Texas Impact Legislative Agenda 2015

8/10/2019 Texas Impact Legislative Agenda 2015

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Their Own Vines

and Fig Treesa security agenda for all TexansHe shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more;

but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.Micah 4: 3-4

Texas Impact 2015


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Texas Impact Legislative Agenda 2

There is a Jewish tradition that the fig leaves that Adam and Eve used to cover themselves wereleaves from the Tree of Knowledge. When, as in the passage in Micah, everyone sits in safetyunder his or her own fig tree, it is to study and learn. There is a similar passage in Zechariah inwhich all will invite their neighbors to join them under the fig tree.

In that day each of you will invite your neighborto sit under your vine and the fig tree,

declares the Lord.Zechariah 3:10

Our legislative agenda, a product of the work of the denominational representatives and othermembers of the Texas Impact Board of Directors and the Texas Impact staff, is a document foreach to contemplate under his or her fig tree, learning the backgrounds and foregrounds of thepolicy issues outlined here.

It is also the work of inviting others... our friends, our religious communities, and our legislators...into the work of improving the well-being, opportunities, and safety of the people of Texas.

By the fig and the oliveAnd the Mountain of SinaiAnd this City of security

We have indeed created humanity in the best of forms.Surat al-Tin 95:1-4

Texas Impact Executive BoardReverend Dr. Whitney Bodman, President

Richard Ertel, Vice-President Amanda Quraishi, Secretary

Reverend Jim McClain, reasurerMohamed Elibiary

Ellen SableReverend Franz Schemmel

Texas Impact Member OrganizationsEpiscopal Diocese of West exas Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Northern X-Northern LA Synod, X-LAGulf Coast Synod, Southwestern exas Synod Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Grace Presbytery, Mission Presbytery, NeCovenant Presbytery, Palo Duro Presbytery, res Rios Presbytery United Methodist Church: Central exas ConferencNorth exas Conference, Northwest exas Conference, Southwest exas Conference, exas Conference United Churc

of Christ South Central Conference Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest Society of Friends SoutCentral Yearly Meeting Jewish Federation of Dallas Interfaith Action of Central exas San Antonio Community Churches arrant Area Community of Congregations Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston United Methodist Women Church Women United in exas Islamic Society of Greater Houston North exas Islamic Council IslamCircle of North America National Council of Jewish Women Dominican Sisters of Houston Congregation of Divin

Providence of San Antonio Union Baptist Fellowship


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3 January 2015

Ensure that Texas families have access to trustworthy nancial services and support strategies for moving more working Texans toward a livable wage.

Strengthen access to affordable healthy food.

Pursue strategies to ensure that all men, women, and children in Texas have access to quality, affordable healthinsurance.

Build a culture of mental health at the state and local levels.

Take an appropriate and balanced approach to immigration issues.

Protect every Texas childs right to a quality education.

Build healthier communities with improved law enforcement and criminal justice outcomes.

Involve all Texans in securing a clean, affordable water future.

Recommit to clean, reliable, affordable energy.

Deepen investment in Texas national model faith and community-based initiative.

Make sure the states revenue system is fair to all and sufficient to meet our needs.

Give voters clear and complete information about policy inuencers such as campaign contributors and lobbyists.

Encourage Texans to vote and participate as partners in policy development and implementation.

Texans are concerned about security.Polling shows that the security of exas border is a top priority for voters. For many exans, though, security concerns gbeyond issues unique to the border area. For example, recent national reports rank exas near the bottom of all states innancial security and food security.

But what does security really mean? Te shared teachings of our faith traditions offer a vision of security that is at once universal and deeply personal. Teprophets image of one loving community, all resting together in peace, free from fear, resonates with exans hopes for ostate.

exas Impact affirms exans desire for security. We offer the following legislative recommendations as concreteopportunities for legislators to increase security for all exans.

Security means strong families, strongcommunities, and strong democracy.

Key Recommendations


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Ensure that Texas families haveaccess to trustworthy nancialservices and support strategiesfor moving more working Texanstoward a livable wage.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,40 percent of exas households are unbanked or under-banked, meaning they either dont have a bank account atall or they have a checking account but use the alternativenancial services market, which often costs more thantraditional banks, for basic transaction and credit needs. exas has the second-highest number of unbanked peopleamong the states, and the fth-highest number of under-banked.

Households operating outside the traditional bankingsystem rely on alternative nancial service providers,including short-term lenders, check-cashing services,and prepaid cards. With such a large share of exashouseholds currently depending on alternative providers, exas lawmakers should be especially committed torobust regulation of all nancial providers.

Unlike traditional lenders, payday lenders and otheralternative short-term lenders use restrictive paymentoptions and high monthly fees to prevent borrowers frommaking progress toward paying down loan principal,trapping consumers in a cycle of debt. Legislators in thepast have considered legislation to regulate payday andauto title lenders, but have not moved forward beyondlaying a foundation for basic regulation by requiringlenders to register with the state and report on theiractivities.

Some exas communities have adopted local ordinancesregulating payday and auto title lenders. While ordinancesmay put parameters on lenders who choose to locate

inside a particular city, they do not substitute for effectiveregulation at the state level, and they create enforcementburdens for already over-extended local governments.

Ultimately, lawmakers should strive for a banking systemthat includes more exas households. Participating in thetraditional banking system is a foundational step towardnancial stability. Tis is important for individual families,and its also important to the well-being of the state.

Currently, 65 percent of exans have subprime credit,making exas the fourth-worst state for household credit

In 2013, the top reason those surveyed gave for remaininoutside the traditional banking system was that theydont make enough money. Despite exas currentbooming economy, 16 percent of exas householdsofficially qualify as poor. Lawmakers should considerthe impact exas low-wage job market has on the stateslong-term economic stability and provide incentives foremployers to invest in higher wages.

Recommendations

Legislators should adopt uniform, statewide regulationof alternative lenders.

Legislators should identify and address any barrierspreventing traditional community lenders from extendincredit to disadvantaged exans.

Legislators should provide incentives for employers tooffer livable wages.

Strengthen access to affordablehealthy food.

In a state where more than 18 percent ofresidents are at risk of hunger, the solegoal of food programs should be to ensure

that food gets to those who need it. Lawmakers shouldkeep all state food policy decisions coherently focused oleveraging all available food resources to the maximumextent. Almost all of the food assistance available in exis federally funded; the state saves nothing and hinderseconomic activity by limiting access to the SupplementaNutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but year after year, about one out of every three exans who couldqualify for SNAP is not enrolled in the program.

In the past, lawmakers have considered food assistancepolicies that try to kill two birds with one stone, suchas restricting foods available to SNAP recipients asa way to steer poor people toward healthy foods andthus minimize tax costs of diet-related diseases such asdiabetes. However laudable this goal is, food restrictionsdiscourage stores from accepting SNAP, creating barriers

Security means strong families.


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5 January 2015

for individuals who already need help and who often livein areas without grocery stores known as food deserts.Similarly, bureaucratic measures such as drug testing forSNAP applicants cost taxpayers more to implement thanthey save and needlessly punish applicants children.

exas is one of the few states that impose a lifetime banon SNAP for people who have been convicted of a drug-related felonyeven after an individual has served his orher sentence and reentered the community. States havethe option to impose the ban, but most do not, preferringto prioritize successful reentry.

Recommendations

Legislators should make sure that exas gets the mostbenet possible from SNAP by opposing restrictionson food purchases, promoting use of SNAP benets atfarmers markets, and lifting counterproductive barriers toSNAP eligibility.

Pursue strategies to ensure thatall men, women, and childrenin Texas have access to quality,affordable health insurance.

Health insurance remains the Achilles heel of exaseconomy. More than one out of every four nonelderlyadult exans is uninsured, rendering exas the mostuninsured state in the nation.

While health insurance alone cannot guarantee goodhealth or long life, research conrms that access tocoverage is associated with a number of positive health-related impacts, such as: having a regular doctor; receivingtimely preventive care services; better managementof chronic health conditions; improved health status,particularly among people with chronic healthproblems; greater workforce participation; and longerlife expectancy. Health insurance also protects familiesnancial stability.

Widespread lack of health insurance results in distortionsin public spending. A primary concern is the impact onlocal government, where tax revenues often go to pay forindigent care at the expense of infrastructure, education,and other priorities. At the state level, lawmakers haveallocated about $1 billion in general revenue in thecurrent biennium to treat diseases and conditions forspecic low-income populations that would be coveredunder a typical health insurance policy.

exas has the opportunity to cover more than onemillion nonelderly adults using federal funds madeavailable through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Te

ACA provides federal Medicaid funds at an enhanced90 percent match rate to allow states to provide healthinsurance to low-income adults. States have the option touse the funds to expand their existing Medicaid programto non-elderly adults with incomes below 138 percentof the federal poverty level (FPL), or to create otheralternatives that provide quality health insurance coverinthe same population.

Legislators also can help to improve health insuranceconditions for individuals above 138 percent of thepoverty level. exans will benet from these provisions,but they will benet far more if lawmakers direct the

exas Department of Insurance ( DI) to protect healthinsurance consumers by intervening in rate increases, anto ensure that consumer health insurance information isaccessible and useful. In addition, legislators should dire

DI to use existing fund balances from now-defunctprograms to strengthen exans health insurance throughstrategies such as establishing a grant program for localcommunities to improve health insurance conditions.

Recommendations

Legislators should provide health insurance fornonelderly exans under 138 percent FPL using federalMedicaid funds made available through the ACA.

Legislators should increase DIs authority to regulatehealth insurance.

Legislators should direct DI to use its availableresources to improve exans access to health insurance.

Build a culture of mental healthat the state and local levels.

In 2013, lawmakers reversed exas decadelong trend of diminishing investment inmental health by increasing mental healthfunding $259 million over the previous

biennial budget. Te allocations included an additional$57 million to eliminate waiting lists for mental healthservices for children and adults. An additional $25 millio

was set aside to nance grants to local mental healthauthorities and crisis programs, and $10 million more

went to substance-abuse treatment.


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Te increased funding can be seen as a meaningfulstatement of intent and down payment toward a strongermental health system for exas, but policymakers andexperts agree that the increased nancial investment is just one piece of what should be a much bigger and morelong-term strategy. Furthermore, while some mentalhealth system issueslike workforce adequacyarehighly responsive to increased funding, otherssuch ascultural stigmarequire a more holistic approach.

Because the mental health system is part of the 2014Sunset review of the states health and human servicesenterprise, there are special opportunities to realignadministrative structures that could help lawmakers targetpolicies and investment. However, legislators should takecare that administrative restructuring is not a substitutefor substantive change and that stakeholders have theopportunity to participate in all aspects of policymaking.New research and public information initiatives havegone along with evidence of legislative commitment to

improving mental health conditions in exas. As a result,lawmakers in 2015 will have a wealth of informationat hand and no shortage of potentially valuable policyproposals to consider. In evaluating mental health policyoptions, legislators should communicate consistently with

the public about their long-term vision and the steps it will take to get there.

Recommendations

Legislators should design cross-agency processes thatbuild mental health awareness into all state governmentprocesses.

Legislators should provide incentives for localgovernments to provide crisis intervention training to rresponders and community-based organizations.

Legislators should direct the exas Department ofInsurance to provide information to health insuranceratepayers about mental health parity and coverage formental health and substance abuse treatment needs.

Legislators should ensure that state mental healthhospitals are appropriately staffed.

Legislators should mandate stakeholder processes formental health and substance abuse treatment policies anprograms to ensure transparency and accountability.

You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the landof Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them,when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, andI will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and yourchildren orphans.

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not dealwith them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you takeyour neighbor's cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down;for it may be your neighbor's only clothing to use as cover; in what else shallthat person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I amcompassionate.

Exodus 22: 21-27

They ask you as to what they should spend. Say: Whatever wealth you spend,it is for the parents and the near of kin and the orphans and the needy andthe wayfarer, and whatever good you do, Allah surely knows it.

Quran 2:215


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7 January 2015

Take an appropriate and balanced approach toimmigration issues.

Immigration is an issue appropriatelyaddressed at the federal level, and not by

state legislatures. Nevertheless, our extended border withMexico makes this issue one of great importance andconsequence to exans. Our interests in immigrationare practical and focus on the health and safety of localcommunities. Employers need to be able to hire qualied workers. Schools need to be able to educate healthystudents. Law enforcement officials need to be able totrust residents to report and discuss criminal activity when it occurs. Faith communities insist that all people in exas be treated equally.

Lawmakers should focus on ensuring the safety andsecurity of exas communities through adequateinvestment in law enforcement and building trustbetween law enforcement agencies and local communities.In particular, lawmakers should eschew proposalsintended to penalize undocumented individuals that would cause collateral harm to exas citizens. Forexample, allowing undocumented individuals to holddrivers permits and reducing the number of uninsureddrivers would provide important protection for all driverson exas roads.

Local charitable organizations such as faith communitiescan be key players in helping to foster robust community-law enforcement partnerships, but should not be placedin a position of enforcing immigration law. Likewise,faith communities should not be prevented from offeringhumanitarian assistance to those in need.

Recommendations

Legislators should ensure that exas law enforcement

systems are dedicated to protecting exans, not enforcingfederal civil laws.

Legislators should reject proposals to co-opt health,education, or human service providers or faithcommunities into immigration enforcement.

Legislators should protect exans health and safetyby establishing limited drivers licenses or permits forundocumented residents.

Protect every Texas childs rightto a quality education.

exas commitment to public educationis enshrined in our state constitution,

which characterizes a general diffusionof knowledge [as] being essential to the

preservation of the liberties and rights of the people andrequires the Legislature of the State to establish andmake suitable provision for the support and maintenanceof an efficient system of public free schools.

Legislators are struggling to meet this foundationalcommitment. Over the past decade, legislators haveallowed state support for public schools to erode belowconstitutional requirements. In 2011, the Legislature

failed to provide enough state funding to keep pace with enrollment growth, and in 2013 they chose not torestore that shortfall. In 2014, a district court ruled thecurrent system of nancing public schools to be belowconstitutional requirements. Now, for the second time inten years, exas school nance system is before the exSupreme Court, and lawmakers face judicial demandsthat they strengthen the states investment in publiceducation.

In allocating school funding from the state generalrevenue, lawmakers confront a tension between the costs

of providing a quality education to any student andthe need to provide that same quality to every student.Legislators also face conicting perspectives on whichneeds a neighborhood school should address and theimpact that external inuencessuch as health status anpovertyhave in determining educational outcomes forindividual students.

Questions about the true cost of an adequate educationare leading to calls for a cost of education study that

would re-establish important markers for lawmakersto meet in building future budgets. Such a study wouldprovide a common set of expectations for all players inthe system, but it could be used to excuse inequity infunding for low-income or minority districts. Proposalsthat education dollars follow the student fail to accounfor the full cost of service associated with educationalinfrastructure, special needs populations, and otheraggregate costs.

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In any case, with public education funding already incrisis, exas can ill-afford to consider proposals that would drain existing funding away from the publicsystem. Vouchers and other subsidies for private schoolsor other educational services that would be funded with taxpayer dollars previously allocated to publicschools would only further strain the school nancesystem. In the future, any public funds used for privateeducation must be held to the same standards of publicaccountability as those spent on public education, athreshold that could prove challenging for many privateschools and, in the case of religious schools, could beperceived as leading to an uncomfortable entanglement with government. Te requirements and restrictions inthe Education Code that govern public schools must beunderstood to govern equally any provider that receivesany amount of public funding.

Recommendations

Legislators should re-establish the historic commitmentto fund a set share of the cost of public education,including the cost of enrollment growth.

Legislators should undertake a study of the cost ofeducation to use as a tool in future education fundingdecisions.

Legislators should reject policy proposals that woulddivert public funds assessed to support public schoolsto other education providers or services, unless thoseproviders are held to the exact same requirements andrestrictions as public schools.

Build healthier communities with improved law enforcementand criminal justice outcomes.

exas ranks near the top among states interms of share of state population involved

in the criminal justice system. Te United States hadnearly 7 million people under supervision of adult state

and local correctional systems in 2012one in every35 adults. About one in every 50 adult residents in thecommunity were on probation or parole. exas had morethan 730,000 people under supervision at any time in2012about one in every 26 adults. About one in every37 adult residents in the community were on probationor parole. Te increasing cost of incarceration, both ineconomic terms and in the human impact on incarceratedindividuals, families, and communities, requires the

ongoing attention of state and local leadership.More than 90 percent of individuals in prison willone day return home. Individuals coming home fromprison or jail face numerous challenges to successfulreentry. Recent changes in exas have improved theoutlook for successful reentry into communities fromthe criminal justice system, but resources may be unevenacross the state. Legislators should consider strategiesto improve reentry outcomes, including leveraginglocal faith and community-based resources. Removingcriminal background questions from the initial jobapplication phase could help reentering individuals secuemployment. Legislators should closely regulate the saleof criminal records to preserve data integrity.

In part because exas invests relatively little in mentalhealth treatment programs, the states criminal justicesystem ends up the default mental health provider formany individuals with mental illness. Examining exascommunity-oriented policing policies and identifying

best practices in law enforcement engagement withindividuals experiencing mental illness could help tomake communities safer and save money in the systemoverall.

Racial disparities in arrests, convictions, and sentencinghave led to a breakdown in trust between lawenforcement and community members in some localcommunities. Racially charged conicts between lawenforcement and residents around the nation haveleft many communities fearful and resentful of lawenforcement officials. Institutional distrust leads to areluctance to report crime, which decreases the publicsafety of everyone.

Recent high-prole cases in exas and across the nationdemonstrate the many deep aws in the U.S. capitalpunishment system. From execution of innocent people tbotched executions with untested drugs, the death penaltis an antiquated system that has no place in 21st century

exas.

Recommendations

Legislators should promote employment for individual with criminal conviction records including adoptingstatewide ban the box legislation.

Legislators should require body cameras on all lawenforcement officials.

Legislators should end the death penalty in exas.


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9 January 2015

Involve all Texans in securing aclean, affordable water future.

Te poet W.H. Auden mused, Tousandshave lived without love, not one without

water, but lawmakers should not assumethat love and water are completely

unrelated. Every living being needs water, and exas

legislators are responsible for ensuring they get it.

In 2013, legislators suggestedand voters approveda$2 billion loan guarantee program to nance waterprojects. Te new program is called the State WaterImplementation Fund for exas (SWIF ). Conservationand reuse are set to account for at least 20 percent ofSWIF -funded projects. Also in 2013, lawmakers moved water ratemaking to the Public Utility Commission(PUC). Having recently made sweeping changes to exas water management policies, the Legislature will need toevaluate the implementation process so far and make anynecessary adjustments.

exas is fortunate to have a public water planningprocess. In 1997, exas implemented a locally focused,grassroots approach to water planning, giving substantiveresponsibility to 16 regional water-planning groups acrossthe state. Every planning group must have representationfrom environmental groups, municipal utilities, andsmall businessesas well as industrial and agriculturalstakeholders. Whatever strategies exas implementsfor conserving and developing water resources will

begin as regional proposals approved by these teams ofstakeholders.

Ratemaking, on the other hand, is a much lesscollaborative process. Rate proceedings at the PUC areprofessionalized and arcane, and individual ratepayershave few avenues for participation without an attorney. Te ratemaking process does not interact with the waterplanning process, so stakeholders in the planning processmay not have a way to consider how alternative scenarioscould impact ratepayers. Likewise, water ratemakingis generally disconnected from broader environmentalimpacts.

Lack of connection between the water planningprocess and the water ratemaking process couldlead to incoherent planning, especially in the area ofconservation. Legislators should put in place realistic,accountable water conservation measures across theeconomy, andas with energyconsumer-directed

conservation programs should honor the capacity of eve exan, even very small or disadvantaged consumers, tobe part of a collective strategy. Water rates should reectthese priorities, and ratepayer incentives should be part othe conservation planning process.

Recommendations

Legislators should set clear priorities for waterconservation planning and make clear connectionsbetween water rates and water conservation.

Legislators should fund the exas Water DevelopmentBoard sufficiently for the agency to undertake thescientic research and analysis to meet its water planninresponsibilities.

Legislators should ensure that affordable water isavailable to all exans and prevent water from becomingspeculative commodity.

Legislators should fully account for and create strategito reduce water used in energy production and vice vers

Legislators should ensure that non-humanenvironmental considerations are prioritized, along withhuman water needs, in the regional planning process andreected in the ratemaking process.

Recommit to clean, reliable,affordable energy.

exas continues to have more renewableenergy potential than any other state, butin recent years clean energy discussions

have taken a back seat to concern about electric reliabilitMeanwhile, though cheap natural gas, made possible inlarge part by exas controversial hydraulic fracturingfrackingboom, has kept energy costs low, frackinghas left many communities and landowners dealing

with collateral damage and unsustainable change. Atthe federal level, environmental regulation aimed ataddressing both air pollution and global warming isexpected to create new regulatory requirements for state

Renewable energy continues to be key in addressingmany of the concerns that exas faces and will face. Asrenewable technologies become more cost-competitiveand concerns about fracking mount, legislators shouldrecommit to making exas the nations clean energyleader and update the states clean energy goals. exas


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long-term plan for electric reliability must include acommitment to clean energy that promotes long-termenergy independence, human health, and care for Godscreation.

Lawmakers should place particular emphasis onconsumer-directed energy efficiency programs that yield benets for the grid and the individual ratepayer. oo often, energy efficiency programs take a one-size-ts-all approach that rewards the heaviest users while minimizing the signicance of small consumers.Legislators should affirm that energy efficiency is acommunity-wide effort, and craft policies that makeenergy efficiency attractive and effective for all ratepayers,including those who have low incomes or are otherwisedisadvantaged.

Recommendations

Legislators should set new, ambitious clean energy goals

in line with the states clean energy potential.

Legislators should ensure that exas electric reliabilityplans include strong consumer-directed energyconservation measures and that consumer-directedprograms are structured to provide accountability in theirsavings to the grid and to consumers.

Legislators should demand that natural gas drillers usethe best available technology, and meter and report their water usage.

Legislators should increase funding for environmentalenforcement to monitor fracking and otherenvironmentally hazardous industries.

Deepen investment in Texasnational model faith andcommunity-based initiative.

exas faith and community-based initiativeis a successful national model that is

empowering nonprot organizations of all sizes and typesto take an active role in implementing public policies andprograms. In a national political environment too oftencharacterized by sectarian bickering and secular mistrustof religious policy engagement, exas is showing thatfaith groups can work alongside other nonprots andgovernment agencies for the benet of all exans.

Te faith and community-based initiative is acollaboration between OneStar Foundation, theInteragency Coordinating Group, and the exasNonprot Council. By focusing on collaboration andcommunication, exas lawmakers have maintainedimportant boundaries and Constitutional protections

while engaging faith groups as key partners with the stat

OneStar Foundation was established in 2003 to serveas exas designated commission for volunteerism andcommunity service. OneStar administers exas state

Americorps programs. Te Interagency CoordinatingGroup (ICG) was established legislatively in 2009 toimprove contracting and other relationships betweenstate agencies and the nonprot sector. Te membershipconsists of a standing body of liaisons from 24 stateagencies, ranging from health and human servicesto environmental protection and public safety. Teexecutive director of OneStar chairs the ICG. Te exasNonprot Council ( NC) was established legislatively

in 2013 to assist the ICG in its work. Te 12 membersrepresent various segments of the nonprot sector. Teyare appointed from a pool of applicants by the executivedirector of the Health and Human Services Commissionand elect officers from among their number. Te NCalso is charged with recommending additional legislativstrategies to strengthen collaboration between stateagencies and the nonprot sector.

ogether, the ICG and NC work in a team structureto identify opportunities in policy implementation thatcould be addressed through public-nonprot partnershipeliminate duplication and ll gaps in communicationbetween state agencies and the nonprot sector; andstrengthen contracting relationships between stateagencies and nonprots, especially small and medium-siorganizations. Te NC also is leading efforts to increasestate agency and legislative awareness of the nonprotsector as a potential partner.

According to research by exas A&M UniversitysNonprot Management Program in the Bush School ofGovernment and Public Service, there are nearly 100,00

IRSregistered nonprot organizations (excludingmany congregations, small grassroots organizations,and community groups) in exas. Employing morethan 400,000 people (or 3.8 percent of the total

exas workforce and 4.6 percent of the states private workforce), the nonprot sector is a major force in thestates economy. In 2010, exas nonprot employeesearned nearly $16.8 billion in wages, yielding $1.6 billioin state and local tax revenues.


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Legislators should take note of both the size of thenonprot sector and recent signicant growth in thenumber of charitable nonprot organizations in exas.Four out of every ten nonprot organizations wereestablished in the decade 2000-2010. Core aspects ofnonprot regulation rest with the federal government,but state agencies are responsible for regulating theestablishment of new exas nonprots and monitoringtheir compliance with state corporate formation laws.

Recommendations

Legislators should implement the recommendationsof the exas Nonprot Council to improve contractingrelationships and collaboration between state agenciesand the nonprot sector.

Legislators should charge the ICG and NC to developpilot public-nonprot partnership programs in the areasof disaster preparedness and reentry, both of which arehigh-need areas for exas.

Legislators should restore funding for the RenewingOur Communities capacity-building grant program forsmall nonprots.

Legislators should affirm that exas welcomes peopleof all faiths and celebrate the role that exas diverse faittraditions play in building a safer, healthier communityfor all.

Legislators should direct the Secretary of State to verifthat entities incorporating as nonprots in exas are dulyformed and not infringing on trademarks of existingentities and provide additional enforcement authority.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, thenhe will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered beforehim, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separatesthe sheep from the goats, And he will put the sheep at his right hand andthe goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, Come,you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for youfrom the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, Iwas thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and youwelcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and youtook care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous willanswer him, Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food,

or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we sawyou a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? Andwhen was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the kingwill answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least ofthese who are members of my family, you did it to me. Then he will say tothose at his left hand, you that are accursed, depart from me into the eternalfire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave meno food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger andyou did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick andin prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, Lord, whenwas it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick orin prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer them, Truly I tellyou, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do itto me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous intoeternal life.

Matthew 25:31-46


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Security means strong democracy.

Make sure the states revenuesystem is fair to all and sufficientto meet our needs.

exans depend on state government toprovide infrastructure and services to helplocal communities function and to help

individuals meet their needs. Without sufficient revenue,structures break down and people lose their condence ingovernment. When the revenue system leans too heavilyon one taxpayer class, the system appears unfair andtaxpayers lose their goodwill.

Over the past decade, legislators have cut billions ofdollars from social services and education in responseto anticipated revenue shortfalls. In some cases, thosecuts have been wholly or partially restored after monthsor years because the anticipated shortfalls did notmaterialize; often the restorations have been bittersweetfor individuals and communities whose lives have beenpermanently disrupted. For example, in 2013, lawmakerspartially restored some of the cuts they made to publiceducation in 2011. For students whose education wasdisrupted and for education professionals who lost their jobs, the restoration came too late, while for schooldistricts facing enrollment growth, the funding remainedtoo little.

Te rapid boom-and-bust nature of exas recent revenuehistory suggests that lawmakers should examine strategiesto stabilize the system. As a historically low tax-lowspend state, exas has not modernized its state taxstructure to keep pace with its development as a largeurban population center. Over-reliance on consumptiontaxes leaves the budget vulnerable to economic swings;property taxes favor commercial property at the expenseof homeowners, constraining household purchasingpower; and lack of a progressive state personal income

tax renders the entire system regressive, with low andmoderate-income households paying a far greater share oftheir income in taxes than wealthy households. Lawmakers could subject the ax Code to Sunsetreview to identify opportunities for modernizing andstabilizing the revenue system, protecting the state frombudget seesawing. Lawmakers also could offer exans an

opportunity to consider adopting a state personal incometax to reduce property taxes and volatile consumptiontaxes.

o improve resilience, legislators also should ensurethat the states budget process is taking account of allforeseeable spending needs. For example, in the pastdecade lawmakers have dealt with budget emergenciesstemming from multiple natural disasters. Global

warming is expected to increase the frequency of weatherelated disasters, and legislators should include estimateof those costs in their budget calculations. Legislatorsalso have faced some budget emergencies of their owncreation stemming from low-balling enrollmentestimates for large state programs.

In 2013, legislators took advantage of a revenue surplusto enact more than $1 billion in business tax cuts ratherthan fully restoring public education cuts from 2011.Legislators should focus on long-term investments that

will benet the people of exas instead of tax cuts forspecic taxpayers that yield short-term political gains.Proposals that would require revenues to be diverted tosavings with no clear plan for future use are unfair tocurrent taxpayers who may reap no benet from theirtax payments, while proposals that would cap spendingentirely or on specic categories unfairly tie the hands o

future legislatures. Recommendations

Legislators should calibrate the state tax system tostabilize revenues and prevent policy-distorting budgetswings.

Legislators should allow exans to vote on aconstitutional amendment authorizing a state personalincome tax.

Legislators should resist calls for tax cuts in prosperoueconomic cycles while exas remains so far outsidenational norms for spending on human needs.

Legislators should resist calls for arbitrary spending caand instead base state spending on documented needs.


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13 January 2015

Legislators should direct state agencies to estimate costsattributable to global warming, such as those associated with natural disasters, and to include those estimates intheir legislative appropriation requests.

Give voters clear and completeinformation about policyinuencers such as campaigncontributors and lobbyists.

In 2012, exas top 150 campaign contributors collectivelydonated nearly 60 percent of the $183 million incontributions that candidates reported receiving. In thefollowing year, lobby clients spent just short of $350million to inuence the outcome of policy decisions. Te proverb rust, but verify, made famous by formerPresident Ronald Reagan, neatly sums up the importanceof exas ethics laws to the democratic process. Revolvingdoor, conict of interest, and nancial disclosurelaws prevent unhealthy relationships between highlyinterested parties and government. Te mere perceptionof regulatory capture or the appearance of backroomdealings corrodes public trust in democratic institutions.

Given that money is essential to run a political campaign, voters need to understand what interests are funding thecandidates in a given election. Interested stakeholdersoften spend money to support or oppose candidatesthey believe best benet their policy agendas, as is theirbasic right to do so. However, knowing what interests areproviding funds to whom is important for voters.

Recently, the cause of freedom of speech has beeninvoked to attack campaign nance and lobby regulationlaws. Lawmakers should approach campaign nance andlobby regulations like the well-settled Supreme Courtdoctrines allowing the regulation of sound trucks inresidential neighborhoods. Regulating campaign nanceor lobby regulations does not prevent anyone fromparticipating, nor advocating whatever they want, butmerely regulates the time, place, and manner in which the

speech can occur.

Recent national controversy over dark moneycampaign contributions attributable only to 501(c)(4) interest groups funneled by undisclosed individualdonorsled exas lawmakers to pass new campaignnance disclosure requirements in 2013, but thatlegislation was vetoed. Although the exas EthicsCommission has promulgated new rules along the same

lines, those rules are conned to the authority grantedin current statute. Te campaign nance system wouldbenet from a comprehensive statutory elimination ofundisclosed dark money.

Te legislative process would benet from increasedregulation on lobbying, especially lobbying by formerlegislators. At least 32 states have enacted revolving dolaws, creating a period of time before a former legislatoror executive branch regulator can work as a lobbyist.

While exas law does impose a two-year restrictionbefore a former employee of a regulatory agency mayattempt to inuence a matter on behalf of a person, nosuch restriction exists for former legislators.

A legislator who is also a doctor or a rancher undoubtedbrings important expertise to health or agricultural issueOn the other hand, the public trust is affected whenever legislator or executive branch official stands to personalgain nancially from an action taken while in the public

service. While all 50 states have some sort of conict ofinterest statute, the scope and effectiveness of such lawsare in the details. For instance, exas law only prohibitsaction that would have a special economic effect that idistinguishable from its general effect on the public. Iother words, a rancher-legislator can vote on any bill thamight affect his business so long as that effect cannot bedistinguished from the effect the bill might have on allother ranchers generally.

As recent controversies show, however, rarely is thisspecic/general distinction so pristine. Lawmakers shourevisit conict of interest laws for both themselves andthe executive branch with special attention to both statecontracting procedures and legislator or agency officialrecusal before acting on a measure.

Recommendations

Legislators should make transparent and requiredisclosure of the source of all money in exas politicalcampaigns.

Legislators should prohibit former legislators fromlobbying for two years following their departure fromoffice.

Legislators should maintain or strengthen lobbyregistration, conict of interest laws, nancial disclosurerequirements, and public notice requirements and alwaysseek ways to increase transparency in government.


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Encourage Texans to voteand participate as partnersin policy development andimplementation.

Civic engagement is essential to afunctional democracy, but in 2014 exas ranked 49th outof 50 states in voter turnout. Legislators should be deeplytroubled by the ndings of the landmark 2012 exasCivic Health Index produced by the Annette StraussInstitute:

Rates of political participation in exas arelow compared with the rest of the nation. Since 1972, exas has consistently lagged well behind national voterturnout in both midterm and presidential elections. exas also ranks among the lowest states in terms of thenumbers of its citizens who contact public officials andtalk with others about politics. Participation rates are

correlated with income, education, age, race/ethnicity, andcitizenship status.Rates of civic involvement, such as donating,

volunteering, and belonging to groups, are also relativelylow in exas, though not as low as rates of politicalparticipation. Income, education, age, race/ethnicity, andcitizenship status all correlate with civic involvement.Gender matters as well, with women more likely to becivically involved than men.

Social connectedness, a crucial foundation forcivic and political participation, shows both strengths and weaknesses. exans help their neighbors by exchangingfavors comparatively more than residents of most otherstates, and this neighborliness is greater among those inlower socio-economic brackets. Yet exans trust theirneighbors less than residents of most other states do.

Strong voter participation is necessary to ensure anaccountable, representative legislature. Voting representsnothing less than the satisfaction of an intergenerationaldebt to the women and men who have struggled andcontinue to struggle to guarantee a voice in the affairs ofstate for all Americans. Legislators are honor-bound to

encourage robust voter participation and to take seriouslyallegations of voter suppression.

Civic engagement does not end with voting; rather, itprovides individuals the context they need to understand

how public policy impacts their lives and the worldaround them. Associating with other like-minded exans

working collaboratively to meet local needs, discussingcontroversial issues in diverse settings, and consideringalternative solutions to problems, all form the basisof experience that helps individuals make informeddecisions as citizens, taxpayers, and community leaders.

Within their sphere of legislative inuence, lawmakerscan nurture civic participation by building clear avenuesfor public participation in policy implementation.Stakeholder participation in state agency processescreates a connection between exans individual day-to-day experiences and the systems that legislators deviseto structure those experiences. Legislators should buildsubstantive public participation into all aspects of policyimplementation, especially rulemaking and enforcement

exans should see their participation as a material part othe policy process, not as an afterthought.

Recommendations

Legislators should adopt a goal of increasing exas voparticipation to at least the national average by 2018 andempower the Secretary of State to lead efforts to achievethe goal.

Legislators should take certain targeted actions toincrease voter participation, including extending thelength of the states early voting period, exploring online

voter registration, mandating any location voting for alcounties, and directing the exas Department of PublicSafety to deploy mobile ID issuing units throughout theremote areas of the state.

Legislators should give agencies clear directionand authority to relate to the public by legislativelyestablishing advisory committees with statutoryresponsibilities at agencies with substantial, diversestakeholder populations.

Legislators should mandate 21st century transparencyfor executive branch meetings and communications

and require that open meetings conform to agenda-last-posted on agency websites rather than informationappearing in the exas Register.


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15 January 2015

Faith in the Public Square

Texas Impact/Interfaith Center Staff

exas Impact was founded in 1973 on the central religious conviction that religious communities arecalled to minister to the whole personto respond with compassion to the physical, emotional andspiritual needs of all people. Te exas religious leaders who established exas Impact believed that sucha ministry couldnt be performed adequately without a concern for basic social problems at the stategovernment level. exas Impact and the Interfaith Center exist to advance state public policies that areconsistent with the commonly held social principles of our member faith traditions.

exas Impacts member organizations include Christian denominational bodies, regional Jewishand Muslim social justice committees, and local interfaith councils. Each member organization maydesignate up to two board members. Te board also includes at-large members and representatives fromseminaries and other state-level religious social action groups. In addition to denomination-level memberorganizations, exas Impact also has dozens of supporting congregations and hundreds of individualmembers who pay an annual membership fee to be part of our network.

exas Impact and its sister organization, the exas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, form an interfaithnetwork that brings faith to bear on social issues through grassroots education and policy advocacy. TeInterfaith Center teaches people of all faiths about current affairs and how the questions of the day relateto shared faith values. exas Impact mobilizes individuals and faith groups to act on their beliefs throughlegislative engagement and partnerships with public programs.

Together, we give people of faith the information and leadership skills they need to help policymakersimprove conditions for families and communities throughout Texas.

Bee Moorhead, MPAff, Executive Director Joshua Houston, M S, JD, General Counsel Yaira Robinson, MA S, Assoc. Director of the Interfaith CenterSadia irmizi, MBA, Membership Director Andrea Earl, MPA, CPRI Project DirectorScott Atnip, MPAff, Congregational Outreach DirectorCara Chiodo, Office & Contracts ManagerSean Hennigan, Communications CoordinatorReverend Sam Brannon, Water Captains Program CoordinatorGeorge Oliver, Outreach SpecialistLinda Wasserman, MA, Outreach SpecialistCorinna Whitaker-Lewis, Volunteer CoordinatorRachel Dodd, Policy Analyst Andy Spaulding, Policy Analyst

[email protected]

[email protected]

.....................yaira@texasinterfaith.o.........................sadia@texasimpact.o......................andrea@texasimpact.o.........................scott@texasimpact.o..........................cara@texasimpact.o..........................sean@texasimpact.o.......................sam@texasinterfaith.or......................george@texasimpact.o.........................linda@texasimpact.o.....................corinna@texasimpact.o...................rachel@[email protected]


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exas Impact 200 East 30th Street Austin, exas 78705 512-472-3903 www.texasimpact.org

Texas Impact Legislative Agenda 2015

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