FDP: program for the 2023 Hesse state election

The FDP wants to make it easier to found or take over a business and to turn Hesse into a stronger start-up location. Plans include a statewide founding strategy, more venture capital, more founder scholarships and an entrepreneurial culture in schools and universities.

The FDP wants more people to start a company. There should be more money and less red tape for this. Schools should teach about starting a business. People who take over an existing business should also get help.

The FDP wants to establish regional Centers of Innovation that combine start-up support, digitalization for small and midsize firms, and vocational education. They are meant to give young people outside the big urban areas prospects in new technologies.

The FDP wants new centers for ideas and technology. They should also be set up outside the big cities. Founders and small firms get help there. Trainees, skilled workers and students can learn there too.

The FDP wants to reduce bureaucratic requirements for founders and companies as far as possible and bundle contact with authorities in one place. The state audit office would regularly review laws and regulations for the red tape they cause.

Companies should have less paperwork. They should enter their data digitally only once. One contact point should guide them through the authorities. The state audit office should check laws. It should say what can be made simpler.

The FDP wants to make the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main financial center a priority of state policy. The headquarters of financial regulator BaFin would move from Bonn to Frankfurt, and the planned EU anti-money-laundering authority (AMLA) would be based there.

Frankfurt is an important place for banks. The FDP wants to strengthen this financial center. Germany's financial regulator should move from Bonn to Frankfurt. A new EU agency against money laundering should also come to Frankfurt.

The FDP wants to turn Frankfurt into a center for financial technology start-ups. It proposes a "German Tech Festival" modeled on Singapore's fintech event. It also wants euro clearing to take place in Frankfurt in the future.

The FDP wants more young finance companies in Frankfurt. It plans a big industry meeting there. It is called the "German Tech Festival." Founders, banks and investors would meet there.

The FDP wants to make Hesse Europe's most innovative industrial location. A new "House of Production" would bring business and science together to develop digital manufacturing technology. The chemical and pharmaceutical sector and research on autonomous vehicles would also get more support.

The FDP wants to strengthen industry in Hesse. Companies and researchers would work together in a new center. It is called the "House of Production." It deals with digital technology for factories. The pharma industry would also get more help.

The FDP wants the master craftsman title and the master's degree to be treated as equal and wants training for the former funded like a master's program. It calls for a master craftsman bonus at the level paid in Bavaria. It also wants to ease business succession in the trades and expand dual study programs across Hesse.

The FDP wants to strengthen the skilled trades. People training to become master craftsmen should get money from the state. The amount should match what Bavaria pays. There should also be more dual study programs. In these, people learn at a company and at a college.

The FDP calls for a clear commitment by the state to Messe Frankfurt. Existing trade fairs should stay in Frankfurt and new events should be won. New event formats should also be supported, as digital offerings are changing the trade fair business.

The FDP wants to strengthen the Frankfurt trade fair company. The state should clearly back it. Trade fairs should stay in Frankfurt. New fairs should also come.

The FDP wants to make Hesse's public procurement law simpler for mid-sized companies and remove bureaucratic hurdles. Additional state requirements such as a state minimum wage should not apply to public contracts. In the party's view, procurement law should be limited to ensuring fair competition.

The state gives contracts to companies. There are many rules for this. The FDP wants to make these rules simpler. Small and mid-sized companies should have an easier time. Hesse should not add its own extra rules, such as its own minimum wage.

The FDP wants to give tourism more weight in state policy and to concentrate responsibilities within the administration. Restaurant licensing law should contain fewer requirements so that investment pays off. In state planning, tourism interests should count for more, including relative to wind energy expansion.

The FDP wants to strengthen tourism in Hesse. Restaurants and inns should face fewer rules. Applying for funding should become easier. Wind turbines should not automatically matter more than tourism projects.

The FDP wants to change Hesse's shop opening law so that stores can reliably use the four permitted Sunday shopping days. To do so, the requirement that an opening be tied to a specific occasion would be removed. The party also wants to examine whether more Sunday shopping days are possible.

Stores in Hesse may open on four Sundays a year. Unclear rules often prevent this. The FDP wants to change the law. Then stores can safely open on these Sundays. The FDP will also check whether more Sundays are possible.

The FDP wants every university to have a start-up and innovation center. The aim is to make spin-offs easier, move research results into companies faster and let universities share more in patent revenue.

Every university should get a center for start-ups. Researchers get help there when they want to found a company. Research ideas should reach companies faster. Universities should earn money from their inventions.

The FDP wants to expand support for the creative industries in Hesse and clearly assign responsibilities within the state government. According to the platform, Hesse ranks near the bottom nationally on such support even though the sector is the state's third most important industry.

The creative industries include music, books, film and video games. The FDP wants to support this sector more. There should be clear contacts in the ministries. Founders should get advice and easier access to money.

The FDP supports open, rules-based world trade and free trade agreements such as CETA and the Mercosur deal. At the same time, excessive economic dependence on individual countries should be avoided or reduced so that the EU is more resilient in crises.

The FDP is for free trade between countries. It supports trade deals with Canada and with countries in South America. But Europe should not depend too much on single countries. Raw materials should come from more countries. Europe should also make more itself.

The FDP wants to bring a video game trade fair to Hesse, preferably to Frankfurt. It cites the importance of the industry and the software companies already based there.

The FDP wants a trade fair for video games in Hesse. Frankfurt would be the best place for it. Many companies from this industry are already there. The FDP thinks the industry is important.

The FDP wants to tackle the staff shortage in daycare with paid training, more dual training and higher starting salaries. This is also meant to attract more men to the job.

Daycare centers lack staff. The FDP wants all trainees to get paid. Starting pay should be higher. This should bring more people into the job, including more men.

The FDP wants to introduce mandatory arbitration procedures for strikes in aviation. It argues that labor disputes by small groups can bring large parts of air traffic to a halt. The right to strike would remain in place in principle.

Sometimes small groups go on strike at the airport. Then many flights are canceled. The FDP wants fixed rules for this. Both sides would first have to negotiate with a mediator. The right to strike would stay.

The FDP wants to promote new forms of housing for older people, such as shared living groups, multigenerational housing and cooperatives, and create regular public funding for them. Seniors should also find it easier to volunteer and take part in politics.

Older people should be able to live independently for a long time. The FDP wants to support new ways of living, such as shared homes. The state should help pay for planning and building. Seniors should also be able to take part more, as volunteers and in politics.

The FDP wants to support companies that join forces in training alliances and rejects a training-place levy, which in its view only burdens small and midsize businesses. For young refugees, the InteA classes should be open up to an entry age of 25.

The FDP wants to strengthen job training in companies and vocational schools. Small companies should be able to train young people together. The FDP rejects a fee for companies without trainees. Young refugees should be allowed into special classes for longer. There they learn German and get a school certificate.

The FDP wants to loosen the Working Hours Act so that employees can interrupt their workday for family time. Remote work should become normal through collective agreements, and extra vacation days should be freely negotiable with the employer.

The FDP wants more flexible rules for working hours. Parents should be able to pause work during the day for family. Working from home should become normal. Workers should be allowed to negotiate more vacation days with their boss.

The FDP wants to give people with disabilities as much independence as possible and relies on individual solutions such as the personal budget, which is to be offered statewide. Accessibility is to be expanded, and deafblind people are to receive a higher allowance for the blind.

People with disabilities should be able to live as independently as possible. They should choose what help they get. The personal budget is a tool for this. The FDP wants more accessibility. Deafblind people should get more money.

The FDP wants the Landeswohlfahrtsverband (LWV, State Welfare Association) to be the sole supra-regional body responsible for integration assistance in Hesse. In the party's view, only the LWV ensures comparable quality and oversight statewide; its special-needs schools are to be kept and developed further.

The State Welfare Association helps people with disabilities in Hesse. The FDP wants it alone to keep this job for the whole state. This should make help equally good everywhere. Its special schools should stay.

The FDP wants more flexible rules for working-time models and, through the Bundesrat, simpler occupational safety requirements for home-office workplaces. This is meant to cut commuting and ease pressure to move from rural areas to cities.

The FDP wants freer rules for working hours. There should be fewer rules for working from home. Hesse should push for this in the Bundesrat, the chamber of the states. Then fewer people need to commute. And more people can stay in the countryside.

The FDP wants to give state employees a legal right to remote work. New office concepts would go along with this so that the state remains an attractive employer.

People who work for the state of Hesse should be allowed to work remotely. The FDP wants a firm right to this. Offices should become more open and flexible. This should keep the state a good employer.

The FDP wants to keep the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) unchanged and rejects loosening it. A binding repayment plan is to apply to the state's old debts. The party justifies this with fairness between generations and room for future budgets.

The FDP wants to keep the debt brake. The debt brake limits new government debt. Hesse should pay off old debt under a fixed plan. This should put less burden on young people later.

The FDP wants to review all of the state's company holdings and keep only those that serve a clear state policy goal. Proceeds from privatizations are to go into an infrastructure fund.

Hesse owns shares in 49 companies. The FDP wants to review all of these shares. The state should keep only important ones. Money from sales should go into roads, networks and other infrastructure.

The FDP wants Hesse to invest more and plans to anchor an investment rate in the budget. Investment should be at least as high as depreciation. The priorities are education, infrastructure and digitalization.

The FDP wants Hesse to put more money into the future. The budget should have a fixed minimum level for this. The money should go mainly to education and infrastructure. Fast internet should also be expanded.

The FDP wants to digitalize and automate Hesse's tax administration further. Fees charged by the state administration are to be revised. For married couples, the tax office should choose the more favorable type of assessment on its own initiative.

The FDP wants to make tax offices more digital. Many things should run automatically. State fees should be reorganized. For married couples, the office itself should pick the cheaper way to calculate the tax.

The FDP wants cash to remain an unrestricted means of payment and rejects a cap on cash payments. It sees cash as part of personal freedom because it allows saving and doing business without state monitoring.

The FDP wants to keep cash. Everyone should still be able to pay in cash without limits. The FDP rejects a maximum amount for cash payments. For the FDP, cash is part of freedom.

The FDP wants to abolish the Solidaritätszuschlag (solidarity surcharge) entirely because, in its view, it is no longer justified since Solidarpakt II expired. The partial abolition so far is not enough for the party.

The solidarity surcharge is an extra charge on top of tax. Today only some people still pay it. The FDP wants to abolish it for everyone. It says there is no longer a reason for it.

The FDP wants to scrap the solidarity levy that financially strong municipalities pay within municipal revenue sharing, arguing that it penalizes success. The state's trade tax levy is also to go, since in the party's view it presents municipal money as state money.

Wealthy cities and towns in Hesse pay a special levy. The FDP wants to abolish this levy. A levy on the local business tax should also go. The money should stay with the towns.

The FDP wants to introduce a cap on municipal property tax multipliers because they are above average in Hesse. It rejects a statewide Grundsteuer C (a tax on undeveloped building land); municipalities should decide on it themselves.

Towns set how high the property tax is. The FDP wants a maximum limit for it. This should also protect renters from high extra costs. There should be no statewide extra tax on empty building lots.

The FDP wants to fund municipalities well enough that they can repair their roads and also do without Straßenausbaubeiträge (road improvement charges on adjacent property owners). To this end, state grants for municipal roads are to rise from 18 to 78 million euros.

Residents often have to pay when their street is renewed. The FDP wants towns to be able to drop these charges. For this, towns should get more money from the state. It should be 78 million euros instead of 18.

The FDP wants to raise the municipal share of sales tax and income tax and provide funds to municipalities without conditions. The goal is adequately funded local governments that no longer make land-use decisions mainly with business tax revenue in mind.

Towns and cities often have too little money. The FDP wants to give them a bigger share of taxes. The federal and state governments should fully pay for tasks they hand to towns. Towns should decide for themselves how to use the money.

The FDP wants growth in land used for housing and transport to fall to zero by 2050. Before new residential or commercial zones are created, vacant lots, existing buildings and brownfield sites should be used.

Land cannot be multiplied. So the FDP wants to build on less new land. From 2050, no new land should be added on balance. Gaps and old buildings should be used first. Buildings should also be allowed to be taller.

The FDP wants to boost housing construction with fewer rules and faster procedures. Binding deadlines would apply to building permits; if a deadline passes, the application counts as approved.

The FDP wants faster building. Offices should decide on building applications within fixed deadlines. If they miss them, the application counts as approved. Turning an attic into a home should no longer need a permit. Applications should be possible online.

The FDP wants to abolish the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) and the 2022 ban on converting rental apartments into condominiums. The period during which tenants cannot be evicted after a conversion would drop from eight to five years. The party argues these rules hold back investment and home ownership.

The FDP wants to end the rent brake. This rule limits rents in new leases. The FDP says the rule prevents new housing. Rental apartments should again be allowed to become owned apartments. Protection from eviction after that should last five years, not eight.

The FDP wants a one-time allowance of up to 500,000 euros on the property transfer tax when someone buys their first owner-occupied home. State programs that support home ownership would also be redesigned so more people can buy.

People who buy a house pay a tax. The FDP wants to cut this tax for the first home of your own. Up to 500,000 euros would be tax-free. This only applies if you live there yourself. State support programs should also get better.

The FDP wants to scrap Grundsteuer C, a property tax on land ready for building, before it can first be levied in 2025. The levy on social housing tenants whose income has risen would also go, and the property tax as a whole would be reviewed in 2027.

From 2025, towns may charge an extra tax on empty building land. The FDP wants to end this tax before then. A charge in social housing should also go. Tenants pay it when they now earn a bit more. The FDP thinks this charge is unfair.

The FDP wants to review the state's building land initiative and make it more effective, because it sees a lack of building land as one cause of housing shortages and rising rents. The municipal fiscal equalization system should reward municipalities that designate land for housing.

The FDP says there is too little building land. That makes housing scarce and expensive. The state should help towns more to create building land. Towns should get more money when they release land for housing. Gaps between buildings should also be filled.

The FDP wants to reform heritage protection in Hesse to make modernization of listed buildings easier. Requirements should be kept as low as possible so their cost does not hold back new housing.

Some old buildings are protected as monuments. Changing them is hard and costly. The FDP wants to relax the rules. That should create more homes there. For decaying buildings, protection should be easier to end.

The FDP wants planning and approval of construction projects to be handled entirely digitally so that bureaucracy does not slow housing construction. In publicly funded building projects, fiber optics and cell towers would become mandatory where suitable.

The FDP wants building applications to be digital. Instead of paper plans, people hand in digital models of the building. This should help homes get built faster. Buildings paid for with public money should get fast internet built in.

The FDP wants to create more daycare places and invest more in early childhood education. Once the shortage of places is closed, groups are to become smaller.

The FDP wants more places in daycare centers. Every child should be able to get a place. Later, the groups should get smaller. Then staff have more time for each child.

The FDP wants childcare hours to follow families' needs more closely and wants parents to choose the facility, near home or near work. Home-based child daycare is to move closer to the municipalities.

Daycare should be open at times families need. Parents should choose the daycare center themselves. It can be near home or near work. Towns should be able to do more for home-based childminders.

The FDP wants to expand the availability of pregnancy conflict counseling and family counseling. According to the platform, women often find it hard to locate a counseling center nearby.

Women need counseling before an abortion. Often there is no counseling center nearby. So the FDP wants more services. Women and men should find help easily.

The FDP wants to give children equal opportunities regardless of background and have trained staff accompany families with little money or education. There should also be enough childcare and school places so that parents can combine children and work and choose between educational approaches.

All children should have the same chances. The FDP wants to give extra help to families with little money. Trained workers should support these families regularly. There should be enough daycare centers and schools. Then parents can work more easily.

The FDP wants daycare centers to lay the groundwork for confident use of digital technology. It plans a funding program for equipment and infrastructure.

Children should learn about digital technology in daycare. The FDP wants to give daycare centers money for this. They can buy devices with it. Staff should get more training.

The FDP wants more state money for language support that starts in daycare and continues throughout school. Sprach-Kitas (language-focused daycare centers) are to be kept and expanded, and the voluntary school preparation year is to grow.

Children should learn to speak well. The FDP wants the state to spend more money on this. Support should start in daycare. It should continue in school. Experts should test early whether a child needs help.

The FDP wants a 'Digital Strategy for Schools in Hesse' covering technology, teaching, teacher training and administration. All schools are to get Wi-Fi, fast internet, modern devices and learning platforms; tablets should be able to replace textbooks.

The FDP wants to give schools modern technology. Every school should have Wi-Fi and fast internet. Children should be able to learn with a tablet instead of books. They should also learn to use media wisely.

The FDP wants compulsory computer science classes available everywhere in lower secondary school by the end of the next legislative term. It also wants to promote the use of artificial intelligence in schools.

All children in grades 5 to 10 should learn computer science. This should be possible everywhere in a few years. The FDP also wants to use artificial intelligence in class. These are computer programs that learn by themselves.

The FDP wants to streamline or scrap reporting duties at schools so more time is left for teaching. Additional secretarial and assistant positions are to take over administrative tasks.

Teachers should have less paperwork. The FDP wants to get rid of some reports. Schools should get more office staff. That leaves more time for teaching.

The FDP wants to expand the self-governing school model and help all schools get there. Schools should decide on their own budgets and staff, which the party believes leads to better results.

Schools should be able to decide more for themselves. They should manage their own money. They should also pick their own staff. The FDP says children then learn better.

The FDP wants to secure basic teaching coverage and plan reserves for absences. Against the teacher shortage it relies on better planning, more attractive working conditions and career changers.

Schools do not have enough teachers. The FDP wants to plan better how many are needed. The job should become more attractive. People from other jobs should be able to teach too.

The FDP wants schools to work more closely with psychologists, therapists, youth welfare services and other professionals. School social work is to grow.

Schools should not only have teachers. The FDP wants more social work at schools. Experts for health and psychology should help too. Elementary schools can get meeting places for families.

The FDP backs the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and wants children with special needs taught at mainstream schools. At the same time, parents should still be able to choose a special school.

Children with disabilities should be able to learn at regular schools. Schools should get enough rooms, materials and staff for this. But parents should also be able to choose a special school. So special schools should stay.

The FDP wants more schools to focus on math, computer science, natural sciences and technology. Schools are to work more closely with out-of-school learning sites, universities and companies.

STEM means science, technology, engineering and math. The FDP wants to strengthen these subjects at more schools. There should be offers during vacations. Children should get to know jobs in this field early.

The FDP wants economics and finance to play a bigger role in the school subject PoWi (politics and economics) at all school types. It sees this knowledge as a precondition for taking part in society.

Children should learn more about money and the economy at school. This applies to all schools. The FDP wants to change the curricula for this. Schools should also be allowed to teach politics and economics as two subjects.

The FDP wants to guarantee at least three hours of physical education per week at all schools, taught by trained PE teachers. Every child should be able to learn to swim safely.

All children should have three hours of sports per week. Trained sports teachers should teach these classes. Every child should be able to learn to swim. So the FDP wants to consider swimming pools when money is shared out.

The FDP wants to identify gifted children early and support them in a targeted way. In the party's view, unrecognized giftedness should not lead to failure at school.

Some children are especially gifted. The FDP wants to spot these children early. They should get advice and help. Teachers should learn how to recognize such children.

The FDP wants a statewide communication strategy that quickly points children, teenagers and parents to available help in a mental health crisis. The platform cites the rise in psychological problems since the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Many children and teenagers have mental health problems. The FDP wants families to find help fast. All of Hesse should get clear information on where to go. Parents and teachers should also get training.

The FDP wants to abolish fixed catchment areas for elementary schools so that parents can pick the school that suits their child and family situation. Schools would also be allowed to fill up to a quarter of their places based on aptitude, and upper-level students would choose their advanced courses freely.

Today each child is assigned to one elementary school. The FDP wants to change that. Parents should be able to choose the school. Children who live nearby still get a place first. Schools may give some places based on ability.

The FDP calls for a program to recruit more elementary school teachers and to give them more relief and support. In the platform's view, elementary school lays the groundwork for later success in school.

The FDP wants to strengthen elementary schools. It wants to recruit more teachers for them. Teachers should get more support. The degree for this teaching job should take longer. Better pay should come faster.

The FDP wants to keep expanding all-day schools and all-day programs across the state according to need and to deliver the legal right to all-day care that applies from 2026. The party says good all-day care improves equal opportunity.

The FDP wants more all-day schools in Hesse. From 2026, children have a right to all-day care. The FDP supports this goal. The programs should be good and have enough trained staff.

The FDP wants to secure long-term funding for Ersatzschulen, state-recognized private schools that substitute for public ones. Disadvantages these schools face in dealing with the administration are to be removed.

Some schools are not run by the state. They are called Ersatzschulen. The FDP thinks these schools are important. They should get enough money in the long run. The authorities should not treat them worse.

The FDP wants to expand career orientation and counseling in every type of school so that fewer young people drop out of training or college. More internships and close cooperation with businesses and public agencies are meant to help.

Students should learn more about possible jobs. The FDP wants more career advice in all schools. There should be more internships. Then fewer young people should quit their training.

The FDP wants to keep vocational school locations and specialized classes of the dual training system, especially in rural areas, and to attract more young people to vocational training. It sees this as a way to counter the skilled-labor shortage and as local economic development.

The FDP wants more young people to learn a trade. Vocational schools should stay in rural areas too. The way to school should be short. Online classes should also be possible.

The FDP wants to give teacher education more weight and organize professional development at schools better. Every school would get a designated training coordinator, and teachers would have a say in choosing and shaping the courses.

Teachers should be able to keep learning more easily. Every school should have one person in charge of this. Courses should take place more often outside class time. Then fewer lessons are canceled. Teachers who take courses should get career benefits.

The FDP wants fixed-term teacher contracts to continue through the summer break when the state intends to keep employing the teacher afterward. This is meant to end the practice of temporary teachers becoming unemployed over the summer.

Some teachers only have a temporary contract. In the summer break they are often out of work. The FDP wants to end this. The contract should continue in the break if the teacher stays on.

The FDP wants Hesse to have a broad range of adult education by the end of the 2020s and to fund the Volkshochschulen (public adult education centers) permanently rather than project by project. Continuing education should become as ordinary as going to the movies.

Adults should also be able to keep learning. The FDP wants to strengthen adult education centers. They should get steady money from the state. Applying for money should be simpler. More courses should be digital.

The FDP supports faith-based Islamic religious education in Hesse's schools, with outside influence ruled out. Together with universities, it wants to set up German-language imam training.

Schools in Hesse should offer Islamic religion classes. The state trains the teachers for this. Foreign governments should have no influence. Imams should be trained in Hesse in German.

The FDP wants to strengthen school sports and introduce a daily PE lesson at every elementary school equipped for it. Daycare centers, schools and sports clubs are to work together more closely, especially in all-day schooling.

Children should do more sports at school. Elementary schools should offer PE every day if they are able to. Schools and sports clubs should work together more. PE should stay its own school subject.

The FDP wants law students in Hesse to receive a Bachelor of Laws once they have passed all exams required for admission to the first state examination. Those who then fail the state exam would not be left without a degree. Training for legal trainees (Referendare) is also to become more professional.

Some law students fail the big final exam. Then they have no degree. The FDP wants to give them a bachelor's degree before that. The training after university should also get better.

The FDP wants to bring data protection into school lessons and turn the subject of computer science into a subject called Digitalkunde (digital studies). Besides technical knowledge, it is to teach media literacy and security.

Children should learn early how to protect their data. The FDP wants a school subject called digital studies. It should grow out of computer science. Older people should get training too.

The FDP wants to make Hesse one of Europe's leading knowledge regions and move research results into companies faster. Universities are to offer help with spin-offs and share in the success of collaborations. The state is also to ensure sufficient base funding for universities.

The FDP wants Hesse to lead in research. Ideas from universities should reach companies faster. Every university should help people start companies. The state should give universities enough steady money.

The FDP wants positions for staff who already hold a doctorate to generally offer a prospect of permanent employment. According to the platform, short contract terms get in the way of academic work.

Many researchers only have short contracts. The FDP wants to change that. People with a doctorate should have a chance at a permanent job. Women and people with immigrant backgrounds should move up more easily.

The FDP wants to create an office in the state science ministry that people can turn to if they feel disadvantaged at a university because of their opinions. The platform sees freedom of research and teaching as threatened by ideological and political pressure.

The FDP says researchers and students sometimes face pressure over their opinions. So the ministry should have a contact point. People can report there if they are treated unfairly. Every lawful opinion should be possible at universities.

The FDP wants to leave as many decisions as possible to the universities themselves. Those that wish should be able to act as employer and as building owner and to conclude their own collective pay agreements.

Universities should decide more for themselves. They should be able to hire their own staff. They should be able to build on their own. They should also be able to make their own pay agreements. This applies only to universities that want it.

The FDP wants the state parliament rather than the state government to appoint the members of university councils. In the senate, each group's share of votes would depend on the subject, giving students more weight on teaching matters.

The university council oversees the university. In the future, the state parliament should pick its members. In the university senate, students should have more say on teaching. On research, professors mostly decide.

The FDP wants to remove the obligation to have a verfasste Studierendenschaft (statutory student body) from the Hessian university act. Membership would become voluntary.

Today all students automatically belong to the official student body. It represents the students. The FDP wants to end this duty. Each student should decide whether to join.

The FDP wants to continue and expand the Hessian Hochschulpakt (university funding pact) and raise universities' core funding. This is meant to allow longer-term planning and more permanent jobs, while increasing competition on quality in research and teaching.

The university pact is an agreement between the state and universities. It covers money and tasks. The FDP wants to keep it. Universities should get more stable money. Then they can plan better and offer more permanent jobs.

The FDP wants a first degree up to and including the master's to be free at public universities in Hesse. Beyond that, universities should be free to decide whether students contribute to the cost. High-achieving students should get more scholarships.

The first degree up to the master's should stay free. After that, universities may decide whether to charge money. That money stays with the university. Strong students should get more scholarships. A scholarship is money for studying.

The FDP wants to reorganize university funding between the federal and state governments: the state would pay a fixed amount per student to whichever institution the student chooses, regardless of who runs it. Private universities would also receive this money under certain conditions.

The FDP wants to share out university money in a new way. The state pays a fixed amount for each student. The money goes to the university the student picks. Private universities should also get money if they follow certain rules.

The FDP wants more part-time, work-compatible and distance-learning programs as well as digital and hybrid teaching. Dual study programs and university offerings outside the main sites are to be expanded, partly in response to the shortage of skilled workers.

Studying should fit people's lives better. There should be more part-time programs and programs alongside a job. Online offerings should grow too. Rural areas should get more study options. The Fulda site should be strengthened.

The FDP wants to offer considerably more dual study programs in rural regions so that young people do not move away to attend university. Vocational schools should offer good teaching and short commutes.

Many young people move to the city to study. The FDP wants more study programs in the countryside. In a dual program, you learn at a college and at a company. Vocational schools should be close and good. That keeps skilled workers in the region.

The FDP wants every student to be able to use a suitable digital device, either their own or a loaned one. By the end of the legislative term, digital learning materials are to replace textbooks entirely.

Every student should be able to use a digital device. Children can bring their own device. Those who have none get one on loan. Paper textbooks should be replaced by digital learning materials.

The FDP wants to test artificial intelligence in schools in a targeted way, creating a framework for its use and AI innovation schools. Teachers are to acquire digital skills throughout their studies and continuing education, and an expert council would monitor digital education.

The FDP wants to test artificial intelligence in schools. There should be special schools for this. Clear rules should guide its use. Teachers should learn more about digital technology. A council of experts should give advice.

The FDP wants to found a public-law foundation in Hesse that securely stores voluntarily donated health data and releases it for research. This is meant to give research on new treatments and drugs easier access to reliable data.

Researchers need good health data. The FDP wants to create a foundation for this. Patients can donate their data if they want. The foundation protects the data and gives it to researchers.

The FDP wants to make Hesse a pioneer in eHealth and telemedicine and to draw up a digital strategy for the health system. A Hessian eHealth fund would support digital care projects, and the state's competence center for telemedicine and eHealth would take on a more active role.

The FDP wants more digital technology in health care. People should book doctor's appointments online more easily. Rural areas should get more treatment by video. A new fund should support digital projects.

The FDP wants to develop Hesse's State Office for Health and Care into a central source of expertise. It is to draw up a statewide prevention strategy, support municipalities with their projects, and push ahead the digitalization of local health departments.

Hesse has a new state office for health and care. The FDP wants to give it more tasks. It should make a plan for preventing illness. It should help cities and counties with their projects.

The FDP considers the strict separation of outpatient and inpatient care outdated. It wants to work toward a single catalog of services with the same quality standards and the same pay, and to keep medicine as a self-employed liberal profession.

Many treatments can be done in a doctor's office or a hospital. Today the pay for them differs. The FDP wants the same pay for the same service. Doctors should remain an independent profession.

The FDP wants greater use of video consultations and remote treatment to make up for the shortage of doctors, especially in structurally weak regions. Medical services delivered digitally should be paid like in-person services, and care assistants should take over home visits.

Rural areas often lack doctors. The FDP wants more appointments by video. Doctors should get the same pay for them as in the office. Trained helpers should visit patients at home.

The FDP calls for the creation of Gesundheits-Versorgungs-Zentren (GVZ, health care centers) to secure care, especially in rural areas. They would bring doctors and other health providers together under one roof and serve as a contact point for the public.

The FDP wants new health centers in rural areas. Doctors work together there. Pharmacies and care services can be there too. People then have one place for all health questions.

The FDP wants a reform of the hospital landscape that is geared more closely to need and quality of care. In addition to per-case flat rates, hospitals should be reimbursed for the cost of keeping capacity available, but first it must be decided which hospitals with which services are needed.

The FDP wants to reorganize hospitals. It should be clear which hospital is needed where. Fixed quality rules should apply. Hospitals should also get money for keeping services ready.

The FDP wants to firmly establish the priority of outpatient over inpatient care so that people can be cared for at home as long as possible. Alternative forms of housing are to be supported and outpatient palliative services expanded statewide.

People should be cared for at home as long as possible. The FDP also wants to support shared homes as an option instead of a nursing home. There should be less red tape for them. Dying people should get good care at home everywhere.

The FDP wants to reduce bureaucracy and documentation in nursing care and to digitalize its processes. This is meant to give caregivers more time for the people they look after.

Caregivers have to write down a lot. That takes time away from patients. The FDP wants less paperwork and more digital technology. Caregivers should learn to use it in their training.

The FDP wants to tackle the staff shortage in nursing care with better working conditions, more training and recruitment of workers from abroad. In the medium term, care facilities should keep at least 105 percent of the staff they need so that duty rosters are reliable.

There are not enough care workers. The FDP wants to make care jobs better. Care homes should have a little more staff than they strictly need. Then fewer shifts get canceled. Care workers from other countries should also come.

The FDP wants to improve midwife care in Hesse and secure basic care for all pregnant women across the state. To do so, conditions should improve above all for freelance midwives.

Hesse does not have enough midwives. Midwives help women before, during and after birth. The FDP wants every pregnant woman to find a midwife anywhere in the state. Midwives should get better conditions for their work.

The FDP wants to develop and fund pilot projects that let people with dementia live independently for as long as possible. They are meant to offer an alternative to conventional care in a nursing home.

People with dementia forget more and more. The FDP wants to fund new projects for them. They should shape their own daily life for a long time. The projects should be another option besides the nursing home.

The FDP wants enough qualified treatment facilities for people with addictions, drop-in centers close to the drug scene, and the continued existence of low-threshold help for the most severely addicted. Education and counseling should get special support so that treatment is needed less often.

The FDP wants enough help for people with addictions. There should be drop-in centers where these people are. Survival help for heavily addicted people should stay. Education and counseling matter most to the FDP.

The FDP supports the federal government's course toward controlled distribution of cannabis and wants pilot projects for it in Hesse. It bases this on health and youth protection, saying cannabis on the illegal market is often contaminated.

The FDP supports controlled sales of cannabis. That means adults get cannabis legally and it is checked. Hesse should run test projects for this. The FDP says this protects health and keeps young people away from the illegal market.

The FDP wants to connect digital health services through open standards and make prescriptions, documentation and billing fully digital. For home care, robotics and digital assistance systems would be promoted.

The FDP wants more digital tools in medicine and care. Prescriptions and billing should be digital. Doctors' offices and care homes should get fast internet first. Robots should help people who are cared for at home.

The FDP wants to integrate refugee children and teenagers through lasting German-language support at schools and raise the age limit for intensive support to 21. It sees multilingualism as an asset and wants to expand heritage-language teaching.

Refugee children and teenagers should get German support for a long time. The special support should be possible up to age 21. Today it ends at 18. The FDP also wants to strengthen lessons in the family's language.

The FDP backs an immigration law with a points system modeled on Canada's and wants Hesse to set up a central immigration office for skilled workers. It points to the shortage of workers and skilled labor, which it sees as a major threat to the state's economy.

Hesse lacks many skilled workers. The FDP wants more well-trained people from abroad to come. A points system should be used for this. One central office should handle these cases. Applications should be processed faster.

The FDP expects everyone who immigrates to accept the free democratic basic order without reservation. Those unwilling to do so should not be able to stay permanently; deportations are to be carried out consistently and the list of safe countries of origin expanded.

People who come to Germany should accept the rules of democracy. Those who do not should not be allowed to stay forever. The FDP wants deportations to be carried out consistently. More countries should count as safe countries of origin.

The FDP wants to strengthen projects through which citizens shape integration locally. The Hessian Integration Prize is to be awarded more widely, and places where people can meet are to be expanded in order to reduce prejudice.

Integration happens locally, for example in clubs and schools. The FDP wants to honor such projects more. More projects should get the Hessian Integration Prize. Meeting places like a culture café should also get support.

The FDP sees learning German early as the most important building block of integration and wants a broad range of courses whose use is monitored more closely. In addition, every person who immigrates should be required to have basic knowledge of the political system and fundamental rights.

The FDP wants many ways to learn German. It wants to check more closely that people really attend the courses. Language apps should help too. Every immigrant should have to know something about politics and basic rights in Germany.

The FDP wants all new arrivals to be allowed to work right away, regardless of whether they are likely to be able to stay. Foreign qualifications are to be recognized faster and more flexibly; the work permit is not to create any right to remain.

People who are new in Germany should be allowed to work right away. This should apply to everyone, even if they may not be allowed to stay. Foreign degrees should be recognized faster. But the work permit gives no right to stay.

The FDP wants sex education that covers sexual diversity and menstruation in depth. A state program is to make free period products available in educational institutions.

Classes should talk about sexual diversity. Periods should be a topic too. The FDP wants free pads and tampons at schools. A state program should pay for this.

The FDP calls for the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence to be implemented quickly and fully in Hesse as well. This includes more places in women's shelters and anonymous, free evidence collection after sexual violence.

The FDP wants to protect women better from violence. There should be more places in women's shelters. Victims should be able to have evidence secured for free and without giving their name. They do not have to file a police report for this.

The FDP calls for equal pay for equal performance and wants to improve women's economic opportunities. It names statewide expansion of childcare as the key prerequisite; employers should disclose salary ranges and the criteria for pay grading.

Women and men should get the same pay for the same performance. The FDP wants more childcare all over Hesse. Then parents can work more easily. Employers should say how much a job pays.

The FDP favors diversity management across all job functions but does not want to mandate it by regulation. The state should moderate, inform and support low-cost concepts for small and midsize businesses.

Diversity management means companies support the variety of their staff. The FDP likes this idea. But the state should not order it. It should inform and share good examples. Small and midsize companies should get simple concepts.

The FDP expects the public sector to implement equal treatment and diversity management in an exemplary way. This includes flexible working hours, equal representation of women in leadership, job sharing at management level and better conditions for part-time staff.

Public offices should be a role model for equal rights. The FDP wants as many women as men in leadership there. Two people should be able to share one management job. People who work part-time should not be at a disadvantage.

The FDP wants to further develop Hesse's Action Plan for Diversity and Acceptance and remove structural barriers to equality for LGBTI people. With legal equality achieved, the party says the focus should now be on full participation in society.

The FDP wants to do more for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Hesse has an action plan for this. The FDP wants to improve the plan. Small groups should also get money for their work more easily.

The FDP wants Hesse's administration not to make it harder for trans people to establish their identity, and it welcomes the federal government's planned Self-Determination Act. Hesse should also work to end surgeries that assign a sex to intersex children.

Trans people should decide about their gender themselves. Offices in Hesse should not make this hard for them. The FDP likes the planned federal Self-Determination Act. Intersex children should no longer be forced to have surgery.

The FDP wants digital solutions to be accessible and to exclude no one. Algorithms in publicly funded projects should not entrench discrimination and should be transparent to the public.

Digital services should be usable for everyone. This includes people with disabilities. Computer programs should not treat anyone unfairly. In government projects, everyone should be able to check how the programs decide.

The FDP wants to prevent gas and electricity shortages and to safeguard existing power plant sites in Hesse through planning. It expects coal and gas plants slated for closure to keep running for the time being. Energy policy should be technology-neutral and make greater use of domestic energy sources.

The FDP wants the power in Hesse never to go out. Power plant sites should be kept. Coal and gas plants should keep running for now. Later they should switch to climate-friendly technology. Energy should also be saved.

The FDP wants to introduce a dedicated state law on hydrogen. It would promote the use of hydrogen without favoring particular methods and the build-out of the needed infrastructure. In the party's view, hydrogen secures both energy supply and climate goals.

Hydrogen is a gas that can supply energy. The FDP wants to make a new law for it. The law would support pipelines and facilities for hydrogen. Hesse should be connected to the major hydrogen pipelines.

The FDP wants to keep expanding renewable energy, especially biomass, biogas and solar. Power grids should grow quickly, including the north-south lines Ultranet and SuedLink and the local distribution grids. Hesse should remain a single electricity price zone.

The FDP wants more power from the sun, biomass and biogas. Solar panels should also go on parking lots and along highways. Power lines should be built faster. The same electricity price should apply across Hesse.

The FDP wants to increase support for energy research in Hesse. The state should share in the funding for hydrogen technologies and e-fuels that has so far bypassed Hesse. Research on nuclear fusion should also be supported.

The FDP wants more energy research in Hesse. Hesse should get more funding for hydrogen projects. Nuclear fusion should also be studied. That is a new way to produce energy.

The FDP relies on the EU Emissions Trading System and market-based tools for climate protection and rejects national targets for individual sectors. The state's climate measures are to be reviewed for effectiveness and cost, with the cheapest carried out first.

The FDP wants to protect the climate through emissions trading. Companies must buy rights for the greenhouse gases they emit. The FDP is critical of fixed targets for single sectors. The state should first do what costs little and helps a lot.

The FDP regards adapting to climate change as a task for the state and municipalities because it requires local knowledge. Adaptation measures for public spaces are to be planned and budgeted for, and private precautions are to be supported as well.

The climate is changing. The FDP wants Hesse to prepare for this. The state and towns should make plans and set money aside. Private homeowners should get help too, for example to protect against heavy rain.

The FDP wants to make Hesse the leading location for aviation fuels produced in a carbon-neutral way using the power-to-liquid process. Frankfurt Airport is to become carbon-neutral as early as possible, and kerosene-powered auxiliary turbines are to be banned on the ground at Hessian airports.

Planes will need liquid fuel for a long time. The FDP wants this fuel to be made artificially without extra CO2. Hesse should lead in research on this. Frankfurt Airport should become carbon-neutral soon.

The FDP does not want to prescribe a heating technology. Existing oil and gas heating systems should be combinable with renewable heat sources such as heat pumps and later run on biofuels or synthetic fuels; the existing infrastructure is therefore to be kept.

The FDP wants people to choose their own heating. Old oil and gas heaters should be able to work together with a heat pump. Later they should run on climate-neutral fuels. That is why the pipes and systems should stay.

The FDP wants to secure native biodiversity, protect peatlands and make forests more resilient through forest conversion. It relies mainly on voluntary agreements with owners and land managers rather than on mandates.

The FDP wants to protect animals and plants in Hesse. Peatlands should be kept and made wet again. Forests should get new, suitable tree species. The FDP relies on voluntary contracts with owners.

The FDP wants to counter the decline of insects with more research and measures derived from it. Hedges, flowering strips and green strips are to be developed further, and owners are to be compensated for restrictions on land use.

There are fewer and fewer insects. The FDP wants more research on this. There should be more hedges and flowering strips. People who can use their land less because of this should get money in return.

The FDP wants Hessian animal shelters to be reliably funded and fully reimbursed when they carry out municipal duties. In return, uniform standards would apply and be checked regularly.

Animal shelters take care of lost animals. That is really a job for towns. The FDP wants shelters to get enough money for it. All shelters should follow the same rules. The veterinary office should check them every year.

The FDP wants a statewide water strategy that balances conflicts over groundwater between the Rhine-Main area and rural regions. It rejects a charge on water extraction and wants investment in supply networks and wastewater treatment.

The FDP wants a plan for water in Hesse. Cities and rural areas argue over groundwater. The plan should settle this. The FDP does not want a new fee for taking water. Pipes and treatment plants should be renewed.

The FDP wants to fund measures against excessive artificial light at night, especially in municipal lighting. It cites effects on health and heavy losses among insects.

Too much light at night harms people and animals. Many insects die at lamps. The FDP wants to give money so towns can change their lamps. Owners of homes and businesses should get advice. Businesses may keep the light they need.

The FDP wants to secure forestry use of Hesse's forests and rejects set-asides and blanket bans on use. The moratorium on felling beech is to be lifted, and FSC certification of state forests would no longer be mandatory.

The FDP wants forests to stay in use. It is against leaving one tenth of the state forest untouched. Old beech trees should be allowed to be cut again. The state forest company should decide on eco-labels itself. More buildings should be made of wood.

The FDP wants to keep hunting law tied to land ownership and commits to the Revierjagdsystem (hunting district system). It rejects additional bureaucratic hurdles for hunters.

The FDP wants to keep hunting law as it is. Hunters should be able to act on their own responsibility. The FDP is against new hurdles for hunting. Red deer should be able to move across larger areas. Green bridges over roads should help with that.

The FDP wants to actively manage the wolf population in Hesse once federal law allows it, arguing that uncontrolled growth is incompatible with pasture farming. Where beavers and rooks cause damage, removal or shooting and compensation payments should also become possible.

The FDP wants to limit the number of wolves in Hesse. First the federal government must allow this. Wolves should be counted better. Beavers and rooks also cause damage. Farmers and fish breeders should get money for that. Where damage is high, animals may be removed.

The FDP wants fishing that preserves stocks and sees club angling as practical conservation that deserves state support. Hydropower plants should not block the spawning migration of fish.

The FDP wants to support fishing. Angling clubs look after rivers and lakes and so protect nature. Hydropower plants should not stop fish from migrating. If they harm fish, they should be rebuilt. New plants are only allowed if fish can still migrate.

The FDP wants to promote reuse of building materials and, together with municipalities, create new landfill capacity for construction waste. In the platform's view, missing landfill space and complicated rules for excavated soil drive up building costs.

Building creates a lot of rubble and soil. There are too few landfills for it. That makes building more expensive. The FDP wants to reuse more building materials. It wants to create new landfills together with towns.

The FDP wants to make greater use of local building materials such as sand and gravel, including in Bannwald (specially protected forest). The stricter Bannwald protection passed by the CDU-Green government is to be reversed. The platform justifies this with construction costs and security of supply.

The FDP wants more sand and gravel to be dug in Hesse. This should also be possible in Bannwald. Bannwald is forest with very strict protection. The stricter rules of the last government should go. The FDP says this keeps building from getting more expensive.

The FDP wants to keep good agricultural soil from being covered with solar installations on a large scale. It cites food security and wants to change the Hessian regulation on ground-mounted solar plants.

Our food grows on fields. The FDP does not want too many solar plants on good fields. So it wants to change a state rule. The rule should say which land is used first. The FDP also wants research on farming in stacked layers.

The FDP wants to write food security into the state constitution as a state objective and treat it as equal to climate, animal and environmental protection. Farmers should face no further restrictions, and the duty to leave cropland fallow would be suspended permanently.

The FDP wants enough food to be a goal in Hesse's constitution. Farmers should run their farms themselves. They should no longer have to leave fields empty. The FDP wants to review the target for more organic land. Organic farming should grow as customers buy it.

The FDP wants to keep livestock farming in Hesse and enable farms to invest in better animal welfare. To that end, the agricultural investment funding program would be raised substantially.

People want animals in barns to be treated well. That costs farmers money. The FDP wants to give them more funding. They can then build better barns. Meat and milk should keep coming from Hesse.

The FDP wants to review which areas count as nitrate-polluted under the Fertilizer Ordinance and distinguish more by who causes the pollution. It considers modern crop protection products indispensable and relies on digital technology for greater efficiency.

In some areas, farmers may use only a little fertilizer. These are called Red Areas. The FDP wants to check these areas again. Only those who pollute the water should face strict rules. Farmers should have enough products against pests. Drones and sensors should help with fertilizing.

The FDP wants to use modern biotechnological breeding methods such as CRISPR/Cas in crop farming. It rejects blanket bans and calls for modernizing European genetic engineering law.

The FDP wants to allow new ways of breeding plants. One of them is the gene tool CRISPR/Cas. It can change plant genes in a targeted way. The FDP is against general bans. The EU rules on genetic engineering should be updated.

The FDP wants to make farm subsidy programs easier to understand and cut the effort needed to apply. Funding should follow factual goals, not the method of production or the size of the farm.

The FDP wants to make farm funding simpler. A website should explain all programs. Small and large farms should be treated the same. The type of farming should not matter either. Young people should be able to do a voluntary year on a farm.

The FDP wants to reorganize food safety inspections in Hesse. High-risk businesses, wholesalers and central warehouses would be inspected by the Regierungspräsidien (regional state authorities) instead of local governments.

The FDP wants better checks on food. Today local governments do the checks. The FDP says many checks do not happen. So state offices should check the risky businesses. A team of experts should help.

The FDP wants to create an online portal for Hessian agriculture that links public data with farms' own data. It is meant to simplify work processes and make funding applications easy.

The FDP wants a website for farmers in Hesse. There they find data on weather, soil and maps. They can also apply for funding there. This should save them work.

The FDP wants to achieve climate protection in transport through innovation and competition among technologies, not through rules targeting individual modes of transport. It rejects blanket driving bans. The state should invest in research and infrastructure for climate-neutral drives, such as a comprehensive network of charging stations.

The FDP wants to support climate-friendly cars. It does not want to favor one technology. Customers should decide which technology wins. The FDP rejects blanket driving bans. There should be charging stations for electric cars everywhere.

The FDP is skeptical of overhead power lines for trucks on highways and wants to put the money into the rail network and alternative drives. Hydrogen filling stations should be expanded and synthetic fuels made more readily available. In the party's view, this would also let existing combustion-engine vehicles run in a more climate-friendly way.

The FDP does not want power lines for trucks above all highways. The money should go to rail and new kinds of drives instead. There should be more hydrogen filling stations. Man-made fuels should be easier to get.

The FDP wants to make Hesse the top logistics location. Roads, rail and truck parking would be expanded, and new technologies such as transport drones and autonomous driving would be supported. A master plan for combined transport would speed up the reactivation or construction of rail lines and terminals.

The FDP wants Hesse to lead in moving goods. It wants more money for planning roads. There should be more parking spaces for trucks. Rail should also be expanded. New technology such as drones should be tested.

The FDP wants to strengthen Hesse as an aviation location and abolish the air travel tax. It rejects a ban on short-haul flights and on low-cost carriers. Hesse should also become a pioneer in synthetic kerosene.

The FDP wants to strengthen air travel in Hesse. The tax on plane tickets should go away. Short flights should stay allowed. Low-cost airlines should stay allowed too. Hesse should develop and produce climate-friendly jet fuel.

The FDP backs the further expansion of Frankfurt Airport, including Terminal 3, and wants to connect it to rail and local transit. The court-ordered nighttime flight ban should stay. The party rejects further operating restrictions beyond the existing planning approval.

The FDP wants to keep expanding Frankfurt Airport. The new Terminal 3 should be finished. It should get a link to trains and buses. Planes should still not fly at night. The FDP does not want more restrictions beyond that.

The FDP wants to expand local public transit and make the twelve larger cities reachable on a fixed schedule, ideally every 30 minutes. In rural areas, on-demand services would close gaps. The party rejects any further reduction in the share of costs paid by riders.

The FDP wants to expand buses and trains. Service to the larger cities should run every 30 minutes. In rural areas, vehicles should come when ordered. There should be more park-and-ride lots. But riders should not pay even less than today.

The FDP wants more rail infrastructure in Hesse and plans to create a Hessian rail infrastructure company for this purpose. Several S-Bahn (commuter rail) projects in the Frankfurt area have priority. Rail noise is to be tackled with an overall plan.

The FDP wants to build more rail tracks in Hesse. A new state company should plan the projects. New commuter rail lines around Frankfurt should come first. The FDP also wants to reduce noise from trains.

The FDP backs the long-distance rail tunnel in Frankfurt and wants it planned quickly. It should be approved through a Maßnahmegesetz, meaning directly by parliament. As an alternative, the party proposes an approval process modeled on Denmark's.

The FDP wants a tunnel for long-distance trains in Frankfurt. The tunnel should be planned quickly. Parliament should approve it with a law. Otherwise a fast process like in Denmark should apply.

The FDP wants to upgrade key rail lines in Hesse and cut travel times, for example to under 40 minutes between Giessen and Frankfurt. Regional rail is to become more attractive through modern trains and better service.

The FDP wants to upgrade rail lines in Hesse. The trip from Giessen to Frankfurt should take under 40 minutes. Trains should be modern. They should have enough seats and Wi-Fi.

The FDP wants to preserve Hesse's inland ports and connect them better to other transport routes. Inland shipping is to receive support for digitalization and for cleaner propulsion.

The FDP wants to keep the ports on Hesse's rivers. The ports should be better linked to road and rail. Ships should get help with digital technology. They should also get help with cleaner engines.

The FDP wants to build more bike paths under a statewide plan and shift more responsibility to the state. Bike highways are to become a state task by law. The party rejects pop-up bike lanes because no mode of transport should be restricted one-sidedly.

The FDP wants more bike paths across Hesse. The state should take more responsibility for them. The state should build fast bike routes between suburbs and cities. The FDP rejects quickly set-up bike lanes on car lanes.

The FDP wants to drop the principle of maintenance before new construction and build and widen more roads again. It argues that traffic is growing and that climate-neutral cars will also need roads. State roads are to be repaired and extended more.

The FDP wants to build more new roads. Today Hesse's rule is: maintain first, then build new. The FDP wants to end this rule. Damaged state roads should be repaired and extended.

The FDP wants construction projects planned faster and supports a fundamental reform of planning law at the federal level. Citizens are to be involved earlier, and duplicate reviews are to be eliminated.

The FDP wants building projects to be planned faster. The federal government should change planning law for this. Citizens should have a say earlier. The same thing should not be reviewed twice.

The FDP wants cleaner air mainly through local, technical solutions and better traffic management. It rejects blanket driving bans because, in its view, they create detour traffic and thus more pollution.

The FDP wants clean air in cities. But it does not want general driving bans. The party says cars would then take detours. Fewer traffic jams and on-demand buses are better. Very fine dust should be studied more closely.

The FDP wants to reduce traffic and commercial noise through research and both active and passive noise control. The existing night flight ban at Frankfurt Airport would stay unchanged.

Noise causes stress for people and animals. So the FDP wants more protection from noise. This includes noise barriers and quieter trains. Planes should still not fly at night in Frankfurt. New technology should make planes quieter.

The FDP wants more money for state roads and municipal transport routes and wants rural areas covered by fiber optics and 5G. This is meant to make rural life more attractive and relieve metropolitan areas.

The FDP wants more people to enjoy living in the countryside. There should be more money for roads and bike paths. Every home should get fast internet. Old rail lines should run again. Buses and trains in rural areas should also get money.

The FDP wants to require the regional transit associations to provide on-demand rides, pooled rides and autonomous services, especially in rural areas. In addition, buses, trains and state roads would get continuous mobile coverage, and traffic would be managed digitally.

In the countryside, buses often run only rarely. The FDP wants to offer rides on request there. The transit associations should be required to do this. Buses and trains should have Wi-Fi and cell service everywhere. Prices should be simple.

The FDP wants to make government data that does not relate to individuals or companies freely available in machine-readable form. According to the platform, this would bring more transparency and participation and benefit both businesses and the administration.

Government offices hold a lot of data. The FDP wants to make such data free for everyone to use. Data about single people or firms is not included. Companies can plan better with the data. The administration also has less work.

The FDP sees data centers as a locational advantage and wants to enable their growth through faster grid expansion in the Rhine-Main area. Because land is scarce and energy demand is high, new sites should be actively guided by planning. Waste heat from the facilities should be fed into local heating networks.

Data centers are large buildings full of computers. The FDP wants more of them to be built in Hesse. For that, power grids should grow faster. Heat from the data centers should warm nearby homes.

The FDP demands that people control their personal data much as they control property. On social networks, default settings are to offer the highest protection, and users are to actively decide who may see their data. The party also wants to reconcile data protection with technological progress.

The FDP says: My data belongs to me. Everyone should decide about their own data. On social networks, protection should be highest at the start. Users then decide who may see their data.

The FDP wants people to remain able to act anonymously or under a pseudonym on the internet. It rejects sweeping monitoring of private chats. Violations of the law are still to be prosecutable.

The FDP wants this: People may stay anonymous on the internet. Everyone decides whether to give their name. The state should not broadly monitor private chats. Crimes should still be prosecuted.

The FDP wants to give Hesse's digital ministry considerably more responsibilities. Areas such as IT security and digitalization of the administration are to move there from the interior ministry, as is the state's central data processing agency (HZD). In the party's view, the current ministry has too few tasks and too little influence.

Hesse has a ministry for digital matters. The FDP says it has too few tasks. It should take over more tasks from the interior ministry. This includes computer security for the state. It should also steer digital government offices.

For fiber rollout, the FDP relies primarily on private companies and wants to use public money only where rollout is not commercially viable. Gigabit vouchers for households, businesses and institutions are planned for this. By the end of the legislative term, fiber and 5G should be available everywhere in Hesse.

The FDP wants fast internet everywhere in Hesse. Companies should mostly build the lines themselves. The state only helps where it does not pay off for companies. Then people and businesses get a voucher for the connection. The voucher pays part of the cost.

The FDP wants to advance mobile network rollout through faster permits and new technology. Cell sites are to count as approved automatically once a deadline has passed. The party also wants to promote OpenRAN technology and support national roaming organized by the private sector.

The FDP wants better cell phone coverage in Hesse. Offices should decide faster on new cell towers. If an office takes too long, the tower counts as allowed. Applications should be handled digitally. Old towers should stay usable with new software.

The FDP calls for a 6G research center in Hesse where business and academia work together. It also wants to fund communications infrastructure for the Internet of Things and make Hesse a model state for this technology. Municipal services are meant to improve as a result.

The FDP wants a research center for 6G in Hesse. 6G is the next technology for cell phone networks. Companies and researchers should work together there. The FDP also wants to fund networks for connected sensors. Sensors can measure free parking spots or the air, for example.

The FDP wants everyone in Hesse to be able to use a digital identity (eID), for example for payments, health applications and online contracts. The eID is to offer strong data protection, and each person is to decide which data to release.

The FDP wants a digital ID for everyone in Hesse. It is called eID. People can use it to pay and sign contracts online. They can also use it for prescriptions from the doctor. Each person decides which data others may see.

The FDP wants the state, counties, cities and towns to be more closely connected digitally. Under the name "smartHessen," existing smart city and smart region projects would be brought together.

The FDP wants public offices in Hesse to be better connected. The state, counties and cities should work together digitally. The project is called smartHessen. A report every two years should show the progress.

The FDP wants Hesse's public administration to work fully digitally and without paper by 2028. Not only citizens' applications but also the agencies' internal processes are to be digitized and redesigned.

The FDP wants government offices to work without paper. This should happen by 2028. Applying for something should be as easy as ordering online. The work inside the offices should also become digital.

The FDP wants to strengthen Frankfurt's internet exchange and make Hesse Germany's leading location for data centers. In addition, a Hessian data protection seal would let companies demonstrate how they handle data.

The FDP wants more data centers in Hesse. These are big halls with many computers for the internet. The heat from the data centers should be put to use. Companies should be able to get a seal for good data protection.

The FDP wants to create on-demand digital services in rural areas for health care, security, education and retail in order to ensure equal living conditions. Municipalities would get help with their digital strategies.

The FDP wants more digital services in the countryside. For example, doctor visits by video and online marketplaces for local products. This should keep the countryside attractive for young families. Towns should get help with going digital.

The FDP wants to hire 1,500 additional police officers by 2027 and relieve the police of administrative work. The profession is to become more attractive through new entry routes, better promotion prospects and a police allowance that counts toward pensions.

The FDP wants more police in Hesse. By 2027 there should be 1,500 more officers. They should have less paperwork. People with a mid-level school diploma should be able to join the police again. The job should pay better.

The FDP wants to modernize the Hessian police digitally and improve its equipment. Every patrol car is to get mobile devices, police apps and a Taser. The aim is to keep pace with specialized offenders and make the police a more attractive employer.

The FDP wants to make the police more modern. Every patrol car should have mobile devices with police apps. Every car should also carry a Taser. A Taser is a device that briefly stuns a person with electricity. The police should get more experts on internet crime.

The FDP rejects more technical surveillance, including government spyware, mass monitoring of private communication and blanket video surveillance without cause. Existing surveillance is to be independently evaluated and disclosed each year in an overall account.

The FDP does not want more surveillance by the state. The state should not read private messages on a mass scale. Cameras should only be at a few dangerous places. Each year a report should show how much the state has monitored.

The FDP wants investigators to be allowed to read a perpetrator's outward traits and origin from DNA traces. This would apply only to the most serious crimes and, according to the platform, would speed up manhunts and clear innocent people.

Police often find DNA traces at a crime scene. The FDP wants police to learn more from them. For example hair, eye and skin color and a person's origin. This should apply only to very serious crimes.

The FDP announces a new law for the Verfassungsschutz (state domestic intelligence agency) that implements the recommendations of a cross-party expert commission. Its core is stronger oversight of the agency by the state parliament.

The Verfassungsschutz is the state's domestic intelligence agency. The FDP wants a new law for it. The state parliament should be able to check the agency better. Staff should be allowed to report problems directly to lawmakers.

The FDP wants to improve conditions for the largely volunteer forces in fire protection and disaster response. This includes more flexible age limits, less red tape and more funding for vehicles, equipment and buildings.

Many people help in the fire service as volunteers. The FDP wants to make their work easier. Fit older people should be allowed to stay longer. There should be more money for vehicles and equipment. Fire crews should have to write fewer reports.

The FDP wants a state law to define when and where weapon-free zones are permitted and which items they cover. This is meant to give municipalities legal certainty and prevent disproportionate interference with fundamental rights.

In some areas people may not carry weapons. The FDP wants a clear law for this in Hesse. The law should say where such zones are allowed. It should also say what counts as a weapon.

Alongside the official police crime statistics, the FDP wants regular research into how many crimes never come to the attention of the police. This is meant to give a more accurate picture of actual crime that policymakers can respond to early.

Each year the police count crimes. But the police never hear about many crimes. The FDP wants a study to research these crimes. The study should be repeated again and again. Universities should help with it.

The FDP wants to act equally against right-wing, left-wing and Islamist extremism, through prevention and prosecution. It wants to examine several measures for the police, the justice system and domestic intelligence and to set up a parliamentary study commission. Antisemitism, including the demonization of Israel, is to be fought firmly.

The FDP wants to act against all kinds of extremism. This applies to right-wing, left-wing and Islamist groups. There should be programs that keep people away from extremism. Right-wing extremists should not be allowed to have weapons. The FDP wants to fight hatred of Jews with education and punishment.

The FDP wants to raise fees for police operations at unlawful protests such as road blockades so that they cover the costs. At major events, by contrast, individual troublemakers rather than organizers or clubs should pay.

Some people glue themselves to roads as a protest. The police then have to remove them, and that costs a lot. The FDP wants these people to pay more for it. At soccer games, clubs should not pay for the police. The people who use violence should pay.

The FDP wants Hessian police law to allow people classified as dangerous ("Gefährder") to be monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet on a judge's order. It sees this as a contribution to security and a milder intrusion than constant observation by officers.

"Gefährder" are people the police believe could commit serious attacks. The FDP wants to monitor them with an ankle bracelet. This is a device on the leg that reports where a person is. A court must allow it first.

The FDP rejects permanently personalized tickets, automated facial recognition and mandatory travel routes for sports fans. It prefers dialogue and fan projects instead, while wanting violent offenders to face sanctions.

The FDP does not want to watch all sports fans. It is against cameras that recognize faces. It is also against tickets with names as a lasting rule. But people who use violence should be punished.

The FDP wants to set up more Häuser des Jugendrechts (youth justice centers), arguing that the existing ones have proven effective. Juvenile criminal cases are to be processed and heard more quickly. In youth detention facilities, education is to be the main focus.

The FDP wants more youth justice centers. Police, prosecutors and helpers work together there. Cases against young people should move faster. Young people in detention should be able to learn well.

The FDP wants to found a Hessian victim protection foundation and give more support to victim aid associations. Victims are also to be told when an offender is granted day release or is released from prison.

The FDP wants to help crime victims more. Hesse should get a new foundation for this. Victims should learn when the offender gets out. Then they do not meet the offender unprepared.

The FDP wants to expand prevention programs against child abuse and make greater use of the quick-freeze procedure. Under it, connection data is preserved when there is a specific suspicion, so investigators can identify offenders online more easily.

The FDP wants to protect children better from abuse. There should be more prevention programs. Police should be able to secure data faster when they suspect a crime. Children should be able to get advice from the police easily.

The FDP wants new approaches for reintegrating prisoners and more use of open prisons in order to reduce reoffending. Public safety is to be maintained throughout. Prison staff are also to get better training and pay.

The FDP wants prisoners to find their way back into life after prison. More prisoners should be in open prisons. That means they may leave during the day. They should also have more contact with family. This should lead to fewer new crimes.

The FDP wants to give municipalities more responsibility of their own and repeal decrees that oblige them to raise taxes. The state is to cover all costs of tasks it assigns, and municipal revenue sharing is to be revised.

Cities and towns should decide more for themselves. The state should no longer force them to raise taxes. If the state gives towns tasks, it should pay all the costs. Unnecessary rules should go.

The FDP wants an assembly law with as little state interference as possible. It rejects precautionary video recording and undercover officers at demonstrations as long as there is no danger. At the same time it wants to examine whether assemblies at certain locations can be barred by law.

People are allowed to demonstrate. The FDP wants the state to hold back. Police should not film protests without a reason. They should not send undercover officers either. But the FDP may want to ban protests on highways.

The FDP wants to keep the state of Hesse attractive as an employer and bring civil servants' pay in line with the Federal Constitutional Court's requirements. At the same time, performance-based pay elements are to be strengthened and the state's tasks critically reviewed.

The state of Hesse needs good skilled workers. The FDP wants to pay civil servants as the highest court requires. People who perform well should get more. Pay should keep up with pay in private companies.

The FDP wants to give more support to cooperation between municipalities and reward voluntary mergers financially. In the future this should also apply to counties and independent cities, whose residents would vote on it in a county referendum.

Towns can work together or merge. The FDP wants to support this with money. This should also apply to counties. Nobody should be forced. People in the county should be able to vote on it.

The FDP wants the state to simplify and support cooperation among towns and municipalities. Neighboring centers are to work together permanently so they can offset each other's weaknesses.

Towns should work together more. The state should help them do this. Neighboring towns should become fixed partners. Then one town can help out the other.

The FDP wants to reform the state election law so that the parliament reliably has no more than 110 members. This is meant to keep the parliament workable and avoid unnecessary costs for taxpayers.

The state parliament should get smaller. It should have 110 members at most. The FDP says the parliament will work better this way. It will also cost less tax money.

The FDP wants young people to be able to vote from age 16 in Hesse's state and local elections. It argues that young people bear the consequences of today's policies the most.

Young people should be allowed to vote at 16. This should apply to state elections and local elections in Hesse. The FDP says today's politics affects young people the most.

The FDP wants to make formal access to local and statewide referendums easier. It considers the quorums a local referendum must meet to succeed appropriate, and wants to keep parliamentary democracy as the main form of decision-making.

Citizens should be able to start a vote more easily. There should be less paperwork for this. The number of votes needed to win should stay the same. Elected politicians should still make most decisions themselves.

The FDP wants to limit the Hessian Ministerpräsident (state premier) to two full legislative terms in order to safeguard the state's capacity for reform. In addition, prospective ministers are to face a public hearing in the state parliament before being appointed.

The state premier should stay in office for two terms at most. The FDP says this keeps the state open to new ideas. New ministers should answer questions in parliament first. This should happen in public.

The FDP wants to pay judges, prosecutors and other court staff at a level that lets Hesse compete with other states and professions. A new recruitment strategy is meant to end what the platform describes as years of overload in the justice system.

The FDP says: Courts in Hesse do not have enough staff. So the staff should get better pay. The work should also become more attractive. Then more people should want to work at the courts.

The FDP wants to digitize Hesse's justice system quickly and aims for courtrooms without paper files. In the platform's view, the state government has let the system fall behind. The judiciary is also to present its work in a more open and understandable way.

The FDP wants digital courts. There should be no more paper files. Citizens and lawyers should be able to write to the court digitally. Court rulings should be available on the internet.

The FDP wants to expand the existing English-language chamber for commercial matters at the Frankfurt Regional Court into a full "Commercial Court." This is meant to make Frankfurt more attractive internationally as a place to litigate.

Frankfurt already has a court chamber for trade cases in English. The FDP wants to make this bigger. Companies from other countries should be able to settle disputes there. This should make Frankfurt more important.

The FDP wants to change Hesse's Freedom of Information Act so that cities and municipalities also have to provide information. It also wants to make it possible to vote online in elections and referendums.

The FDP wants this: Cities and towns must also give information to citizens. A law should be changed for this. People should also be able to vote online. The vote must be secure.

The FDP wants to involve children and young people more in politics by creating local youth parliaments with the right to submit proposals. It also favors children's rights in the Hessian constitution and wants to strengthen youth work outside school.

Young people should have more say in politics. The FDP wants youth parliaments in towns and cities. These should be allowed to bring their own proposals. Children's rights should be in the constitution of Hesse. The FDP also wants to strengthen youth work.

The FDP wants citizens to have a greater say in political decisions and would change the law to allow it. Digital tools are meant to expand existing forms of participation, and electronic voting should become possible.

The FDP wants citizens to have more of a say. Laws should be changed for this. People should be able to take part online. Voting online should also become possible.

The FDP wants a transparency law modeled on Hamburg's that requires public authorities to publish information proactively. Administrative data that does not relate to individuals should be freely available.

The FDP wants a new law for more openness. Public offices should publish information on their own. Hamburg already has such a law. Data that is not about people should be free for everyone.

Hesse should press at the federal level for EU financial rules to be implemented without extra national requirements, known as gold plating. The FDP supports a deeper capital markets union with uniform rules across Europe.

The EU makes rules for banks and financial firms. Germany should not add extra rules of its own. The rules should be the same all over Europe. The FDP wants one shared European capital market.

The FDP wants to advance European integration in selected core areas and backs a European constitutional convention. The EU should also be open to further European states. The platform justifies this with the EU's growing importance for peace, freedom and prosperity.

The FDP wants to make the EU stronger. The EU should handle crises better. For this, there should be a big meeting called a constitutional convention. It should work out new rules for the EU. More countries should also be able to join the EU.

The FDP wants regions to take a greater part in European lawmaking and wants subsidiarity respected. The subsidiarity complaint is to be used more effectively and developed further, and Hesse's state representation in Brussels strengthened. EU funding should continue to benefit Hesse.

The FDP wants regions like Hesse to have more say in the EU. The EU should only regulate what it can regulate better. This is called subsidiarity. Regions should get more time to object. Hesse's office in Brussels should become stronger.

The FDP wants to continue, and where possible deepen, Hesse's partnerships with regions in Italy, France and Poland. The partnership with the Turkish region of Bursa is to be kept but focused on civil society. Hesse should also cooperate more with regions in Africa.

Hesse has partner regions in other countries. The FDP wants to keep these partnerships and build on them. Contact with the Bursa region in Turkey should go on. The focus there should be on citizens and local groups. Hesse should also work more with regions in Africa.

The FDP wants a culture act for Hesse that secures arts funding over the long term and sets a stable legal framework. State spending on culture is to be made permanent and increased, while funding procedures are to be made less bureaucratic.

The FDP wants a culture law for Hesse. The law should secure money for culture for the long term. The state should spend more on culture. Applying for funding should be easier. More money should reach the artists.

The FDP wants to give schools their own culture budget, based on the number of students and managed by the schools themselves. Music schools are to get more state money so that lessons are available across the whole state.

Schools should get their own money for culture. The amount depends on the number of children. The school decides how to use it. Music schools should get more money from the state. To get it, they need well-trained teachers.

The FDP wants libraries in Hesse to stop charging fees and to be allowed to open on Sundays. It sees libraries as easily accessible places for education, culture and digital participation.

Libraries should cost nothing. They should be allowed to open on Sundays too. The state should give towns and cities more money for this. There should be libraries all over Hesse. They should become meeting places for everyone.

The FDP wants to give the state theaters and state-funded stages long-term planning security through a theater pact and to keep all venues. For museums, it calls for a plan for cooperation and distinct profiles, plus help with digital offerings.

The FDP wants to make an agreement with the theaters. It is called a theater pact. It lets theaters plan for the long term. All venues should stay. Museums should work together more. They should also show their art digitally.

The FDP wants to continue funding the preservation of historic monuments and to reconcile their protection with their use. For major privately owned monuments whose owners cannot afford the upkeep, it seeks a model based on the British National Trust.

The FDP wants to keep funding historic monuments. Some owners cannot afford to keep up their monument. They should be able to hand it over to the public. The public owner must then preserve it.

The FDP wants to keep funding the documenta art exhibition but to revise its structures together with the city of Kassel and the federal government. The reason is the antisemitic incidents at documenta 15, which are to be examined by researchers.

The documenta is a big art show in Kassel. The FDP wants to keep funding it. At the last show there were incidents hostile to Jews. So the documenta should be organized in a new way.

The FDP wants Hesse's collections to research the origins of their holdings, especially Nazi-looted art and objects from colonial contexts. Works that were acquired unjustly should be returned where possible.

Museums should check where their objects come from. Some objects were stolen from their owners, for example in the Nazi era. Such objects should be given back if possible. This also applies to objects from former colonies.

The FDP wants to preserve memorial sites and places of remembrance and to develop a statewide memorial concept. Every student should visit a memorial for the victims of National Socialism once during their school years.

The FDP wants to preserve and support memorial sites. Every student should visit a memorial for the victims of the Nazis once. Local projects such as Stolpersteine also get support.

The FDP supports public broadcasting and the Hessischer Rundfunk (Hesse's public broadcaster) but considers the parallel national services of ARD and ZDF no longer necessary. In the future, a single institution should fulfill the nationwide mandate, while the Hessischer Rundfunk stays responsible for regional programming.

The FDP wants to keep public broadcasting. But ARD and ZDF should become one broadcaster for all of Germany. The Hessischer Rundfunk stays responsible for Hesse. It should trim its programming.

The FDP wants to transfer the hr-Sinfonieorchester and the hr-Bigband into a public-law foundation. The state and the Hessischer Rundfunk would fund it jointly so that the ensembles are secured for the long term.

The Hessischer Rundfunk has an orchestra and a big band. The FDP wants to put both into a foundation. The state of Hesse and the broadcaster should pay for it. This should keep the music groups going for good.

The FDP aims for a noticeable cut in the broadcasting fee and sees no need for further increases. The Hessischer Rundfunk's old pension burdens would be spun off, the Beitragsservice (fee collection agency) abolished, and the fee collected by the tax offices.

The FDP wants the broadcasting fee to go down. The Hessischer Rundfunk should save money. The fee collection agency should be closed. The tax office should collect the fee instead.

The FDP wants to abolish the license requirement for broadcasting and replace it with a simple notification to the state media authorities. Private broadcasters should get enough frequencies and more room to expand.

Private broadcasters need a license today. The FDP wants to change that. Broadcasters should only have to notify the media authority. Live streaming should need no license at all.

The FDP rejects blanket bans such as the dancing ban on Good Friday. It wants to talk with the churches and society about how public holidays should be arranged in the future and find a lasting solution.

On some holidays dancing is banned, for example on Good Friday. The FDP is against such general bans. It wants to talk with the churches and society about this. The goal is a solution that lasts.

The FDP wants people to decide for themselves what happens to their ashes after cremation. Urns could be kept at home during the year of mourning, and municipalities could designate places for scattering ashes.

Everyone should decide what happens to their own ashes. Relatives should be allowed to keep the urn at home for one year. Towns should be able to set places for scattering ashes. Most urns should still rest in a fixed place.

The FDP wants to support sports clubs with funding programs and relieve volunteers through higher tax-free allowances and less red tape. The program describes clubs as a foundation for community life and local integration.

Sports clubs should get more help from the state. People who volunteer in clubs should keep more money tax-free. There should be less paperwork. Young volunteers should get some benefits.

The FDP wants no swimming pools to be closed and every child to be able to swim by the end of elementary school. It sees the state as responsible, arguing that swimming is a basic skill vital for survival.

Swimming pools should not close. Every child should be able to swim after elementary school. The state should make sure of this. There should still be money for pools.

The FDP relies on informed, responsible consumers and wants transparent markets, stronger consumer rights especially online, and more consumer education. The Verbraucherzentrale Hessen (consumer advice center) is to be adequately funded, and economic education is to grow in all types of schools.

The FDP wants consumers to make good choices themselves. For that they need knowledge about money and the economy. Schools should teach more of this. The consumer advice center should get enough money.

The FDP wants to set up a fund that helps municipalities buy and sell vacant properties. Rural towns should also cooperate more closely and actively attract doctors, female founders and women in the liberal professions.

In some villages many houses stand empty. The FDP wants to create a pot of money for this. Towns can use it to buy and sell empty land. Towns should also work together more. Women with their own business or practice should get help.