Democratic Accountability

The American Heritage® Dictionary defines High Road as:

NOUN:  1a. The easiest or surest path or course: the high road to happiness.   b. The most positive, diplomatic, or ethical course.

The American Legislative Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) defines High Road as high-wage, low-waste, worker-friendly, publicly-accountable economic development.   Public accountability includes open information, responsible spending, citizen participation, access to the ballot box, campaign finance reform and corporate accountability.

Whether it’s a county in Maine or Mississippi, our state elected officials are all struggling with spending. There are over 7300 state elected officials and over 250 constitutional officiers wrestling with state budget deficits.  They're are all spending our tax dollars, and we need to ensure our values are represented in the choices they make.

So what values will one find on the high road?

The high road is accountable.  For Democracy to work, citizens must have access to information and be able to participate.  They need to know how our tax dollars are being spent, and that the merit of a good idea will overcome the corporate money behind a bad one.

The high road is efficient.  We're targeting subsidies and tax dollars carefully, instead of wasting precious resources on bad business and sprawl. We're making sure our money isn't wasted on bad jobs and short term gains.

The high road promotes quality.   We're emphasizing high-quality, high-wage, high-skill, high value-added jobs over the opposite. These jobs are better for workers, and the firms providing them are more committed to the community, because they’ve spent resources training their high-skill workforce.

The high road is sustainable.  We're thinking about the future, focusing on retention and upgrading, seeking to cooperate instead of compete with neighbors. At its best, it can promote good jobs that will survive the next decade and the next generation.

The box to your right houses best practices in publicly accountable progressive state policy.  There is a choice.  Start the journey. 

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