BIW: program for the 2023 Bremen state election

The BIW wants to make Bremen more attractive to companies and investors. State taxes and levies would fall, procedures would be shortened and bureaucracy cut. Better location marketing, new commercial land and a more diversified economy are also planned.

The BIW wants to bring more companies to Bremen. Taxes and fees in the state should go down. Permits should be faster. There should be new land for businesses. Bremen should advertise itself more.

The BIW wants to revive support for small and mid-sized businesses and raise the self-employment rate, which the platform says is Germany's lowest at 6.5 percent. The state development bank would set up new financing programs. A commissioner for small and mid-sized businesses and new start-up centers near universities would be added.

Bremen has few self-employed people. The BIW wants to change that. The state's development bank should lend money to small companies. Start-up centers should open near the universities. A commissioner should look after small companies.

The BIW wants to dissolve the Arbeitnehmerkammer Bremen (Chamber of Employees), to which all employees in the state must belong and pay dues. In the party's view, the chamber is unnecessary and costly and competes with the labor unions.

In Bremen, all employees must be members of a chamber. They pay dues for it. The BIW wants to abolish this chamber. It considers the chamber unnecessary and expensive.

The BIW wants authorities in the state of Bremen to act firmly against undeclared work and against employers who evade the minimum wage. The goal is a level playing field for all businesses.

Some companies hire people off the books. Some pay less than the minimum wage. The BIW wants the authorities to stop this. Then all companies have the same conditions.

The BIW wants to comply with the debt brake without exceptions and rejects the new borrowing planned by the state government. Unexpected tax windfalls should go entirely toward debt reduction to lower interest costs.

Bremen has very high debt. The BIW wants no new debt. The debt brake should apply strictly. This is a rule that limits new loans. Extra tax money should pay off old debt.

The BIW wants public money used more efficiently and waste reduced. To that end, the state audit office and local audit offices should get more powers and be involved in planning large projects from the start.

The BIW wants Bremen to be careful with tax money. Auditors should check big projects early. Offices should buy things together to get discounts. Citizens and staff should send in ideas for saving money. Good ideas get a reward.

The BIW wants a coordinated program across all government departments to get more people to move to Bremen. More residents are meant to raise purchasing power and the state's tax revenue.

The BIW wants more people to live in Bremen. There should be a program for this. It is aimed mostly at commuters from Lower Saxony. More residents mean more tax money for the state.

The BIW wants Bremen to push in the Bundesrat for a different way of distributing commuters' wage and income tax. It also wants the local business tax replaced by a larger municipal share of other taxes.

Many people work in Bremen but live in Lower Saxony. Their wage tax goes to the place where they live. The BIW wants Bremen to get part of it. The local business tax should go away. Cities should get more from other taxes instead.

The BIW wants to review the state's more than 200 shareholdings for usefulness and profitability and sell them where it makes sense. Proceeds should pay down debt and fund investment; public housing is excluded from any sale.

The state of Bremen owns shares in more than 200 companies. The BIW wants to check if this is worth it. The state should sell some of these shares. The money should pay off debt and fund investments. Homes owned by the public housing companies should not be sold.

The BIW wants new housing built mainly on already developed land within the cities while preserving green spaces as far as possible. Lower building standards are meant to make affordable housing more attractive for private investors.

The BIW wants more homes in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Building should happen mostly where there are already buildings. New high-rises are possible too. Building rules should be simpler. Then building costs less. Green spaces in the city should stay.

The BIW wants to ease staff shortages in daycare centers by using trained assistants who have experience raising children themselves. Kindergartens and nurseries would open more flexibly to relieve working parents. Company daycare and home-based care would be supported.

Daycare centers lack staff. So the BIW wants to use assistants. These people have raised children themselves. Daycare centers should have more flexible hours. Company daycare should also get support.

The BIW wants to protect children better against neglect and abuse. Preventive checkups would become mandatory, and youth welfare caseworkers would gain more powers. Children of parents addicted to alcohol or drugs would live in homes or foster families.

The BIW wants to protect children better. All small children must see a doctor regularly. This way injuries are noticed early. The youth welfare office should be able to step in faster. Children of addicted parents should live elsewhere.

The BIW wants to achieve a general alcohol ban for minors via the Bundesrat. Retailers would be checked with underage test buyers and face higher fines for violations. At schools, drug dealing would lead to expulsion and prevention would be expanded.

The BIW wants to ban alcohol for everyone under 18. Young test buyers should check stores. Stores should pay higher fines for breaking the rules. Anyone offering drugs at school must leave the school.

The BIW wants every child tested from age three to spot language and learning gaps early. Children with a high need for support would be required to attend kindergarten and, where necessary, a public preschool. Refugee children of school age would first learn German in preparatory classes.

The BIW wants to test all children at age three. This should show language problems early. Children with big problems must then go to kindergarten. Refugee children first learn German in separate classes.

The BIW wants to dissolve Bremen's Oberschulen (comprehensive secondary schools) and bring back Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium. The move to secondary school would depend only on performance and ability. The party also wants earlier grading, conduct grades and mandatory grade repetition.

The BIW wants to end the Oberschule school type. There would again be three types of secondary school. A test at the end of primary school decides which one fits. Children could again be held back a year.

The BIW rejects teaching children with special needs in learning, language or behavior together with others in regular classes. These children would instead receive intensive support at special-needs schools. Children with physical disabilities would also preferably be taught there.

The BIW is against shared classes for all children. Children with learning problems should go to special schools. The BIW says they get better help there. This also applies to children with physical disabilities.

The BIW wants to attract more teachers to Bremen, including through higher pay and housing for educators moving in. Career changers, classroom assistants and retired teachers would also be brought in. In the long run, class sizes would shrink.

Bremen does not have enough teachers. The BIW wants to pay teachers more. Teachers from other states should get apartments. People without teacher training could also teach. Later, classes should be smaller.

The BIW wants tougher action against truancy, with higher fines for parents and loss of custody in serious cases. Violence and bullying at schools would have to be reported and would lead to expulsion. Schools with repeated violent incidents would get entrance checks.

The BIW wants all children to attend school. Parents of children who skip school should pay higher fines. Schools must always report violence and bullying. Offenders should have to leave the school. Some schools should have checks at the entrance.

The BIW wants a first degree to stay free of tuition but would again charge long-term students. People over 55 starting a second degree would also pay. In addition, all faculties would introduce entrance exams and a test after the first semester.

A first degree in Bremen should stay free. People who study for a very long time should pay fees again. This also applies to a second degree from age 55. There should be an exam before starting. Another test follows after the first semester.

The BIW wants to create a dedicated Gymnasium for highly gifted young people in Bremen. At the same time, struggling learners would get extra tutoring and homework help in all-day schools across the state. A volunteer network of learning and reading mentors would add to this.

The BIW wants a special Gymnasium for very gifted young people. Children with learning problems should get extra lessons. There should be help with homework. Volunteer mentors should help children with learning and reading.

The BIW wants enough affordable nursing homes, senior apartments and assisted living options because the number of older people is growing. Care facilities would be inspected regularly and without notice. Volunteering by seniors would be encouraged.

There are more and more old people in Bremen. The BIW wants enough affordable homes and apartments for them. Houses for young and old together are also wanted. Inspectors should check care homes without warning.

The BIW wants foreign serious and repeat offenders deported at the latest after their prison term and barred from returning for life. All others who are required to leave, such as rejected asylum seekers, should also have to leave Bremen.

Foreigners who commit serious crimes should have to leave Germany. This should happen after prison at the latest. They should never be allowed back. Bremen should also deport rejected asylum seekers.

The BIW wants asylum seekers with pending cases and tolerated people who are required to leave to be housed in shared facilities as a rule, not in their own apartments. This is meant to reduce demand for low-cost housing.

Asylum seekers should live in shared housing. This applies while their case is still open. It also applies to people who must leave the country. They should not get their own apartment. The BIW wants to keep more cheap homes free for locals.

The BIW rejects gender-inclusive language forms in public administration, in laws, and in schools and daycare centers. Its reasoning is that they make official language harder to understand.

The BIW does not want gender-inclusive language in public offices. It says this language makes official letters harder to read. Laws should not use it either. Teachers and daycare staff should not use it.

The BIW wants to end animal testing in the state of Bremen, above all the neurological experiments on monkeys at the University of Bremen. Research methods that do not use animals should be funded instead.

The BIW wants no animal testing in Bremen. Above all, the tests on monkeys at the university should stop. Research without animals should get money. The BIW sees animals as fellow creatures.

The BIW wants compliance with animal welfare rules checked more often and more strictly for transports, slaughterhouses, circuses, and breeders. The pigeon population downtown is to be managed through supervised pigeon lofts.

The BIW wants more checks to protect animals. This applies to animal transport and slaughterhouses. It also applies to circuses and breeders. People who break the rules should face strict penalties. Pigeons should get supervised lofts at the edge of the city.

The BIW wants to scrap the dog tax and revise Bremen's dog owner law along the lines of Lower Saxony's. The list of breeds classified as dangerous would be dropped, and dogs would get more off-leash areas.

The BIW wants to end the dog tax. It thinks this tax is unfair. The law for dog owners should be rewritten. The list of dangerous dog breeds should go. Dogs should get more areas where they can run without a leash.

The BIW wants to abolish Bremen's low-emission zone because, in its view, it harms retail, tourism and skilled trades. Downtown should stay easy to reach by car, and public parking should no longer be removed. The party rejects a congestion charge.

The BIW wants to end the low-emission zone in Bremen. It says the zone hurts stores. Cars should get into downtown easily. There should be enough parking. The BIW rejects a fee for driving into the city.

The BIW wants to quickly modernize and expand rail, road and waterways in the hinterland of Bremen's ports. This is meant to avoid bottlenecks as cargo and container traffic is expected to grow. Several rail and highway projects are named.

Bremen's ports should handle more goods. That takes good routes. The BIW wants to expand rail, roads and waterways quickly. This includes several highways and rail lines.

The BIW wants lasting road repairs and smoother traffic in the city centers. It opposes what it sees as one-sided restrictions on drivers and calls for a balance between mobility, the economy, and the environment.

The BIW wants roads to be repaired properly. Traffic lights should be timed so cars stop less often. Roundabouts should replace many intersections with lights. Residential areas should get more calm zones. Trucks should not drive through them.

The BIW rejects a general speed limit on the three-lane A1 and A27 highways and wants flexible electronic speed control instead. A 30 km/h limit should apply only for safety reasons, such as near schools and kindergartens.

The BIW wants no fixed speed limit on the A1 and A27 highways. Electronic signs should set the speed depending on conditions. A 30 km/h limit should apply near schools and kindergartens. The BIW does not want 30 km/h on main roads. Speed cameras should only serve safety.

The BIW calls for a consensus against political and religious extremism alike and accuses the Senate of playing down left-wing radicalism. Islamist and Salafist activities are to be fought with every means available under the rule of law.

The BIW opposes all extremism. That means political and religious extremism. The state should fight Islamists with all legal means. Politicians should only talk with Muslim groups that respect the constitution.

The BIW wants to grow the police to 3,000 officers in Bremen and 550 in Bremerhaven and return to neighborhood-based precincts. Under the motto "zero tolerance," the state is to step in consistently even for minor offenses.

The BIW wants more police officers in Bremen and Bremerhaven. Every district should have a police station again. Stations should be open day and night. Police should act even on small offenses.

The BIW wants to build a volunteer security patrol of suitable citizens, modeled on Bavaria and Saxony. It is meant to relieve the police of simple tasks and increase the state's visible presence through patrols.

The BIW wants a security patrol. These are volunteer citizens who help the police. They take on simple tasks. They also walk patrols.

The BIW wants Bremen to push in the Bundesrat for doubling the minimum sentence for resisting law enforcement officers. Patrol officers are to get Tasers and body cameras for their own protection.

People who attack police officers should get harsher sentences. The minimum sentence should be 12 months instead of 6. Patrol officers should get Tasers. A Taser is an electric stun device. They should also wear body cameras.

The BIW wants to do more to stop crimes before they happen. To that end, it wants more cameras in high-crime locations and methods such as predictive policing.

The BIW wants to stop crimes before they happen. Dangerous places should get more cameras. Computers should tell police where crimes are likely. Children should learn to settle fights without violence.

The BIW opposes legalizing cannabis and wants to cap the amount exempt from prosecution at six grams. Possession of hard drugs would always be prosecuted, and open drug scenes would not be tolerated. The guiding principle is abstinence rather than substitutes.

The BIW is against legal cannabis. Only up to 6 grams should go unpunished. Hard drugs should always lead to a case. The BIW wants fewer substitute drugs like methadone. Instead there should be more therapy.

The BIW wants to relieve hunters and sport shooters of fees and frequent inspections. Authorities should instead focus on illegal weapons, which the platform sees as the real danger.

Hunters and sport shooters own legal guns. The BIW wants to burden them less. A fee for inspections should be dropped. Police should deal with illegal weapons instead.

The BIW wants sentences to be based mainly on the harm to the victim and considers Bremen's courts too lenient. Juvenile repeat offenders would go to closed homes, early release would be the exception, and prisons would be more tightly controlled.

The BIW wants harsher sentences. The victim should matter more than the offender. Young people with many crimes should go to closed homes. Prisoners should get out early less often. Prison visitors should be checked closely.

The BIW wants residents to vote on whether Bremen stays a separate federal state or merges with other states. The platform points to the high cost of independence, the lack of surrounding territory, and dependence on Lower Saxony.

Bremen is its own state in Germany. The BIW wants to ask the people if it should stay that way. Bremen could also join with other states. Everyone should vote on this.

The BIW wants a new head of state for Bremen who is elected directly by the people and may not belong to any party. The office is meant to counterbalance the parties and, as the platform puts it, to counter cronyism and patronage.

The BIW wants a new office: a state president. The people of Bremen elect this person directly. The president may not belong to a party. The president should keep the parties in check.

The BIW wants to cut the state parliament to 50 seats to save money. At the same time, parliament is to get more control over the Senate, Bremen's government.

The Bürgerschaft is Bremen's parliament. The BIW wants only 50 lawmakers there. This should save money. But parliament should watch the government more closely.

The BIW wants to bar lawmakers from paid outside work and restructure their compensation. The taxpayer-funded pension is to be dropped. The stated aim is more independence and less influence for lobbyists and parties.

Lawmakers should no longer have paid side jobs. The BIW also wants to change how they are paid. Lawmakers should save for old age themselves. Public jobs should go only to skilled people.

The BIW wants to involve residents more in local decisions and set up a municipal suggestion system. District councils are to get more powers, citizen service offices more staff, and the administration more online services.

People should have more say locally. They should be able to report problems and send in ideas. Citizen service offices should get more staff. People should be able to file many requests online.