Party Platform

Adopted by the Convention of the Green Party of Ohio on July 24, 2010

The Ohio Green Party platform commits its members and organization to developing a sustainable healthy future for all Ohioans. The GPOHIO exists in order to focus the political power of the people to: - foster participatory democracy, - preserve and restore viable ecosystems, - establish social justice and equity, - promote and practice nonviolence as a means of conflict resolution, and - ensure the rights of a community-based economic system for all people.

Foundation and Background to Ohio Green Party Platform
This platform statement of the values and positions of the Green Party of the State of Ohio is based upon the unifying values of Greens worldwide. We stand on the national platform of the Green Party of the United States, and thus do not repeat national platform planks in this platform. http://www.gp.org/platform.shtml

I. Grassroots Democracy

The Green Party of Ohio calls all public officials of the State to the highest possible ethical standards. No State Public Official shall receive personal benefit or campaign advantage from those entities that receive public benefits. This should include, but not be limited to, tax abatements, unbid contracts, tax increment financing, etc. We oppose the privatization of electoral processes which jeopardize transparency and honesty in government. We support public financing of elections to remove undue influence in political campaigns. We support a free, fair and transparent voting process that enforces prohibitions against vote tampering and computer fraud and provides auditable and verifiable documentation. We support instant runoff/ranked choice voting and hand counted paper ballots as promoting a more democratic process and result.

II. Justice and Nonviolence

We oppose racism, and discrimination based on gender, age, sexual orientation, disabilities, ethnicity, national orgin, language, creed, religion and we fight and work for legal, social and economic equity and justice in our society. We oppose the death penalty. Capital punishment is ineffective, racially biased and leads to errors which are unacceptable. We oppose the privatization of prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities to private companies with a financial interest in increasing the prison population. We support a preventive approach to justice issues. Investment in job training, job creation incentives, poverty elimination and adequate social services, are offset by savings from reduced crime that results from such investments. We recommend that Ohio law require meaningful, effective, independent civilian review of all complaints of police misconduct for all state, local and county police powers.

III. Environmental Wisdom & Energy

Environmental wisdom is the key to Ohio's health and the capacity to sustain a positive future. Investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy is key to sustainability and job creation. We call for the development of state energy policies that include taxes and/or fines on energy "waste," and the funding of energy research, including alternative and sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydrogen or energy derived from industrial grade hemp. The Green Party calls for the retirement of the aging nuclear power reactors in Ohio, as soon as possible, since they are currently deteriorating, unsafe and not economical as a source of power for Ohio.

IV. Agricultural Sustainability

The Green Party of Ohio endorses, supports and seeks to implement an Agriculture Policy in the State of Ohio that follows basic Green principles that will insure a healthy food supply in Ohio. We remain concerned about the Constitutional Amendment approved in November 2009 creating an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, largely appointed by the Governor,for establishing standards governing the care and well-being of livestock and poultry in this state; the concern is that this board could put the economic interests of factory farms ahead of the welfare of farm animals and prevent certain animal care reform proposed by national animal rights organizations.

V. Health Care

Health care is an undeniable right. We call for passage of legislation that guarantees comprehensive benefits for all Ohioans in a single payer system, administered by the state, which can be funded by the private and public monies currently committed to health care.

VI. Education

The State of Ohio must ensure that its citizens receive appropriate education opportunities in order to eradicate poverty, reduce crime, and assure the public health. We call for a comprehensive and holistic approach to ensuring equitable, quality education programs in Ohio. Ohio needs to educate all of Ohio's children to sustain the well being of the entire state. We support funding of programs that offer adult literacy education, vocational training, and family literacy as a means to break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty. We support public schools and universities and oppose the privatization of education.

VII. Labor and Employment
Labor is the activity of sustaining our future and ourselves. Job creation should have the goal to both increase environmental sustainability and support real quality of life issues as listed in the Green Party’s 10 Key values. We support the right of workers to form or join labor unions of their own choosing. We support ‘card check’ the right of a majority of workers to form a union wherever they make up a simple majority. The Green Party of Ohio recognizes that all Ohioans who work need to make a living wage. Corporations receiving public subsidies and contracting for public work must provide livable wages and observe basic worker’s rights.

VIII. Economy and Taxation

Ohio corporations are chartered by the State, "for the public good", and the State has the power to control corporations through their charters. We need to implement a state corporate code, that will enable Ohio citizens to control corporations for our service. We also need to ensure that state officeholders, specifically the Attorney General, fulfill their obligations to challenge corporations that exceed their chartered authority or seek to govern. Ohio taxation needs to be fair and equitable. We need to eliminate tax loopholes and other forms of corporate and personal welfare for those with large assets. This will help provide resources for the investments in education, infrastructure and innovations needed to grow a healthy Ohio through the twenty first century. We support a progressively graduated system of taxation to provide adequate services for all of our citizens.

IX. Economic Democracy

We believe that Ohio should, where private enterprise fails to do so, create publicly owned, democratically controlled enterprises to promote an environmental agenda, workers’ rights, and social equity in our society.