Differences Between the Texas Democratic Platform &
Republican Party of Texas
The text below contains language directly quoted from the TDP & RPT platforms.
EDUCATION
Texas Democratic Party Platform (TDP)
Solve the Dropout Crisis
“Proper funding of all our schools to meet the
needs of students who are most at risk of
dropping out is essential. Specific solutions
include:
• school-community collaboration that
brings educational and social services
together under one roof to help at-risk
students and their families;
• expanded access to early childhood
education, targeting at-risk students;
• dual-credit and early-college programs
that draw at-risk students into college
and career paths while still in high
school;
• equitable distribution of highly qualified
teachers, to change current practices
that too often match the most at-risk
students with the least experienced and
least prepared teachers;
• enforce daytime curfew laws to reduce
truancy; and
• providing access to affordable programs
for adults who have dropped out of the
education process.”
Republican Party of Texas Platform (RPT)
Ignore the Dropout Crisis
[Nothing]
TDP… Maintain Class Size Limits
“To make public education our highest priority,
we believe the state should…enforce and
extend class size limits to allow every student
to receive necessary individualized attention.”
RPT… Eliminate Effective Class-Size Limits
“Create flexibility for school districts under the
class size limit mandate.”
TDP… SBOE: Put Experts in Charge of Curriculum
“Any substantive changes to curriculum must
be reviewed by non-partisan experts, and that
review must be made public prior to any
changes in curriculum by the State Board.”
RPT… SBOE: Put Ideologues in Charge of Curriculum
“The SBOE must have sole authority over all
curricula content and state adoption of
educational materials and ancillaries,
(regardless of methods of delivery, including
but not limited to textbooks, laptops and
electronic delivery systems.”
TDP… Support Pre-K & Early Childhood Development
“To make public education our highest priority,
we believe the state should provide universal
access to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.”
“Proper funding of all our schools to meet the
needs of students who are most at risk of
dropping out is essential. Specific solutions
include…expanded access to early childhood
education, targeting at-risk students.”
RPT… Oppose Pre-K & Early Childhood Development
“We believe that parents are best suited to
train their children in their early development
and oppose mandatory pre-school and
Kindergarten. We urge Congress to repeal
government sponsored programs that deal
with early childhood development.”
Provide Necessary Public Education Funding
Texas Democrats believe:
• the state should establish a 100%
equitable school finance system with
sufficient state revenue to allow every
district to offer an exemplary program;
• the state should equitably reduce
reliance on “Robin Hood” recapture;
• state funding formulas should fully
reflect all student and district cost
differences and the impact of inflation
and state mandates.
Provisions that Restrict Education Funding
“We urge the Legislature to abolish property
taxes for the purpose of funding schools.”
“The Party calls upon the Texas Legislature to
repeal the revised franchise tax.”
Oppose School Vouchers
“We believe the state should oppose private
school vouchers.”
TRP
Support Tax Dollars for Private Schools
“We encourage the Governor and the Texas
Legislature to enact child-centered school
funding options – which fund the student, not
schools or districts – to allow maximum
freedom of choice in public, private or
parochial education for all children.”
HEALTH CARE
Texas Democratic Party Platform Oppose Republican Attempts to Repeal Rights
of Health Care Reform
“Texas Democrats:
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the ban on preexisting conditions;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
sweeping small business tax credits;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the ban on rescissions, where insurance
companies shove individuals off their
health insurance coverage if they
develop a catastrophic illness;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
tax breaks for Americans to aid in the
purchase of health insurance;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the closure of the Medicare prescription
drug donut hole that forced seniors to
pay exorbitant prices under the
Republican Medicare Part D plan;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the expansion of health insurance to
uninsured Americans, including 4 million
Texans;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the ability of parents to insure their
children up to age 26;
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal
the creation of health insurance
marketplaces where consumers can
shop for and compare affordable,
quality health insurance plans; and
• oppose Republican attempts to repeal a
healthcare system based on prevention
and wellness.
RPT… Repeal Rights of Health Care Reform
“We urge the Congress to defund, repeal, and
reject the national healthcare takeover, also
known as “ObamaCare” or any similar
legislation.”
JOBS & ECONOMY
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Raise the Minimum Wage
“To improve wages and working conditions, we
believe the minimum wage must be raised,
enforced, and applied across-the-board
meaningfully to restore lost purchasing power
of all workers. It must be indexed to keep it
from eroding again. Employees should be paid
a living wage with provisions for decent health
care and retirement benefits.”
RPT… Repeal the Minimum Wage
“We believe the Minimum Wage Law should
be repealed.”
DPT… Oppose Sales Tax Extension and Increases
“Enact a constitutional amendment to prevent
extending the sales tax to food and medicine
and oppose efforts to impose a national sales
tax.”
RPT… Increase & Expand Sales Tax
“We recommend a national sales tax.”
“We urge the Legislature to abolish property
taxes for the purpose of funding schools and to
shift the tax burden to a consumption-based
tax while maintaining or reducing the overall
tax burden.”
SOCIAL SECURITY
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Protect and Preserve Social Security
“We oppose privatization of the Social Security
program as fiscally irresponsible, and consider
the use of our tax dollars as capital to invest in
the stock market as a threat to the income
security of working Americans.”
RPT… Privatize Social Security
“We support an immediate and orderly
transition to a system of private pensions
based on the concept of individual retirement
accounts, and gradually phasing out the Social
Security tax.”
INSURANCE
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Reform Insurance Regulation; Roll back Rates
“Texas Democrats support the strict
enforcement of policies requiring insurance
companies to roll back their rates to provide
Texas homeowners, renters and drivers fair and
affordable insurance.”
“We support providing the Insurance
Commissioner the authority to deny or approve
rates.”
“Democrats support measures to reduce and
eliminate unfair underwriting and rate setting
practices, such as the use of credit scoring,
redlining and other discriminatory practices.
We support the enforcement of penalties when
such practices are used. Texans must have
access to affordable insurance to protect our
homes and businesses from flood and
windstorm damage. We also support more
thorough oversight and regulation of
homeowner’s insurance through greater
consumer representation in the form of an
official advisory committee or requirements
that the Insurance Commission include
consumer representatives.”
RPT… No Regulation of Insurance Rates, Companies
“Free Market for Utilities and Insurance – We
encourage free market solutions for providing
utilities whenever possible. We support that all
property insurance rates should be set through
free-market forces alone. We support efforts
to shrink the Texas Insurance Association to
reduce the liabilities it imposes on state
taxpayers.”
UTILITIES
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Responsible Regulation of Utilities
“Texas Democrats support responsible
regulation of utilities to provide a level playing
field for regulated industry, through reasonable
policy to prevent predatory pricing. Texans
should not be expected to become experts on
all the factors that determine energy costs in
order to pay lower, reasonable prices for utility
services.”
RPT… No Regulation of Utility Rates, Companies
“Free Market for Utilities and Insurance – We
encourage free market solutions for providing
utilities whenever possible. We support that all
property insurance rates should be set through
free-market forces alone. We support efforts
to shrink the Texas Insurance Association to
reduce the liabilities it imposes on state
taxpayers.”
IMMIGRATION
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Oppose State Law That Could Deny the Rights
or Endanger the Safety of Citizens
“Texas will not become Arizona, and we
strongly oppose…any law that would…
• through its enforcement, result in
discrimination; intimidation or
victimization of citizens based on their
race, ethnicity or appearance;
• force law enforcement agencies to
divert limited resources and manpower
from their primary duty to protect
citizens and prevent crime.”
RPT… Create a New State Offense for “Illegal Aliens”
“Create a state offense (Class A misdemeanor)
for an illegal alien to intentionally or knowingly
be within the State of Texas.”
“We support…empowering state and local
law enforcement agencies with authority and
resources to detain illegal immigrants.”
VOTING RIGHTS
Texas Democratic Party Platform
Protect Voting Rights for All Texans
“We support redistricting standards and
practices that demand compliance with the
Voting Rights Act, discourage savaging regions
and communities for partisan gain, and
preserve the constituent-representative
relationship to the extent possible to give
voters the right to elect their representatives
instead of letting representatives pick their
voters.”
RPT… Eliminate Minority Voting Districts
“We oppose any identification of citizens by
race, origin, or creed and oppose use of any
such identification for purposes of creating
voting districts
