Election Reform
Environment
Healthcare
Racial & Social Justice
Marijuana Legalization
NYPAN supports the retroactive decriminalization and regulation of recreational marijuana. NYPAN supports easy access to medical marijuana for those who need it.
Education
NYPAN supports, as a basic human right, free quality public education, through university and graduate school, including vocational schools. NYPAN supports fiscal equity for all school districts regardless of the local tax base and the full implementation of the judicial remedies which resulted from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. NYPAN supports a richer curriculum for our children including athletics and the arts; after-school activities; and nutritious meal programs. NYPAN has always supported options for student debt reduction or student loan interest rate reduction, and now urges President-elect Biden to cancel all student loan debt.
Families
NYPAN supports paid family leave, universal affordable quality daycare and preschool, and family-based alternatives to assisted living. Our seniors must be protected from predatory businesses and scam artists. Members of the LGBTQ community must have equal ability to become foster or adoptive parents.
Immigration
NYPAN believes that all who reside within the United States must have fair terms of work, residence, healthcare, and education. NYPAN supports sanctuary cities and would like to see New York become a sanctuary state. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity, regardless of their documentation status, and anyone who is threatened with deportation must receive due process. NYPAN supports the passage of the NY Dream and Liberty Acts.
Foreign Policy
NYPAN believes that war should be an option of last resort and that every act of US aggression must follow from a constitutionally mandated congressional declaration. As such, the current wars and non-congressionally declared military actions should be drawn down and replaced by diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives. Moreover, all US support for undemocratic regimes and governments which violate their citizens’ basic human rights should be terminated.
Taxation
NYPAN supports equitable taxation of income and the full platform of “Invest in Our New York” including a billionaires tax to a Stock Transfer Tax. Progressive taxation must be reinstated on the federal and state levels, and tax laws that favor the super-rich must be repealed. The cap on Social Security (Federal Insurance Compensation Act/FICA) must be lifted. Estate taxes must be employed to reduce overwhelming wealth concentration among a tiny elite. Penalties must be imposed on anyone who uses shell companies or offshore accounts to hide assets.
Housing
NYPAN believes that everyone has the right to a safe and affordable place to live. Landlords must maintain their residences and treat their tenants fairly. Tax incentives that favor those who have large mortgages, multiple homes or luxury homes must be eliminated. The pro-real estate industry “Urstadt” law must be repealed so that cities can control their own rent laws. During the pandemic, there must be a moratorium on evictions and mortgage relief for small landlords, at a minimum.
Economic Justice
NYPAN believes that people are more important than profits. NYPAN supports FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights, including the idea of a Basic Minimum Income and/or a Guaranteed Jobs Program. NYPAN supports democratic business policies, such as worker-owned cooperatives and controls on wage disparities. NYPAN supports pay equity and believes that no one should work a 40-hour week and live in poverty. In fact, no one should live in poverty, period. The minimum wage should be a living wage.
Banking
NYPAN supports the creation of more credit unions and community banks, as well as a public-option for basic banking services, such as post office banking. The Glass-Steagall Act, which separates basic banking services from high-risk banking activities, must be reinstated to protect the public from predatory lending and other financial scams. NYPAN supports breaking up large banks.
Labor Rights
The massive war on unions and workers’ right to organize must be reversed. Federal and State laws punishing employers for violating union and employee rights are long overdue and must be enacted immediately.
Farming
NYPAN supports small family farms and sustainable farms of all sizes, as well as the elimination of tax subsidies for the agribusiness that is destroying our planet. Livestock must be raised and slaughtered humanely, and the costs to our environment must be minimized. Pesticides and other farm chemicals must be strictly regulated to protect biodiversity and soil quality. NYPAN supports urban farming and shortening the distance between farms and consumers.
Infrastructure & Transportation
NYPAN supports vigorous investment in infrastructure maintenance and development, especially in mass transit, roads and bridges, water treatment plants, and the national power grid, all of which will strengthen our economy, reduce environmental degradation, and provide honest work to millions.
Guns
NYPAN joins with the overwhelming majority of Americans, including gun owners, in demanding common sense laws against the sale of guns to those who haven’t passed a background check or would pose a danger to the public, especially our children. NYPAN supports common sense restrictions on where people can carry weapons. The NY Safe Act (which includes a ban on assault weapons) should be improved, with input from gun owners, hunters and those affected by gun violence. NYPAN stands in solidarity with the youth activists and victims of gun violence.
Net Neutrality
NYPAN supports net neutrality. Companies that harvest consumer data and personal information need to be regulated and privacy needs to be protected. NYPAN supports affordable, high-speed broadband for all.