Improved access to expanded health care and social services are among the most pressing issues facing Butte County residents. The Butte County Democratic Party believes that affordable health care services should be available to all, and social services should be accessible through a single point of contact. We also believe that every American deserves a secure, healthy, and dignified retirement.

 

The Butte County Democratic Party…
 

• Opposes efforts to repeal or restrict the Affordable Care Act, which extended health coverage to more than 30,000 county residents who were previously unserved.  
   

• Supports comprehensive and universal Medicare for All.
   

• Supports women's reproductive rights and federal legislation that guarantees all women access to the broadest scope of women’s health services and the permanent right to choose.
   

• Calls for development of a single point of county contact for people needing services from different county agencies so they can do “one stop shopping.” This will save the county money and improve service delivery.   
   

• Supports a living wage for caregivers and home-care workers.
   

• Supports a level of funding for public health services in Butte County that meets or exceeds the California county average.

 

• Supports increased funding for behavioral health programs, for which demand has increased due to trauma from recent emergencies.

 

• Encourages legislation to improve respite care and in-home support services, along with a living wage and better training programs for home-care workers. 

 

• Supports increased funding for drug and alcohol treatment and diversion, including adequate funding for drug court, as this lowers incarceration costs and increases the subject’s chances of securing and retaining housing. 
   

• Support local growth policies that encourage the development of low-income, supportive housing projects that include continuum-of-care services to help homeless people reestablish themselves as self-sufficient contributors to society as our county grows.
   

• Calls for county agencies to include issues of public transportation access in their planning.
   

• Supports keeping Social Security financially sound by eliminating the payroll tax cap and sufficiently raising benefits (where necessary) so that no recipient must live below the poverty level.

 

• Supports making Social Security benefits tax exempt and tying the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) to the consumer price index to protect retirees against inflation.

 

• Supports removing barriers (i.e., means testing) that limit middle-class residents’ access to social services. 
   

• Supports rational, scientifically based policy to prevent new epidemics/pandemics from spreading or for public health agencies to be able to respond rapidly when they appear.