“laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.”
-Thomas Jefferson
The Shoals Democratic Club Platform
Adopted 5/11/23
Education and Workforce Development
Shoals Democrats support protecting public school funding and teachers’ rights.
Shoals Democrats support increasing broadband and fiber internet access in all our communities.
Shoals Democrats support student loan forgiveness and making higher education debt free.
Shoals Democrats support strengthening our community colleges across the state and promoting trade school opportunities.
Economic and Job Growth
Shoals Democrats stand with unions and support workers’ rights to fair and safe working conditions.
Shoals Democrats support the repeal of “Right to work” laws in Alabama that tilt the balance toward big corporations at the expense of working families.
Shoals Democrats support raising the minimum wage to at least $15/hr.
Shoals Democrats support our community’s small businesses.
Affordable and Accessible Healthcare
Shoals Democrats strongly support Medicaid Expansion in Alabama.
Shoals Democrats support measures to save and increase rural hospitals and clinics.
Shoals Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing women's access to reproductive health care and abortion.
Shoals Democrats support expanding access to mental health and substance use treatment.
Shoals Democrats strongly support protecting Social Security
Civil Rights
Shoals Democrats are committed to fighting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status.
Racial Justice and Equity
Shoals Democrats acknowledge the profound and lasting inequities created by abuses perpetrated against Native Americans, two and a half centuries of slavery, and a hundred years of Jim Crow segregation have had on our community.
Shoals Democrats believe Black lives matter. We are committed to standing up to racism in our laws, culture, politics, and community.
Shoals Democrats support removing Confederate statues and symbolism from public properties in our community.
Shoals Democrats are committed to combating gentrification trends that disproportionately harm long-time residents of color.
Shoals Democrats support policies that end the Alabama school-to-prison pipeline that sees children of color disproportionately punished by the criminal justice system for disciplinary issues.
LGBTQ+ Rights and Protections
Shoals Democrats strongly oppose laws and policies attacking trans people’s rights in Alabama.
Shoals Democrats will fight to outlaw discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in housing, employment, and healthcare.
Shoals Democrats are committed to combating violence against transgender Alabamians.
Shoals Democrats support transgender students’ rights to access to facilities and programs based on their gender identity.
Shoals Democrats support policies that help transgender and non-binary people procure official identification that accurately reflect their gender identity.
Shoals Democrats support banning harmful “conversion therapy” practices in Alabama.
Disability Rights
Shoals Democrats support protections for people with disabilities in health care, employment, education, and housing, and ensure equal access to the ballot box.
Shoals Democrats support expanded employment opportunities for people with disabilities and for them to be paid at least minimum wage.
Shoals Democrats will fight to ensure that voting is an accessible process for all people with disabilities in our community.
Women’s Rights
Shoals Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion.
Shoals Democrats strongly oppose Alabama’s total abortion ban.
Shoals Democrats are committed to ending sexual assault, domestic abuse, and other violence against women, including the epidemics of violence against transgender women of color.
Shoals Democrats support expanding services for survivors of violence against women, including expanding access to housing, legal assistance, and victim advocate services.
Shoals Democrats support aggressive action to end pay inequality in Alabama.
Shoals Democrats support universal paid family leave in Alabama.
Freedom of Speech and Right to Assemble
Shoals Democrats unequivocally support our freedom of speech and right to assemble.
Shoals Democrats strongly oppose laws that criminalize protest.
Shoals Democrats strongly oppose laws that censor our teachers in the classroom.
Secure and Safe Elections
Shoals Democrats support the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.
Shoals Democrats are committed to stopping voter intimidation.
Shoals Democrats support open primaries.
Shoals Democrats will fight to ensure that voting is secure and accessible for all.
Safe Homes and Communities
Shoals Democrats believe that to stop the gun violence epidemic, we must work for common-sense gun laws.
Shoals Democrats support responsible gun ownership.
Shoals Democrats support policy that reduces crime by supporting social services in our community.
Shoals Democrats are committed to holding local law enforcement accountable.
Shoals Democrats support policies that reduce recidivism and increase rehabilitation.
Immigration
Shoals Democrats believe immigrants make our community stronger.
Shoals Democrats support protections for Dreamers (DACA).
Shoals Democrats support protections for migrant and immigrant workers.
Shoals Democrats support and welcome asylum seekers.
Environmental Protections
Shoals Democrats support policies that increase recycling in all our communities.
Shoals Democrats believe we must protect our fragile and important ecosystems here in the Shoals.
Shoals Democrats support policies that allow and incentivize homeowners and businesses to utilize clean and renewable energy.
