[Excerpt]

When Pope Francis told a group of U.S. community organizers that their work was "atomic," Jorge Montiel said, "I thought, 'Oh, you mean we blow things up?'"

But instead, the pope spoke about how the groups associated with the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation in the United States take issues patiently, "atom by atom," and end up building something that "penetrates" and changes entire communities, said Montiel, an IAF organizer in Colorado and New Mexico.

Pope Francis' hourlong meeting Sept. 14 with 15 delegates from the group was a follow-up to a similar meeting a year ago. Neither meeting was listed on the pope's official schedule and, the delegates said, both were conversations, not "audiences."

"It was relaxed, it was engaging," said Joe Rubio, national co-director of IAF. "Often you don't see that even with parish priests," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 15, garnering the laughter of other delegates.

Pope Meets US Leaders Patiently Building Culture of Solidarity, US Conference of Catholic Bishops / Catholic News Service [pdf]

Two Years of Texas IAF Opposition Leads to Reforms to Limit Giving School Money for Corporate Tax Breaks 

The Texas Senate and House passed a compromised version of HB5 that still fundamentally represents misguided economic development to the benefit of out of state corporations that would come here for other factors anyway.  This perpetuates a corporate welfare state which Chambers of Commerce and industry groups could never prove otherwise.

However, a 2-year campaign by Texas IAF and allies led to some major reforms in HB5 compared to the now defunct and failed Chapter 313 program.  When these tax abatement deals are proposed at local school districts, there will now be a fair fight for taxpayers and public school supporters concerned about corporate welfare.  HB 5 Reforms to Chapter 313 include:

House Bill 5 heads back to Texas House for reconciliation.

[Excerpt]

We believe that a strong economic development strategy is the result of investments in education, workforce, and strong communities,

stated Edie Clark, a representative of [Central Texas] Interfaith, a nonpartisan organization of religious congregations, public schools and unions that advocates for families and is critical of school property tax incentives. "They voted to continue to support subsidizing corporate welfare on the backs of schoolchildren and taxpayers."

[Central Texas] Interfaith claimed its two-year campaign in opposition to the program helped eliminate direct payments to school districts and increased job creation requirements for Chapter 403

"These reforms were all meant to respond to our criticisms of the program," Clark said. "We commend the senators who had the courage to vote against this failed program. We look forward to seeing what the speaker and House think of this version of the bill."

Texas Lawmakers on Cusp of Reviving School Property Tax Breaks for Big, Expanding Businesses, Austin Business Journal [pdf]

Texas Senate Passes Bill Bringing Back Corporate Property Tax Breaks, Dallas Morning News 

Statement on Texas Passage of HB 5, Central Texas Interfaith