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PICO LIFT Louisiana Interfaiths Together
2003 Governor’s
Election Platform
As people of faith, we join with families across
Louisiana in denouncing the conditions in our state. We will not
accept things as they are.
Our children are being lost to drugs, violence, poverty and lack of
opportunity. We have the highest rate of high school dropouts in the
country. Our public education system fails even those who complete
high school by not adequately preparing them for college or
careers.
Our families are
suffering from the decay of older, established neighborhoods. They
are fearful of the violence in their communities fueled by poverty
and drugs.
Our state is rich in resources. We have 63 miles of
industry along the Mississippi River, yet many of our people are
unemployed and businesses continue to abandon our state. 87% of the
jobs with the most growth pay less than a livable wage ($28,714 for
a family of 4), 41% of jobs pay less than $12,626 per year, and
nearly 30% of our children live in poverty.
In
Louisiana, we treat sickness more than we prevent it, and we treat
it late more than we catch it
early. We get care later
because many of us - almost 1 in 4 - are
poor and uninsured,
lacking access to comprehensive
health care, most notably primary care and prescription drugs.
In 1999, 22.5% of Louisianians were without health
insurance, compared with 15.5% of the country and 17.6% of
Southerners. Only New Mexico and Texas fared worse than Louisiana.
We will not accept government as usual; we offer
goals and objectives to be met. We will not accept leadership out of
touch with the people; we offer a real partnership with the new
governor of Louisiana.
We ask you to take a prophetic stand; when people of
faith work together for the common good, all things are possible.
Therefore, we ask you, as a candidate for governor,
to pledge your support for this platform, and to work together with
PICO LIFT to create a strategy for making these goals a reality
during your term as governor.
EDUCATION
Raise teacher pay to at least the Southern average to
attract and retain the best teachers.
Increase percentage of educational funding for
classrooms vs. administration.
Assist in building communities of learning, focusing
on using school facilities in afternoons and evenings for enhanced
learning opportunities for children and adults.
DRUGS
Make at least 150 beds available for free and/or
affordable drug treatment dispersed throughout the state. (Currently
there are fewer than 30).
Make treatment rather than incarceration mandatory
for first time drug possession offenders (not dealers).
HEALTHCARE
Invest in preventive and primary care, and home and
community based long-term care services. Ensure that healthcare and
medications are affordable and accessible to all. Reduce the
uninsured rate to the national rate or lower.
HOUSING
Identify funding sources for the Louisiana Housing
Trust Fund, to assist with low income housing, home repairs, and
housing for the homeless.
Establish a renters’ bill of rights to assure safe,
well-maintained rental housing and fair treatment by landlords.
Help cities demolish or renovate blighted housing to
create green space or provide new affordable homeownership
opportunities, creating neighborhoods that people are proud to live
in.
ECONOMY
Create, with community input, a new tax structure for
Louisiana that fairly allocates taxes and incentives between
businesses and individuals, while realistically raising the revenue
needed to make our state a great place to live.
Grow the economy such that at least 50% of jobs pay
$35,000 or more per year, and no more than 10% pay less than
$20,000.
ENVIRONMENT
Acknowledge the number of Brownsfields in the state
and work to clean up those identified by local communities as most
urgent.
JUVENILE JUSTICE
Commit to the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana’s
platform.
_____________________________________
A concerned Louisiana citizen
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City
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Date
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