Platform Committee 2026-05-26

Attending

• Chairperson Lily Boyt of Alabama
• Mars Bale of Ohio
• Blase Henry of Arizona
• Rowan Tipping of Illinois
• Wanda Ward of Florida

Agenda

• work on language for proposed markets & economy plank
• further discussion on zoning reform
• talk about k-12 education if anyone feels confident speaking to it.
• free discussion

Discussion

• Meeting started at 22:00 EDT

After significant workshopping, the following was unanimously approved to be sent to the PNC for consideration as a new platform plank.

MARKETS & ECONOMY

We will tune our markets and economy so they serve ordinary people instead of politicians and the ultrawealthy. On wages, we will raise the federal minimum to $15/hour, eliminate the tipped sub-minimum wage so that all workers earn a living wage, and establish an independent board to set future increases transparently and automatically without partisan gridlock. 

Prediction markets have become vehicles for abuse and distortion. We will ban betting on sports, war, and political outcomes in prediction markets, while imposing extensive prohibitions on insider trading. Conflicts of interest while in public office are deeply concerning to us. Members of Congress should be barred from trading stocks, as those trades create unacceptable opportunities for unfairly profiting from their office. 

We support progressive taxation; higher income taxes are necessary to fund public goods and to reduce the extreme wealth inequality currently undermining our republic. To return capital to productive investment, we will close the stock buyback loophole entirely and set the capital gains tax rate to the same as ordinary income. Finally, to make tax compliance simple, we will build an IRS direct-file system so that all can file accurately without intrusive cost or complexity. Together these measures will close loopholes, protect markets from insider abuses, lift ordinary people’s wages, curb rent-seeking behaviors, and ensure our economy grows equitably. 

The most significant change in this language when compared with the initial draft is the exclusion of a maximum wage policy.

Additionally at the meeting, the policy areas of city zoning and k-12 education were discussed.

• Meeting was adjourned at approximately 23:50 EDT