Freie Wähler: program for the 2024 Saxony state election

The Free Voters want to make a principle of proximity a guiding idea for the economy. Municipalities should be allowed to award more contracts to local providers, and regional products should be marketed more within the region.

The Free Voters want to strengthen the local economy. Towns should be allowed to give more contracts to nearby companies. Products from the region should also be sold there. This should turn makers and buyers into partners.

The Free Voters want to relieve businesses of financial and bureaucratic burdens, especially small and mid-sized firms. For every new regulation, two existing ones are to be scrapped. The platform frames this as a social market economy built on competition and merit.

The Free Voters want fewer rules for companies. For every new rule, two old rules should go. Government offices should work faster and digitally. This should help small companies most of all.

The Free Voters want to reduce the regulatory burden on skilled-trade businesses as far as possible. A vocational preparation year and more appreciation are meant to make trade careers more attractive.

The Free Voters want to help the skilled trades. Businesses should have to follow fewer rules. There should be a year to prepare for a trade job. This should bring more people into the trades.

The Free Voters stand for open markets and free trade because Saxony's economy depends on exports. Sanctions should be used only as a last resort, while the platform also warns against one-sided dependence.

Saxony sells many goods abroad. That is why the Free Voters want free trade. Sanctions are trade penalties against other countries. The party wants them only in an emergency. But Saxony should not depend on just one country.

The Free Voters want to focus funding on future technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and aerospace. Products from Saxony would also carry a "Made in Saxony" label.

The Free Voters want more support for new technology. This includes artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. It also includes aircraft and space technology. Products from Saxony should get their own label. It is called "Made in Saxony."

The Free Voters want to attract founders to Saxony and keep them there. They plan help with grants, equity capital, and loans, along with lower business taxes in the early years. An international advertising campaign is meant to improve Saxony's image.

The Free Voters want more new companies in Saxony. Founders should get help finding money. They should pay less tax in the first years. An ad campaign should make Saxony better known abroad.

The Free Voters demand that the federal and state governments cover the cost of tasks they assign to municipalities. The platform criticizes that municipalities keep receiving more duties without financial compensation.

The federal and state governments often give towns new tasks. The Free Voters want this: whoever hands over a task also pays for it. This is called the connexity principle. Towns should not be left with the costs.

The Free Voters want to reduce the number of funding programs and fundamentally reorganize Saxony's funding policy. The platform speaks of an uncontrolled sprawl of subsidies and calls for clear responsibilities, simple applications and transparent conditions.

Saxony has a great many funding programs. The Free Voters want fewer of them. Applications should become easier. Everyone should understand what the money is for. The money saved should go to the towns.

The Free Voters want municipalities and counties to keep a much larger share of Saxony's taxes and revenue. To that end, the fiscal equalization law is to be rewritten, because the platform sees municipalities as systematically underfunded for years.

The Free Voters say towns in Saxony have too little money. They should keep a bigger share of the taxes. A law is to be rewritten for this. Towns should decide about their own money.

The Free Voters commit to the debt brake and to careful use of taxpayer money. Fiscal policy in Saxony is to become more sustainable at every level.

The Free Voters want to be careful with tax money. The state should keep the debt brake. That is a rule: the state may take on only a little new debt.

The Free Voters want to strengthen the tax administration. This is meant to let the state act more firmly against people and companies that do not pay their taxes properly.

Some people do not pay their taxes correctly. The Free Voters want to strengthen the tax offices. The offices should be better able to pursue such cases.

The Free Voters want to give families more financial support when buying or building a home. Plans include a Baukindergeld (home-building grant for families with children), waiving the property transfer tax for young families, and an interest-free loan for parents.

The Free Voters want to help families buy a home. Families with children who build should get money. Young families should pay no property transfer tax. There should again be a loan for parents without interest.

The Free Voters want to strengthen social housing in the areas surrounding big cities rather than making cities ever denser. Young families would pay no real estate transfer tax on their first home purchase. The party rejects new requirements for builders and demands that the planned ban on oil and gas heating be withdrawn at once.

The Free Voters want more affordable homes. These should also be built around the big cities. Young families should not pay a tax when they buy their first home. Building permits should come faster. Oil and gas heating should stay allowed.

The Free Voters want to make Saxony the most family-friendly German state and reduce fees and charges for families. The Landeserziehungsgeld (state child-raising allowance) would be paid regardless of how children are cared for. Young parents in training or at university would get special support.

The Free Voters want to help families more. Families should pay fewer fees. All parents should get the state child-raising allowance. It should not matter who looks after the child. Young parents in training should get extra help.

The Free Voters want to support families and seniors in daily life with money and infrastructure. This includes a Pflegewohngeld (housing allowance for people in care), an expanded family pass, local shops and doctors, and a statewide public transit ticket for all ages.

The Free Voters want to help families and older people in daily life. There should be a housing allowance for people in care. The family pass should offer more. Shops and doctors should be nearby. There should be one bus and train ticket for the whole family.

The Free Voters want to stop population aging and decline in Saxony and gear state policy toward starting families. The social affairs ministry would carry the word family in its name, and an image campaign would promote having children.

Few children are born in Saxony. The Free Voters want to change that. Politics should encourage people to start families. One ministry should get a new name with the word family. An ad campaign should promote families.

The Free Voters want to introduce Bildungsurlaub (paid educational leave) in Saxony. Further training and degrees earned later in life should be used more, helped by advice and information, including on financing.

The Free Voters want educational leave in Saxony. That is time off work for learning. People should be able to earn degrees later in life. There should be more advice for this. The advice should also explain how to pay for it.

The Free Voters want to abolish fees for nurseries and kindergartens and pay for them from taxes. All daycare children are also to get a free lunch. The platform justifies this with equal starting chances for all children.

The Free Voters want nursery and kindergarten to be free. Taxes should pay for it. Lunch at daycare should also cost nothing. All children should have equally good chances when they start school.

The Free Voters want to recruit more teachers and introduce a dual teacher-training degree that provides classroom practice early on. They also call for more school social work, more money and better digital equipment for schools.

The Free Voters want more teachers in schools. Student teachers should work in schools early on. Schools should have more social workers and psychologists. Schools should get more money and better technology.

The Free Voters want mandatory German language tests for children before they start school, along with language preparation classes. The platform sees the growing share of children with a different native language as the main cause of problems with basic skills.

The Free Voters want a German test before school starts. All children must take it. Children with little German first go to a preparation class. The party says many pupils learn poorly because they know too little German.

The Free Voters want to move the recommendation for Gymnasium (academic-track school) or Oberschule from grade 4 to grade 6. In the platform's view, the decision in grade 4 comes too early for many children.

Today the choice of school type is made in grade 4. The Free Voters think that is too early. The recommendation should come in grade 6. Children then have more time to develop.

The Free Voters want to raise the standing of vocational training relative to university study and fund it more strongly. The platform calls dual training (combined workplace and school training) proven and sees it as a foundation of the economy.

The Free Voters want to strengthen job training. It should count as much as a university degree. Vocational schools should get more money and better technology. Young people should be able to train close to home.

The Free Voters want to slim down curricula, focus them more on everyday skills and introduce a modular system of subjects and courses. In addition, Saxony is to push in the Bundesrat for more uniform state rules and a nationwide central Abitur exam.

The Free Voters want to change what schools teach. Pupils should learn more for everyday life. They should be able to choose more subjects themselves. The Abitur exam should be the same all over Germany.

The Free Voters want Saxony to launch a Bundesrat initiative for BAföG (student aid) that no longer depends on parents' income. Universities are to receive reliable core funding, in part so they can do research independently of industry.

The Free Voters want to change BAföG. BAföG is state money for students. It should no longer depend on what parents earn. Universities should get more steady money from the state.

The Free Voters want to secure basic medical care across the state, including through health centers modeled on the "Poliklinik" (multi-doctor outpatient clinic). Nursing care is to be provided more on an outpatient basis and in small facilities close to home. To address staff shortages, the party relies on less paperwork, retraining, and quick recognition of foreign qualifications.

The Free Voters want good doctors and care everywhere in Saxony. Rural areas should have health centers too. Care homes should be small and close to home. Doctors and nurses should have less paperwork. Skilled workers from abroad should be allowed to work sooner.

The Free Voters want to prioritize training workers at home but see Saxony as partly dependent on skilled workers from abroad because of its demographics. These workers should be able to work in Saxony without unnecessary hurdles when needed, kept separate from the asylum system.

Saxony does not have enough workers. The Free Voters want to train people at home first. But they also want skilled workers from other countries. These workers should find it easier to work in Saxony. Asylum and work migration should stay separate.

The Free Voters want to work in the Bundesrat to stop illegal migration and remove what they see as false incentives. Anyone who deliberately conceals their identity is not to be allowed across the border; asylum seekers are to receive benefits in kind rather than cash as a priority.

The Free Voters want to stop illegal entry. People who hide who they are should not get into the country. Asylum seekers should get goods rather than money. The borders should be better protected.

The Free Voters reject any obligation to use gender-inclusive language at schools and universities. The demand appears in both the school chapter and the higher-education chapter.

The Free Voters want no duty to use gender-inclusive language. That means wording that names all genders. Nobody should have to use it at school. The same goes for universities.

The Free Voters want public authorities to stop using gender-inclusive language. In the party's view, such language makes official texts harder to understand and does not change society. The administration should instead communicate in simple, easily understood language.

The Free Voters want government offices to stop using gender-inclusive language. That means wording that names all genders. The party thinks this makes texts hard to understand. Offices should write in a simple and clear way.

The Free Voters want affordable energy from a mix of renewable and conventional sources plus new technologies. They reject an earlier coal phase-out. Renewable plants should be built in a decentralized way, with municipalities and residents sharing in the revenue.

The Free Voters want cheaper energy. They want to use many energy sources. These include wind, sun, water, and also coal. Coal should not end earlier than planned. Towns and citizens should earn money from the energy too.

The Free Voters are betting on hydrogen and methanol and want the state to fund research on them. Nuclear fusion research should get top priority. The party rejects subsidies for electric mobility at their current level.

The Free Voters are counting on hydrogen and methanol. These are substances used to make energy. Saxony should fund research on them. Nuclear fusion should be studied too. Electric cars should get less public money.

The Free Voters want to abolish carbon pricing, which they regard as a hidden tax increase. For energy retrofits of buildings, incentives should replace mandatory requirements.

The Free Voters want to end the carbon price. The carbon price makes heating and fuel more expensive. The party sees it as a hidden tax. People who upgrade their homes should get funding. Nobody should be forced to upgrade.

The Free Voters assume that Saxony cannot stop climate change and therefore focus mainly on adaptation. This includes more greenery in cities, protection against heavy rain and flooding, and water management that makes greater use of rainwater.

The Free Voters say Saxony cannot stop climate change. So the state should adapt to the new conditions. Cities should become greener. There should be more protection from floods and heavy rain. Rainwater should be put to better use.

The Free Voters want farming that is innovative, sustainable and regional, and they want to give special support to marketing local products. EU agricultural policy should be organized in a decentralized way, and farms should be funded regardless of size, without binding caps.

The Free Voters want to strengthen farmers in Saxony. Food from the region should be sold nearby. The EU should pay more attention to the regions in farm policy. Large and small farms should get the same support.

The Free Voters reject the EU's decision to phase out new combustion-engine vehicles and want the market to decide. There should be no citywide 30 km/h zones.

The EU wants to stop new cars with combustion engines from 2035. The Free Voters are against this. The market should decide which cars exist. The party also opposes 30 km/h limits across whole cities.

The Free Voters want to electrify and reopen rail lines, connect regions to larger cities by commuter rail, and support public transit in rural areas. Municipalities should get enough money for roads, bike paths, sidewalks, and bridges.

The Free Voters want more and better train connections. Old rail lines should run again. More buses should run in rural areas, including on-call buses. Towns should get enough money for roads and bridges. There should be more roundabouts.

The Free Voters want to speed up the digitization of state and municipal administration. At the same time, citizen offices are to serve as a first point of contact even in small municipalities, so that people can still talk to someone in person.

The Free Voters want government offices to go digital. People should be able to file forms from home. Small towns should still have a citizen office. Staff there help people in person.

The Free Voters want to give the police and other security agencies enough staff and modern technology. Organized gang and clan crime, terrorism and extremism are to be fought consistently, while the platform stresses a balance between freedom and security.

The Free Voters want more staff for the police. The police should get modern technology. Gangs and clans should be pursued firmly. The party also wants to respect people's freedom.

The Free Voters want to fundamentally renew civil protection and disaster response, which in their view has barely been developed for years. Plans include decentralized reserves, regular drills, shelters and more money for municipalities and aid organizations.

The Free Voters want to rebuild disaster protection. Supplies should be stored in many places. Authorities and citizens should practice for emergencies regularly. Fire departments and helpers should get more money.

The Free Voters want to give the justice system more staff and resources so that cases are handled faster. In criminal law they favor fast-track proceedings, short "warning-shot" detention for repeat offenders, and tougher rules for 18- to 21-year-olds who commit serious crimes. Foreign nationals who commit crimes are to be expelled more quickly.

The Free Voters want more staff for the courts. Cases should move faster. People who commit a crime should be punished quickly. Young adults should face stricter rules for serious crimes. Foreigners who commit serious crimes should have to leave the country sooner.

The Free Voters want to give Saxony's Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz (state domestic intelligence agency) more resources and, by law, broader access to data on extremists. The platform argues that criminal law alone is not enough to fight extremism from the right, the left, and Islamists. The party also rejects face coverings and veils in public.

The Free Voters want a stronger domestic intelligence agency. This agency watches people who threaten democracy. It should get more staff. It should get easier access to data on extremists. The party also does not want covered faces in public.

The Free Voters want to reorganize public administration: state agencies should handle only what absolutely has to be decided at a higher level. Everything else should be decided locally, under the motto of as little state and as much self-government as possible.

The Free Voters want to change how government offices work. Towns should decide more on their own. The state should only handle a few things. The party says those closest to a problem decide best.

The Free Voters want to lower the thresholds for citizens' initiatives and referendums and create digital channels for public participation. The state premier and ministers would serve no more than two legislative terms. The party expects better decisions and less disillusionment with politics as a result.

The Free Voters want citizens to have more say. Referendums should be easier to hold. Citizens should also be able to take part online. The state premier and the ministers should serve two terms at most.

The Free Voters want to introduce a so-called executive footprint showing which interest groups helped shape a law. The party does not see lobbying as bad in principle but demands transparency for citizens.

The Free Voters want more openness about new laws. Groups and associations often try to influence laws. This is called lobbying. Citizens should be able to see who had an influence.

The Free Voters want fewer European Union requirements to apply to cities and towns. The demand is tied to the goal of strengthening local self-government.

The EU makes rules that also apply to towns. The Free Voters want fewer of these rules. Towns should be able to decide more freely.

The Free Voters want to preserve cultural monuments and institutions and make admission to Saxony's museums free. Volunteer work would be rewarded with pension credits. In sports, the party calls for more programs for children and young people, planning certainty for associations, and keeping politics out of sports.

The Free Voters want to keep old buildings, theaters, and museums. Museums in Saxony should be free to enter. People who volunteer should get a higher pension for it. There should be more sports for children and young people. Sports should be free of politics.

The Free Voters want to reduce the number of public TV and radio stations to save money. The broadcasters' mandate and their supervisory councils are also to be reviewed and reformed. The party expects more detachment in news coverage.

The Free Voters want fewer public TV and radio stations. This is meant to save money. The party also wants to change how the stations are supervised. Journalists should report in a neutral way.

The Free Voters want to give villages and small and mid-sized towns priority in funding and capacity. By 2028, mobile coverage should reach everywhere and fiber-optic internet should be fully available. Planning and building rules should become much simpler.

The Free Voters want to strengthen villages and small towns. These should get more money first. By 2028, there should be cell phone coverage and fast internet everywhere. Building and planning should get easier. The number of wolves should be clearly regulated.

The Free Voters want to keep daycare centers, schools, doctors' practices, hospitals and shops in rural areas. They cite the principle of equivalent living conditions and call for more state money and financial incentives.

The Free Voters want to secure life in the countryside. There should still be daycare, schools, doctors and shops. The state should give more money for this. People in the countryside should live as well as people in cities.