully fund No Child Left Behind.
Republicans have cut or frozen education funding every session they have controlled the Texas
Legislature. In 2003, $3 billion was cut from public education and has never been restored. The
2006 Republican school funding plan has frozen limited per pupil funding to that year’s levels,
leaving local districts faced with increasing costs for fuel, utilities, insurance and personnel with
little new state money. To make matters worse, that same plan placed stringent limits on local
ability to make up for the state's failures.

EDUCATIONAL QUALITY
To make public education our highest priority, we believe the state should:
• provide universal access to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten;
• provide every student free, accurate and updated instructional materials and free computer
and internet access;
• provide early intervention programs to help every child read at or above grade level;
• make dropout prevention and recovery a priority for each district;
• provide sufficient resources for special needs students to learn to the maximum of their
ability in the least restrictive environment;
• provide appropriate vocational education programs;
• provide multi-language instruction, beginning in elementary school, to make all students
fluent in English and at least one other language;
• reject efforts to destroy bilingual education;
• replace high stakes standardized tests that punish students and schools with a more
comprehensive and positive student assessment system;
• enforce and extend class size limits to allow every student to receive the individualized
attention necessary to do his or her best;
• reduce excessive emphasis on funding for athletics at the expense of academics, arts, music
and other extracurricular activities;
• develop alternative methods of testing youth who are severely handicapped or who are
otherwise educationally disadvantaged;
• support Title IX protections for gender equity in public education institutions;
• ensure that students are not excluded from participation in school sports because their family
lacks medical insurance;
• stop extremists from controlling or censoring curriculum and textbooks;
• ensure that every school has a fully funded library that meets state requirements;
• provide environmental education programs for children and adults; and
• oppose private school vouchers.

TEACHER QUALITY
The most important factor in student success is having qualified teachers in our classrooms. Texas
has a serious teacher shortage. Teacher pay and benefits are not competitive with private sector pay
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for people with comparable knowledge and skills. To recruit and retain our best to teach, Texas
Democrats advocate the following:
• raise teacher and support staff pay to levels exceeding the national average;
• extend quality state funded health insurance to all education employees;
• respect and safeguard the rights and benefits of education employees;
• guarantee that every class has a teacher certified to teach that subject;
• recruit and train teachers who reflect the state’s diversity;
• fund a mentor program for every novice teacher;
• fight Republican plans that undercut collaborative efforts needed to help all students excel
by linking pay to student scores on standardized tests; and
• repeal the federal government pension offset and windfall elimination provisions that
unfairly reduce Social Security benefits for educational retirees; and
• provide tuition credits and financial assistance for college students who become certified
public school teachers and teach for a specified period of time in public schools.

SAFE SCHOOLS/QUALITY ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SETTINGS
Texas Democrats believe students, teachers and other school personnel should be safe from acts of
violence. School campuses and functions must be weapon-free and drug-free. We support swift and
fair enforcement of disciplinary standards. Teachers deserve support when they exercise their right
to remove a disruptive student from class.
Students referred to disciplinary alternative education programs should continue to receive strong
academic instruction. When a student's misconduct is serious enough to warrant disciplinary
placement, the state should make sure that the disciplinary setting - whether a school district's own
disciplinary alternative program or a county's juvenile-justice alternative education program - offers
a full array of educational and social/behavioral services to help that student get back on track.
School districts should be discouraged from placing students in disciplinary alternative education
programs indiscriminately for trivial misconduct.
We support the Dignity for All Students Act to guarantee safety for all students.

HIGHER EDUCATION AND ADULT EDUCATION
Texas Democrats believe all Texans should have the opportunity and be encouraged to pursue
affordable higher education at public universities, community colleges, and technical schools. Since
2003, designated tuition at our state campuses has increased an average of 112% due to Republican
tuition deregulation policies, and when other costs are included, the full cost of attending UT-Austin
is over $100,000 for four years. These rising costs, coupled with budget cuts that were never fully
restored, force many students from middle income families to take on substantial debt to avoid
being priced out of college. Tuition policies threaten our ability to meet state "Closing the Gaps"
goals essential to our economic future. To offer affordable access to higher education, we support:
• full restoration of 2003 budget cuts, adjusted for inflation and student growth;
• legislative rollback of tuition and fees to affordable levels;
• full federal income tax deductibility for college tuition;
• full funding of TEXAS Grants and reopening the state Prepaid Tuition Program to provide
higher education to more Texans without excessive debt burden;
• a guaranteed tuition-free two years of public college or technical education for all who
complete high school, and additional scholarship aid for military veterans;
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• legislation to reduce the inordinately high costs of college textbooks, technical manuals and
other instructional materials;
• adequate compensation, security, professional status, and benefits for all faculty;
• upgrading campus infrastructure and providing fair market value wages for college
employees through state and/or federal funding, not through tuition increases;
• higher education research funding to spur economic development;
• collaborative public/higher education partnerships from pre-K-16 to enhance learning and
teacher preparation;
• enhanced, equitable funding for Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern University and for
higher education in South Texas and all border communities;
• sufficient funding to locate a Tier 1 research and teaching university in every region of the
state; and
• efforts to place a voting student regent on the appointed governing board of each statesupported
four-year institution of higher education.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Democrats recognize and support the essential role of Texas community colleges, where the
majority of Texas higher education students are enrolled. By combining affordability, high quality
and responsiveness to community needs, these institutions provide an education to those who would
be otherwise excluded.
Republicans have drastically reduced funding for community colleges. Funding per student contact
hour is still almost 10% below 2002-03 and is less in actual dollars than it was ten years
ago. That burden has been shifted onto students, their families and property taxpayers. A 37%
funding increase would be needed to restore Republican cuts and return to the 1998 state funding
level, when adjusted for inflation.. And now, the Governor and Republican politicians want to
shift hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs for employees' group insurance onto
students and local property taxpayers next year. To maintain community colleges’ role in providing
lifelong education, we endorse:
• full formula funding of the cost of instruction;
• restoration of fully state-funded full time employee group health insurance and proportional
health benefits for adjunct instructors;
• creating federally approved student loans that have an interest rate no greater than 2% and
no less than 1% for the life of the loan;
• funding for new campuses and program expansions, especially in critical need programs,
sufficient to meet Closing the Gaps goals;
• rolling back tuition and fees that have increased 50% under Republican control;
• sufficient financial aid to over 150,000 community college students who are eligible for
grant assistance but receive none because state funding is inadequate; and
• elimination of financial aid rules that penalize students who transfer to universities from
community colleges.
To prevent further erosion of community colleges’ ability to serve their communities, Texas
Democrats oppose:
• proposals for "proportionality" that would shift group insurance costs onto students and
property taxpayers;
• shifting the basis of formula funding away from actual costs; and
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• "incentive" programs that would discriminate against colleges and programs serving
disadvantaged and non-traditional students or against non-degree skill-building and
retraining programs.

DIVERSITY
Texas Democrats support innovative approaches to ensure diversity in every Texas institution of
higher education. We condemn intolerance on Texas campuses and encourage universities to
develop and offer culturally diverse curricula, student activities, and student recruitment policies
that promote understanding, respect and acceptance.
Economic Security: Good Jobs in a Challenging Economy
Our economic security depends on developing the full potential of entrepreneurs and workers to
create a prosperous economy and a good quality of life for all Texans. Small businesses are the
innovative, job-creating engines of our economy and need to be nurtured. Jobs should offer dignity
and a decent living instead of a lifetime shadowed by insecurity or poverty.
Texans, like all Americans, are now facing an economic crisis. Under “cheap labor Republicans,”
government failed its basic responsibility to foster sustained full employment with reasonably stable
prices. Instead, recession was followed by a weak recovery and now, another recession. Absent an
industrial recovery or a full recovery in information technology, economic growth was primarily
maintained by financial tricks in the housing sector, government and military spending and tax cuts
that mostly benefit those who needed them least.
We believe “percolate up” works much better than “trickle down.” Republican policies that cut
essential services and investments in our future reward only the wealthiest Americans with tax cuts
and threaten massive financial hardships in the future. We recognize the importance of temporary
deficits in overcoming recessions, but the growing national debt and trade imbalance caused by
failed Republican economic policy endanger our way of life and our national security. Our children
and grandchildren should not be responsible for these economic failures.
We understand that economic policy must solve problems -- for our people, our country and our
planet. People need good jobs that support their families and offer security for the future. Our
country needs to fulfill its historical role as a leader in technology and industry. Our planet faces
challenges, from infrastructure shortfalls to energy shortages to global warming, whose solutions
will require a concerted long term effort. Democrats must lead our country in the right direction.
We further address economic policy in the sections of this platform related to Energy, Housing,

Transportation and the Environment.
To Strengthen Small Business, we believe state policy should foster entrepreneurship and the
independent initiative of small businesses to enlist Texas workers in creating new goods and
services. The new Republican "margins tax," which is effectively a small business income tax,
burdens small businesses unfairly at the very time the Republican recession has left many struggling
to survive. We believe:
• the tax policies of the current Republican regime that unfairly favor big business at the
expense of small businesses must be reversed;
• raising productivity by applying information technology should be a state priority;
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• the state should support research and development of environmentally sound alternative
energy systems that create markets and jobs and help achieve energy independence; and
• public policy initiatives should be adopted to make it affordable for small businesses to
provide health insurance for their employees.
To Improve Wages and Working Conditions, we believe the minimum wage must be increased
meaningfully to restore lost purchasing power and must be indexed to keep it from eroding again;
and that workers should be paid a living wage with provisions for health care benefits for their
families as well as their future retirement. We also believe:
• the state must enforce the law Texas Democrats enacted in 2001 to require the state
minimum wage for farm workers to keep up with increases in the federal minimum wage;
• that rapid, thorough retraining of laid off workers and training to improve and update the
skills of workers seeking career advancement must be provided;
• workforce entrants must be equipped with the skills needed to participate in the economy
without being pitted against other workers in a drive for low wages;
• the guarantee of overtime pay, constantly under Republican assault, must be preserved;
• local wage standards in government contracts must be protected;
• workers have a right to a diverse and safe workplace, free from injury and exposure to
harmful materials, and meaningful sanctions must apply to employers who knowingly or
negligently expose workers to injury or death;
• workers and employers both benefit from a workers' compensation system that provides
affordable coverage for employers, meaningful compensation to injured workers, the right of
workers to choose their own doctor, incentives for employers to retain injured employees,
and due consideration for the rights of workers within the legal system;
• all employees, public and private, must have the right to organize, collect dues, designate
their income voluntarily to organizations and agencies of their choosing, and negotiate
collectively with their employers through representatives of their choice;
• the so-called Texas "right-to-work" law must be repealed;
• hiring of replacement workers for employees who are on strike should be banned;
• the democratic majority of employees in a workplace should be free to choose union
representation by signing cards authorizing a union to negotiate on their behalf, with
mediation and arbitration for first contract disputes and with penalties that serve as a true
deterrent for employers who violate employee organizing rights;
• the Employee Free Choice Act should become law;
• the right of unions to engage in political activity, free from partisan attempts to limit the
ability of unions to participate in the political process, must not be infringed;
• workers should be free from discriminatory employment practices and the Employment

Non-Discrimination Act should become law;
• the statewide job bank should be restored and U.S. Department of Labor data on the demand
for occupational training should be used;
• unemployment benefits should be extended and equally accessible for workers suffering
long-term job displacement, and the state’s unemployment insurance fund should be
bolstered;
• the state should establish a Department of Labor empowered to enforce state law concerning
the minimum wage, union representation of employees, fair labor practices, occupational
safety and health, and workers' compensation;
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• a state OSHA law should be enacted and strict enforcement and tougher penalties should be
enforced, and no person should be fired, lose seniority, be demoted, or suffer other reprisal
for refusing to work when a violation of OSHA regulations places his or her health, life, or
limb at risk;
• full bargaining rights should be extended to Veterans Administration health professionals,
the only category of VA employees excluded from bargaining; and
• in whistleblower protection.
To Make Government/Business Relationships Serve the Common Good, we believe companies
receiving government economic development subsidies must deliver the jobs they promise. We also
believe:
• competitive performance and accountability in state government are vital, but we oppose
wholesale privatization schemes;
• the effectiveness of privatized contractors should be monitored, and jobs should be restored
to the public sector when privatization fails to deliver promised advantages;
• the Legislature should ban "non-compete" contracts that place the financial interests of
private toll road operators over the interests of the public by requiring the state to pay
penalties, lower speed limits on freeways, or forego improvements on free roads and
highways considered to be in competition with toll roads;
• technology development programs serve as a catalyst for productive investment in scientific
research essential to our economic and national security in a competitive global economy,
led by a strong space program that features manned and unmanned space exploration
programs, like the current “Constellation Program,” which provides substantial benefits
through mission based research and development;
• the public should have equal opportunity to invest in any private ownership of publicly
financed facilities, including sports facilities;
• improper use of "no bid contracts" should be prohibited and fair bidding procedures must be
enforced to provide the best value for all government contracts for goods and services;
• regulation of banks, utilities, and insurance carriers must be improved and antitrust laws
must be aggressively enforced to ensure public faith in government-licensed and regulated
entities central to the success and stability of the economy;
• specific regulation of the banking industry and mortgage industry must be enacted to protect
the public from the kind of excesses experienced in the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and
emergency action must be taken to prevent those trapped by this crisis from losing their
homes;
• an outright ban should be enacted on insurance policies and scams, like those known as
"dead peasant" policies, that leverage state retirement funds into windfall profits for
Republicans and their corporate cronies; and
• copyright laws that provide for "fair use" of copyrighted material, including material used to
research issues of public interest, must be maintained.
To rebuild America’s infrastructure, public policy must support research, development, training,
and public facilities required to keep the American economy at the forefront of the world economy.
Texas Democrats support the renewal of America’s public infrastructure as essential to economic
and national security, which requires us to award funds and contracts to American companies that
use American workers who have a vested interest in the security and prosperity of our nation. For a
generation, America has neglected its public infrastructure: roads, bridges, railroads, ports, water
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and sewer systems, schools, parks and libraries are all inadequately funded. We support a federal
initiative to foster a sustained increase in public capital investment. We must not only increase
funding to maintain aging infrastructure, but also build new infrastructure that is designed and
constructed to be more reliable, last longer and have lower life cycle costs. By rebuilding America’s
infrastructure, we can improve the quality of life of our citizens; provide much-needed economic
stimulus; and underwrite long-term economic growth. We further support a new program of
General Revenue Sharing to buffer state and local government expenditures on investments and
essential services in times of economic weakness, a far more effective option than another shortterm,
tax-cut stimulus package.
To address the high cost of food and energy, we call on the Federal Trade Commission, the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department to investigate speculative
manipulation of the food, fuel and metals markets. We call on the federal government to change our
world food policies to reconstruct price-stabilizing food stockpiles, especially in regions of the
world where commodity price speculation has led to famine.
To foster fair global trade, we must end "cheap labor Republican" policies that out-source jobs
and encourage offshore tax shelters. Trade policy must combat child and slave labor, sweatshops,
environmental degradation and other practices that turn global trade into a race to the bottom. We
recognize the value of trade with our neighbor Mexico and the world. A reformed trade policy
should "level up" wages and working conditions by ensuring that foreign workers share in their
country's economic gains and become customers for American goods. But trade cannot be an excuse
for unemployment in America. Our foremost responsibility is to create good jobs for Americans.
American and Texas products and local markets should receive preference.

State Fiscal Policy
Texas Democrats believe tax and budget policy should serve the public interest and not special
interests. We believe the operation of government must be open and accountable and services must
be delivered efficiently and effectively to make the best use of revenue made available by the hard
work of taxpayers.
We believe strengthening the economic capacity of middle and working class families improves the
well-being of all Texans, including the wealthiest and the least wealthy among us. Unfortunately,
short-sighted state fiscal policy has shortchanged our quality of life. Texas ranks first in the
percentage of uninsured children, first in toxic and cancerous emissions and second in teenage
pregnancies, while we lag far behind in high-school graduation rates, consumer credit scores and
percentage of the population with health insurance.
Texas Democrats believe taxes should be fair, equitable and broad based. We believe that state tax
policy must recognize that small businesses create almost 80% of all new jobs in Texas. The
Republican tax bill of 2006, however, rewarded large, multi-national companies, Wall Street
investment firms, and favored industries like oil and gas companies with substantial tax breaks at
the expense of small independent business owners. The new “margins” tax is grossly unfair to
small business and must be substantially revised to prevent destroying them. It is overly
complicated and threatens the financial viability of small employers, which are often the only
employers in rural areas. Fortunately, Democratic legislators were able to defeat Republican efforts
to raise the Texas sales tax to the highest in the nation.
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Despite the fact that life and death conditions can arise for elderly, disabled and low-income
families without household heat and air conditioning, Republicans refused to appropriate over $500
million in fees collected monthly on Texans’ electric bills for the sole purpose of helping needy
individuals pay their utility bills. Similarly, more than $3 billion was collected from state park fees,
hunting and fishing licenses, environmental permits, and other surcharges such as 911 fees on
telephone bills, and that revenue is not being used for the purposes for which they were collected.
Instead, it’s being used to “balance” the state budget and help create an accounting “surplus.”
Although Republican politicians proclaim a $10 to $15 billion surplus next biennium, that “surplus”
includes $3 billion that has already been set aside to pay for property tax relief and almost $6 billion
set aside by the Texas Constitution for the so-called “Rainy Day Fund” to be used in times of
emergency. Yet despite this so-called “surplus,” they have ordered state agencies to trim as much
as 10% from future budget requests, a directive that could affect a Children’s Health Insurance
Program just beginning to recover from devastating 2003 budget cuts.
To restore sound state fiscal policy, Texas Democrats support:
• working with small and independent businesses to correct the punitive and misguided
Republican “margins tax” policy;
• extending property tax relief to renters, who pay for property taxes through their rent and
whose landlords received the full benefit of those reductions;
• meaningful and fair property tax relief targeted to homeowners by passing a constitutional
amendment to lift the $15,000 ceiling on the residential homestead exemption to allow
future legislatures to raise the exemption as necessary to keep pace with increases in
property appraisals;
• a constitutional amendment to prevent extending the sales tax to food and medicine and
efforts to prevent the imposition of a national sales tax.
• a requirement that state government spend taxes and fees for the specific purposes for which
they were collected.
• strict guidelines to require that procurement contracts with private entities and programs that
use tax dollars to provide financial incentives to business must target, whenever possible,
such contracts and incentives toward small businesses, with a prohibition of such awards to
companies that export jobs to foreign countries or utilize tax loopholes to avoid state or
federal taxes; and
• the enactment and enforcement of regulations to prevent the continued use of the Governor’s
Texas Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund as corporate slush funds that reward
businesses owned by political cronies and contributors, despite their failure to meet hiring
targets and other program requirements.
Texas Republicans have had complete control of the purse strings of state government since 2003.
Despite dramatically increasing state spending, they passed on the cost of higher education to
families and students, issued an astounding amount of long-term debt during times of budget
surpluses, burdened small businesses with new and higher taxes, instituted a wide array of new user
fees, handed out grants of taxpayer money to special interests without demanding accountability,
and proposed the sale of profitable state assets and irreplaceable state land and water resources to
private investors and speculators. Democrats believe in prudent management of taxpayer funds and
protecting and preserving these resources for future generations
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Health Care for Individuals and Small Businesses
Texas Democrats believe health care is a right, not a privilege reserved for those able to pay for it.
Every family deserves health care they can count on and a health care system that puts the health of
the people first. Our health care system is failing the American people, and in Texas, it is failing
even worse than in the rest of the country. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured among all 50
states, with over 1.4 million Texas children without insurance. Even those fortunate enough to have
good insurance spend too much for it. The result: Americans pay more for health care than citizens
of any other industrialized country. Fewer Texans are receiving health insurance through their
employers, and those who do have employer-provided health plans are paying higher out-of-pocket
expenses for health care.
In order to address critical health care needs, Texas Democrats:
• support guaranteed access to affordable, universal health care for all United States residents;
• support, in the absence of a national plan, the creation of a Texas universal health care plan to
insure that every Texas resident has health insurance that covers medical and dental care, full
reproductive health services, preventive services, prescription drugs and mental health
counseling and treatment;
• believe the state must make use of all opportunities to maximize federal and state dollars;
available to fund health care costs. This includes enforcing existing charity care requirements.
• believe small businesses and their employees should have access to affordable and dependable
health coverage, through a state-negotiated health plan;
• believe Texans with chronic illnesses should have access to coverage through the high risk pool
with full coverage for all prescription medications; and
• believe medical decisions regarding treatment options should be made by physicians in
consultation with patients, not by insurance company or government lay people.

Protecting Medicare and Medicaid
Texas Democrats support programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, which maintain the health
care safety net for vulnerable Texans. Even though the 2005 Texas Legislature restored some of the
devastating cuts made to the Medicaid program in 2003, the Adult Medically Needy Program was
not restored, leaving patients with high medical bills ineligible to receive Medicaid assistance. We
support full restoration of the 2003 Medicaid cuts, with funding allocations for population and
caseload growth, and re-establishing local and state partnerships to maximize funds for Medicaid
programs that assure coverage to low-income Texans. Recognizing that the federal block granting
of Medicaid dollars would be based upon historically low state spending, Texas Democrats do not
support federal block grant funding for Medicaid.

Prescription Drugs
The Republican Medicare prescription drug program has proven to be a tragic and confusing failure
for the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and pharmacists who have faced a maze of poorly
designed regulations, bureaucracy and red tape. The Republicans literally allowed big
pharmaceutical and insurance companies to write the law for their advantage - with little or no
regard for its practical impact on individuals and taxpayers. Democrats support reforming Medicare
to provide a simple and easily understood prescription drug benefit. We support a program that will
ensure the best prices possible by allowing for negotiated drug costs. We discourage efforts to stop
the purchase of lower priced medications from certified pharmaceutical outlets across our borders as
long as a high level of quality is assured. Universal Health Care should include provisions for
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coverage of medications with no cap on benefits and no more than minimal co-pays.

Children’s Health Insurance
Texas Democrats proposed, fought for, and passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
that provided health coverage to over 500,000 Texas children in working families until the
Republicans gained control of the Legislature in 2003. Although CHIP is a compassionate program
that is also sound fiscal policy, an alternative to welfare and a bargain for taxpayers, Republican
budget cuts slashed the number of children receiving CHIP benefits by more than 213,000 before
Democrats increased their numbers in the State House and forced partial restoration of CHIP
coverage in 2007. In the meantime, Texas lost over a billion dollars in federal funds to states that
covered more of their children while Texas, under the Republicans, passed laws and developed
policies that make CHIP enrollment more difficult. In addition to erecting barriers to enrollment,
virtually all outreach programs were dismantled, and the failure in processing CHIP applications by
the massive private-sector outsourcing contract with Bermuda-based Accenture resulted in many
children losing CHIP coverage, with tragic consequences for some Texas families.
Democrats support full utilization of all federal funds that have been set aside specifically to
improve the health of Texas children, and we oppose the redistribution of those funds to other
states. Unless all punitive Republican policies are reversed and private contractors are held
accountable, many Texas children who qualify for CHIP coverage will go uninsured and the federal
dollars reserved for Texas children will continue to be spent in other states. We support full
restoration of the original CHIP program and policies, reinstatement of the simplified application
process, aggressive outreach to enroll all eligible children, and a 12 month period of continuous
health coverage. We further support congressional Democrats’ efforts to expand the federal SCHIP
program to provide greater opportunity for states to provide health coverage for children.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Democrats support efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and drug dependent
individuals. Recognizing that mental illness is treatable, as is substance abuse, Democrats support
ways to increase access to mental health and substance abuse services by increasing the number of
facilities offering such care while assuring their financial viability and maximizing utilization of the
state’s public mental health system. Full mental health parity in the private market would help
eliminate stigma about mental illness and substance abuse, and make it more likely that individuals
would seek treatment and proper maintenance of their mental health.
We support Medicare policies for psychiatric care that increase session times in place of inadequate
follow-up sessions currently allowed. Individuals should have access to outpatient treatment where
appropriate to increase the likelihood that an individual can be a productive member of society
while in treatment. Such intrusive treatment would also be more cost effective. More “realitybased”
substance abuse education in schools should be encouraged. The Court system must be
encouraged to allow treatment as the first option for drug offenders when appropriate, rather than
incarceration that may often leads to a pattern of criminal behavior. Outpatient treatment that
includes counseling and medication management, if needed, would also be a less costly alternative
than incarceration. We support community-based mental health services for children and adults.
HIV, Hepatitis C, and STDs’ Education and Services
Texas Democrats support increased education initiatives and services to address the HIV/AIDS
epidemic and Hepatitis C, including increased access to treatment and therapy that improves quality
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of life and encourages return to the workforce. Funding for treatment and therapy through
Community Health Centers should be encouraged. County health officials should have the option of
operating programs proven to prevent communicable diseases.
Stem Cell Research
Stem cell research should not be held hostage to politics that limits the potential for conquering
many debilitating and deadly illnesses. Texas has world-class research facilities that cannot attract
world-class talent and funding until we take stem cell research out of politics and put it into the labs
where research could lead to life-saving therapies. Texas Democrats strongly and unconditionally
support research into stem cell therapies and state funding for research into stem cell therapies at
state public universities. Curing disease is the right thing to do, and stem cell lines should be
expanded without increasing or encouraging any high risk procedures.
Eliminating Health Disparities
Millions of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians and
Americans disadvantaged by income, gender and region continue to live sicker and die younger
than others. Cultural and language barriers remain a particular problem for immigrant communities.
We support the elimination of health care disparities by increasing research and training for medical
professionals, breaking down language barriers, and ensuring health care access for all Americans.
We support efforts to encourage more minority students to enter the sciences. We support efforts to
ensure that women have access to the best medicines, state-of-the-art prevention and detection
techniques, as well as nutrition and exercise programs. We support improved access to essential
medical services by making more primary care, emergency and other underserved physician
services available and more equitably distributed.

Choice and Family Planning
Texas Democrats believe in the fundamental American values of freedom, privacy and personal
responsibility. We believe in the right to make sound, responsible personal healthcare choices for
ourselves and our families. Texas Democrats:
• trust the women of Texas to make personal and responsible decisions about when and
whether to bear children, in consultation with their family, their physician, personal
conscience or their God, rather than having these personal decisions made by politicians;
• support prevention measures which have proven effective at reducing unintended
pregnancies, and which would reduce the rate of abortion when made affordable, accessible,
and available as effective long-term programs. These programs include family planning and
birth control, including emergency contraception free from judgment or pressure;
• support using sound, mainstream medical science to guide reproductive health care policies;
• support targeted efforts to reduce Texas’ high teen pregnancy rates, including the provision
of accurate and effective, comprehensive age-appropriate sex education programs with an
abstinence component, to reduce the rate of abortion;
• support resources for pregnant and parenting teens while encouraging them to continue their
education and career development;
• support family planning funding for pregnancy prevention and preventive health care in
regulated, licensed medical facilities, rather than biased and non-medical activities;
• support women’s access to affordable pre-natal care, including pregnancy insurance and prenatal
vitamins to support healthy pregnancies;
• support paid maternity and/or paternity leave to support healthy families;
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• support women’s access to accurate information about adoption and related resources;
• support affordable, quality child-care to support and keep healthy families intact;
• promote policies that value Texas families and their children throughout their lives; and
• support policies for women that promote keeping families healthy and intact through
preventative gynecological health care that is crucial to the health of women in caring for
their families.

Security for Our Families
Just as we support responsible efforts to provide security from terrorism, ensure peace and provide
national security, Texas Democrats support initiatives to ensure the security of our families. More
than one-third of working families in Texas are defined as “low income,” and nearly half of Texas
children live in these households. Every parent should be able to provide housing, nutrition,
clothing, and health care for his or her family. No child should go hungry or without health care.
We believe government should make sure appropriate supports are in place and accessible to
families in need. Reducing hunger and poverty is a priority of Texas Democrats.
Privatization of Social Services
Under Republicans rule, Texas entered into an $899 million health and human services contract
with a Bermuda-based private contractor, Accenture. This privatization experiment disrupted the
lives of vulnerable residents while padding the pockets of private contractors at taxpayer expense,
dismantling the state social services infrastructure and failing miserably to save tax dollars or
provide services more efficiently. Texas Democrats support hiring state workers at adequate levels
to ensure timely and accurate processing of applications rather wasting money on private contracts.
Low-to-moderate-income children, as well as elderly and disabled Texans, are losing or going
without health coverage through the CHIP or Medicaid programs. Many of the elderly and disabled
have faced choosing between medication, food or electricity while trapped in the privatized state
system. We believe privatization of social services has proven to be a poor use of tax dollars, with
little or no accountability to voters and taxpayers.

Child Protection and Foster Care
We support a Children’s Bill of Rights. Texas Democrats do not want Texas children who have
been removed from their homes due to alleged abuse or neglect and placed in the state foster care
system to be subjected to another privatization experiment. We oppose discrimination in the state
foster care system. We support child protection programs that provide safe, secure environments for
our children. We support funding Child Protective Services to reduce caseloads and to ensure
compliance with federal requirements for caseworker meetings with clients. Texas Democrats
oppose the privatization of the child protection system, including intake services.

Child Support and Child Care that Strengthens Texas Families
The economic security of many Texas families depends on strong child support enforcement
coupled with available and affordable quality child care that is good for parents, good for children
and vital for the Texas economy. Texas Democrats believe sufficient child support enforcement
field staff is needed to ensure the timely and reliable collection and distribution of child support
payments. We support policies to ensure that child support payments go to custodial parents rather
than to private collection agencies. We believe parental counseling, mediation, job training and job
placement should promote the beneficial involvement and support of both parents whenever
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possible and appropriate.
Texas families should not have to choose between the jobs they need and the children they love.
Texas Democrats support child care initiatives that encourage both private and non-profit providers
to expand the availability of quality child care services by using tax credits, investment grants, and
pooling of local resources to maximize federal funding opportunities. Texas Democrats also believe
expanded after school care ensures the safety of children and that early childhood education
develops the strong educational foundation needed for future achievement.

Long Term Services and Supports
Texas Democrats support long term services that promote independent living in the most integrated
setting possible for elderly and disabled people of all ages. This services network should include
community-based attendant services, in-home health care, adult day care and hospice care. We
believe the state must comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and strongly oppose
the Republican claim of state sovereign immunity from ADA. We support:
• protections of individual homesteads to prevent the taking of a home to recover the costs of
long term service;
• creation of a national attendant services program where the money follows the person;
• transition of our long term care system to a focus on home and community care services;
• funding of community-based programs at a level that allows all individuals who desire to live
in a community setting to do so without being placed on a waiting list;
• coordination of support services, including personal assistance services, respite care, home
delivered meals, transportation, homemaker assistance, and caregiver services;
• providing choice in decisions about where elderly and disabled Texans live and receive
support services;
• establishing a standard system for a registry of in-home health care providers and developing
a training and certification program that interfaces with other initiatives around the country;
• access to non-medical services, known as “De-medicalization," to contain cost and allow
greater individual control;
• coordination of accessible, affordable, integrated housing; and
• a living wage and health care benefits for all direct care workers.

Social Security
Texas Democrats believe we must keep the promise of Social Security strong and certain for those
who have worked and contributed to the system. Social Security should continue to be the
foundation of income security for working Americans. We believe all Americans should have
access to the Social Security system, including public employees. Private savings accounts and
other pension programs should be additions to the guaranteed Social Security benefit, not a
substitute for any portion of it.
We oppose privatization of the Social Security program as fiscally irresponsible, and consider the
use of our tax dollars as capital to invest in the stock market as a threat to the income security of
working Americans. We oppose Republican federal budget plans to spend down and undermine the
Social Security Trust Fund, including proposals to carve out private savings accounts, which would
drain trillions of dollars from the Social Security system. We also oppose the closing of small town
Social Security offices, which would force many beneficiaries to travel as far as 200 to 250 miles
for a face to face meeting.
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Retirement Security
Millions of workers have invested in public or private pensions to secure their retirement income.
We believe a lifetime of honest work should be rewarded with adequate retirement income. We
support measures to make corporate governance accountable to all stakeholders in the private
pension system. We support providing strong and effective legal protections to secure the
investments of workers in public or private pensions. We believe:
• a participant in a pension or retirement program should have legal protection for the full
amount to which they are entitled if such accounts or corporate pensions lose their funding
or are dismantled due to financial improprieties, insolvency or reorganization;
• companies filing for bankruptcy or encountering legal problems should have funds
automatically frozen or set aside to fund the pension plan in place;
• time limits must be in place to allow the expedient transfer of pensioners’ funds to a new
account or directly to the pensioner within the confines of IRS tax regulations;
• state Retirement Systems should be preserved as defined benefit systems, as established in the
Texas Constitution; and
• federal employees who retired under the FERS system should be treated the same, for
purposes of sick-leave credit, as federal Civil Service retirees.
Access to Affordable Insurance with Effective Regulation and Oversight
Texas Democrats support the strict enforcement of policies requiring insurance companies to roll
back their rates to provide Texas homeowners, renters and drivers fair and affordable insurance.
Governor Perry’s so-called insurance reforms have done nothing to reduce insurance costs that
place an excessive financial burden on both individuals and businesses. Texans continue to pay the
highest homeowner insurance rates in the nation, despite the fact that the American insurance
industry makes billions in profits every year. We also oppose efforts to abolish of Office of Public
Insurance Counsel.
Democrats support measures to reduce and eliminate unfair underwriting and rate setting practices,
such as the use of credit scoring, redlining and other discriminatory practices. We support the
enforcement of penalties when such practices are used. Texans must have access to affordable
insurance to protect our homes and businesses from flood and windstorm damage. We also support
more thorough oversight and regulation of homeowner’s insurance through greater consumer
representation in the form of an official advisory committee or requirements that the Insurance
Commission include consumer representatives.

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