THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA

Approved March 12, 2022

Preamble and Statement of Principles

The purpose of the platform is to inform voters, party leaders, candidates, and elected officials on current issues and core beliefs that have been compiled through our grassroots organization. As an open and inclusive party, we respect our fellow Republicans to continue discussions on certain matters of policy.

We invite all citizens to join us in this periodic dialogue structured to strengthen our process of self-government that is vital to maintaining a strong and vibrant nation.

This platform is erected on foundational principles that will unite Americans to recognize and meet the challenges that inevitably arise when defending individual liberty, free enterprise, innovation and opportunity.

1.   Human Rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

2.   Economy, Labor & Business

The key to prosperity is a legitimate return on an individual’s labor, talent, capital and risk. We believe wages should be negotiated between the employer and employee. We believe in free trade and the free market.

3.   Agriculture

American farmers produce the most bountiful, affordable, and safest food in the world. American agriculture leads the way in developing innovative production practices that meet the demand of the world. This will continue with limited government interference in agriculture.

4.   Natural Resources and Environment

Property ownership is a fundamental right in this nation. With that right comes responsibility to be good stewards of natural resources and the environment. We believe that a combination of self-interest, the free market, and social pressure is motivation for voluntary environmental stewardship.

5.   Education

A country’s strength is dependent on a well-educated citizenry. Effective education is dependent on responsible parents who are a child’s first and most enduring teachers. These parents can best make decisions for their child which mandates a system that facilitates local control.

6.   Health Care

We believe that health care should be a private relationship between a physician/health care provider and the patient. Eliminating third party payers will restore that private relationship and reduce cost.

7.   Taxes and Spending

When government spends more than it collects, the government runs a deficit, which increases the debt. Debt undermines economic growth and stability and the burden is shifted to future generations. The goals of tax reform should be simplification, transparency, and increased economic growth.

8.   Law Enforcement

We are Republicans because we believe that justice is the fabric of a free society and that law enforcement is an integral part of justice. Domestic tranquility is achieved through just laws which are based on the Constitution and reasonably enforced. We believe that security of all citizens is a function of government and that secure borders are necessary for a sovereign nation.

9.   National Defense and Foreign Policy

The U.S. Constitution empowers the Federal Government to maintain an adequate military force to secure the border of the United States and to carry out our nation’s foreign policies. We recognize the need to ensure that our government exercises this power with wisdom and restraint, not rushing to conflict or using war for political or economic gain, so that our enemies fear us not because we are powerful, but because we are just.

10.   Government

We believe in small, effective and accountable government that is grounded and limited to the constitution.

11.   Republican Party

A Belief in Limited Government: Government must be limited to preserve the sanctity of liberty of individuals.

A Belief in the Right- to-Life; We assert that the right to life is protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution from conception until natural death.

A Belief in Free Market Economics: We believe that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are self-evident truths as described in the Declaration of Independence. These rights are only achieved through free market principles.

A Belief in a Strong National Defense: It is the constitutional duty of the government to protect our borders. Military force and structure should be determined by current threat assessment.

Resolutions 2022

1.   Human Rights

• We assert the sanctity of all human life from conception until natural death.
• We promote education on alternatives to abortion and support organizations that facilitate adoption.
• We call for the immediate defunding and the exclusion of any future government funding for organizations that promote or perform abortions.
• We support a human life amendment to the Iowa and U.S. Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.

2.   Economy, Labor & Business

• We believe that a limited government allows free enterprise and opportunities for long term economic growth and prosperity. We oppose subsidies and mandates.
• We believe trade treaties require Congressional approval.
• We are in favor of anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws to promote a free market economy.
• We opposed any lending institutions from using social credit scores. Example; ESG Score

3.   Agriculture

• We support free and fair trade and the removal of unfair barriers to American exports.
• We encourage honest, voluntary labeling of food.
• We expect imported food to be held to our high safety and quality standards.

4.   Natural Resources and Environment

• We oppose Federal limits placed on personal use of private property, except in rare cases of gross lack of stewardship.
• The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) should be required to obtain warrants prior to any searches and seizures.
• We support hunting and trapping of wild game.
• Watershed Management Authorities shall not be structured as a permanent government entity, requiring the WMA to renew their charter every five years.

5.   Education

• We support abolishing the Federal Department of Education.
• Student evaluations should be used to directly improve that student’s performance.
• Educational data collection should be at local discretion and used for immediate learning.
• Iowa’s equalization funding formula for public education should be continuously monitored to meet its intended purposes.
• School choice can be made more accessible by using a voucher system.
• Common Core curriculum and assessments should be abandoned in favor of local design.
• Iowa schools should teach students basic knowledge and American exceptionalism and reject Critical Race Theory and other curricula that promote Marxist doctrine and encourage division based on creed, race, or economic status. Full transparency of public school curricula shall be the right of citizens.

6.   Health Care

• We believe that health care solutions are best selected by the individual in relationship with their care provider and that free enterprise is best suited to meet the health care needs of the American people.
• We support systemic reassessment of long-term care facilities to identify better options for caring for individuals with chronic mental or behavioral impairments.
• We support health care tort reform.
• We support full repeal of the Affordable Care Act and returning health care to free market principles.
• We support Iowa’s compliance with the federal vaping law.
• We support the use of adult stem cells to advance modern medical research. We oppose somatic cell nuclear transfer (human cloning), embryonic stem cell research and any research that involves the destruction of unborn human life, and the commercial use or sale of fetal parts from induced abortion.

7.   Taxes and Spending

• We expect that budget surplus, at all levels of government, be used to reduce debt, not increase spending, and that government shall not budget revenue for the next fiscal year in excess of the revenue from the current year.
• We believe the purpose of taxation is to fund the constitutionally mandated functions of government, not to redistribute wealth.
• We believe all tax codes should be reformed to make them simple and fair.
• We believe that the work that the government performs should be transparent and accountable to the citizens. Any entity using public funding should be subject to audit.
• We call for an audit of the Federal Reserve.
• We oppose any bi-state taxing authority.
• We urge Congress to obligate no more dollars from the Federal Highway Trust Fund than they receive to end the need to transfer from the general fund to backfill shortages.
• We urge the state to return to strict interpretation of Article VII, Section 8 of the Iowa Constitution.
• We support Governor Reynolds 2022 tax proposal.

8.   Law Enforcement

• We demand the elimination of gun free zones.
• We request state concealed carry law reciprocity from state to state.
• We demand an end to warrantless domestic surveillance programs aimed at citizens.
• We expect secure national borders and enforced immigration laws.
• We support all laws that protect individual rights as defined by the Constitution.
• We support strengthening and enforcing human trafficking laws.

9.   National Defense and Foreign Policy

• We must maintain an industrial base and military force within the United States which can support our national defense, sovereignty, and global interests. Military force structure including active, reserve, and National Guard should be determined by current threat assessment and not political favor.
• All commitments made by the U.S. Government to members of the Armed Forces should be kept, including compensation and benefits paid during service and those promised upon disability, retirement or death.

10.   Government

• We believe private property rights are an extension of unalienable rights of individual citizens and are protected by the Constitution.
• We believe judges should uphold their oaths of office to adhere to the Constitution or be removed from office.
• We believe that respectful religious interaction is protected by the First Amendment.
• We oppose “Sanctuary cities”.
• We believe English should be the official language of government.
• We call for the end of abuse of Supplemental Security Income and return to its original intent.
• Recipients of Welfare, Food Stamps, and Medicaid should be drug tested.
• We believe that the census process should require recording the citizenship status of each resident and that only citizens should be counted for establishing congressional representation.
• Voting is a right reserved for eligible citizens of the United States. Election law must be uniform, secure and enforceable to protect that right and ensure only verified citizens take part in accordance with the Fifteenth Amendment, Section Two.
• The citizens of Iowa should have the sole ability to determine legalization of Marijuana by a two-thirds vote.
• To protect the loss of life of the citizens and first responders of Scott County we expect the Board of Supervisors to expand the Snow and Ice Removal Policy to 24 hours.
• We Support banning private funding of our elections.
• Reform Iowa’s Emergency Management authorization for greater legislative oversight of actions taken by the Governor.
• We appose any Federal takeover of State elections.

11.   Republican Party

• We urge the Republican Party to recruit and support candidates who stand for lower taxes, smaller government, the elimination of waste and fraud, and who value individual responsibility.
• We encourage party leadership and candidates to conduct themselves and any political campaigns in a positive and truthful manner.
• We recognize and value the work of the Iowa Federation of Republican Women, the College Republicans, the Iowa Young Republican Federation, Scott County Teenage Republicans and the Scott County Republican Women.
• We support efforts to educate voters about the principles of the Republican Party.
• We encourage the use of new technologies to better inform the electorate and assist voter turnout.
• The purpose of the party platform is to represent current issues, communicate grassroots concerns and cite our core beliefs to recruit Republican voters and give guidance to our party leadership, our candidates and our elected officials.
• The platform must be honored and implemented by the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) and Republican National Committee (RNC).
• Republican Party dollars and resources should only be directly given to Republican candidates and causes.
• The Republican Party should encourage in person voting rather than vote by mail.