The 2000 platforms summarized in the Houston Chronicle
 Democrats - June 11, 2000, page 1A
 Republicans - June 18, 2000, page 16A

Texas Democrats' key planks:

• Separation of church and state
• Need to improve public education, raise teacher pay and oppose private school vouchers
• Support for a constitutional amendment banning sales tax on food and medicine
• Support for hate crimes legislation enhancing penalties
• Women's reproductive rights ("abortion" not mentioned in platform)
• A patient's bill of rights to allow Texans to chose their doctors
• Expansion of Medicare to cover the cost of prescription drugs
• A plea for more aggressive environmental policy to address Texas' pollution
• Opposition to "English-only" policies
• Opposition to any immigration-control policies that deny health care or public education to senior citizens and children.

Texas Republicans' key planks:

• "We believe that the least government is the best government"
• "The environment is best served by individuals working in their own best interest"
• Abolish the income tax and the IRS
• Repeal minimum-wage laws
• Phase out the Social Security system in favor of private retirement investment accounts
• "Government-sponsored gambling has had a devastating impact on many Texas families" and should not be used to finance government programs
• Return the federal monetary system to the gold standard
• Repeal the law that allows people to register to vote when they apply for or renew driver's licenses
• Eliminate the "straight-ticket" voting option on ballots
• Only registered voters should serve as jurors
• "Capital punishment should be swift and unencumbered"
• "Faith-based drug rehabilitation should be utilized in place of incarceration whenever possible"
• "The party demands the elimination of presidential authority to issue executive orders, presidential-decision mandates and other administrative orders that do not have congressional approval"
• Judges who abuse their authority by making rules instead of interpreting them should be removed if they were appointed and defeated if they were elected
• Adopt "American English" as the official language of the state and the nation
• "Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that have been ordained by God"
• Gov. Bush's 1994 pledge to abolish the authority of the Texas Education Agency should be fulfilled.  The authority should be transferred to the elected state Board of Education.
• The U.S. Department of Education should be abolished
• Corporal punishment in Texas public schools is effective
• Prayer in school should be encouraged
• Abolish the National Endowment for the Arts
• End all forms of U.S. participation in the U.N.
• Repeal NAFTA and GATT and withdraw from the World Trade Organization
• The federal government, especially the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, should have a more limited role in local and state law enforcement
• The governor should set aside space for a chapel in the Texas Capitol
• Places of worship should not be regulated or taxed in any way

For the complete text of both platforms:

    Texas Democrats

    Texas Republicans