Document:California Program 2016

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Libertarian Party of California Program – 2016

ECONOMIC GROWTH CREATES ABUNDANCE

Currently, the state of California is not business-friendly due to high taxes and overly-burdensome regulation. This forces businesses to relocate outside the state and reduces employment opportunities for Californians.

To encourage prosperity for our families and the people of California, the Libertarian Party of California supports the following measures:

• Reduce the state income and sales taxes and eliminate the triple taxation that results from corporate income tax, individual income tax on stock dividends, and sales tax. This will stimulate production of real wealth, attract creative innovators and job-creating businesses, and fuel consumer spending.

• Eliminate taxes on savings and investments to empower individuals to create new wealth and reduce reliance on government, and attract entrepreneurs to California to pursue their dreams. When individuals save, invest, and start businesses they create long-term job opportunities and more abundance for everyone. Encourage private consumer groups (Yelp, Consumer Reports) and industry associations to take an active role in monitoring businesses and to report on unfair practices, rather than government monitoring of industry. All state business and industrial regulations shall be reviewed, amended or repealed to retain only those provisions which materially protect personal safety and the environment.

• Amend or repeal regulations and licensing laws that unreasonably impede entry into any market or industry.

• Reduce and eventually eliminate all state subsidies for business to encourage businesses to be more productive rather than to shield them from market competition.

• Publicly disclose all business entities that receive corporate welfare or subsidies.

QUALITY, ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

To ensure that all citizens can access adequate, affordable health care, we must increase the supply of health care, remove barriers to a free market and encourage competition. The Libertarian Party of California believes that enabling people to become more self-sufficient and secure will allow quality, accessible, affordable health care to be more available to our families, children and seniors.

When people purchase their own independent health plan covering the services they need and allowing for fewer out of pocket visits to their doctor, they are more secure and less dependent on others. When an individual has more control over their own health care and is less dependent upon a third party, they become empowered to be assertive consumers of health care. There is likely to be greater interest in price information and demand for price transparency from consumers as their cost-sharing responsibilities increase. This results in more competition that keeps health care affordable and of high quality.

Therefore, the Libertarian Party of California supports the following measures to make quality, affordable health care accessible to all citizens:

• Health insurance premiums, co-payments, deductibles and all medical expenses shall be deducted directly from income without having to meet any standard deduction.

• A Medical Savings Account shall be established to be used for medical purposes in which up to 10% of income shall be deductible but without limitation on contributions.

• Barriers to price transparency shall be removed to empower consumers and to encourage efficiency of care and competitive pricing.

The Libertarian Party also supports the following measures to increase the supply of quality affordable health care by increasing the numbers of medical professionals, facilities and medical non-profit and for-profit organizations:

• Eliminate or greatly simplify all state medical regulations and licensing standards which impede the supply of health care. Replace the state monopoly on regulation and licensing with an open market for testing and review of products and services to ensure more accurate, timely and cost-effective ratings and controls on quality.

• Provide tax credits, exclusions and above-the-line deductions (without “percentage of income” limits) for medical education, educational savings accounts, charitable contributions to medical schools, facilities, service providers, medical research and construction of medical facilities. Streamline permit processes and zoning variances for construction of medical facilities and schools.

• Reclaim our Tenth Amendment right to control pharmaceuticals distributed within the state. Reduce the function of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to be a merely advisory body rather than a licensing authority. Allow drugs which have been proven to be safe to be marketed even if not yet proven effective. Allow patients access to unapproved drugs upon informed consent.

EDUCATION

Our children deserve the best possible education since they represent our hope for the future. Market competition and parental choice is the only way to encourage educators to provide the highest quality education for our children.

Therefore, the Libertarian Party of California supports the following measures:

• Charter schools shall be expanded with “shall issue” to all qualified applicants with no limit to the number of charters issued.

• Educational regulations shall be streamlined to allow for more options and efficiencies.

• Forced union membership for teachers shall be eliminated.

• All funds expended by parents who opt out of the state funded system, for private education of their children, including home-schooling, shall be eligible for income tax exclusions or credits, up to the current amount spent per pupil in state schools.

• Investments in educational savings accounts for any child’s education shall be eligible for income tax exclusion, interest, dividends or capital gains and such accounts shall be tax-free.

• Funds may be withdrawn tax-free from such accounts to pay for a child’s course of study at any school.

MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE

After the end of alcohol prohibition, the rate of homicide and violent crime plunged dramatically. Since a large percentage of homicide and violent crime, including police misconduct, is associated directly or indirectly with drug prohibition, ending it would have a similar effect.

The Libertarian Party of California supports all of the following drug prohibition reforms:

• Regulation of drugs similar to regulation of alcohol, with prohibition limited to actions that can reasonably endanger others, such as dangerous driving.

• Decriminalization.

• Removal or reduction of penalties for possession or sales.

Concentrating law enforcement resources on crimes with defined victims is the most effective way of making our communities safe.

• Law enforcement and district attorney resources used to enforce and prosecute drug prohibition must be re-purposed to enforce and prosecute crimes against people and their homes and property.

• Eliminate the “might have drugs” excuse for police misconduct including invasion of privacy in homes, cars, and our bodies.