As Legislative Session Heats Up, New Allies Voice Opposition to Ch 313 Substitute Bill
Labor allies, environmental groups and public policy nonprofits have joined the Texas IAF-led effort to oppose the renewal of Chapter 313. And this week, independent editorials opposing the bill have been published by the Houston Chronicle and Austin American Statesman.
[Photo Credit: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle]
Coalition of Organizations Oppose HB 5 - Chapter 313 Renewal, Texas IAF [pdf]
Editorial: House Bill Rewards Companies at Expense of Our Schools, Austin American Statesman [pdf]
Editorial: Why Texas' New Chapter 313 Tax Break is Even Worse Than Before, Houston Chronicle [pdf]
House Proposal to Replace Chapter 313 Economic Incentive Program Excludes Clean Energy, Austin American Statesman [pdf]
Pros, Cons of Replacement for Chapter 313 Incentives Vigorously Debated at Texas Capitol, Austin Business Journal [pdf]
Plan to Revive Texas' Corporate Tax Breaks Adds More Lucrative Incentives, Eases Job Requirements, Houston Chronicle [pdf]
Austin Interfaith Leverages County Vote for Public Defenders Office
Austin Interfaith reported to the Austin American Statesman that the organization teamed up with judges to build a hybrid model that would improve indigent defense. She lobbied County Commissioners to support the establishment of a defender’s office that would assign lawyers to the cases of poor defendants.
The first year, Travis County would receive about $700 thousand to establish the new office, which would ensure that indigent defendants would have an opportunity to meet with their lawyers so that they understand their situation before going to trial.
[Photo Credit: Felipa Rodrigues, KUT News]
Travis County Accepts State Funding to Create Private Defender’s Office, Austin American Statesman
Politics and Faith Intertwine When Doing Social Justice
Reverend John Elford of the University United Methodist Church asserts that politics and faith do mix when it comes to social justice. In an editorial for the Austin American Statesman he reveals that "A couple of years ago, with the help of Austin Interfaith, we had several meetings with folks who are homeless. We listened to their concerns about life on the streets. I vividly recall one meeting..." He goes on to describe how congregations from Central Austin came together to support the recent passage of the affordable housing bond.
Read More Here, Austin American Statesman [pdf]
Austin Housing Bond Heads Towards Approval, Austin American Statesman
Organized Constituencies Carry the Day
"Austin Interfaith leaders mobilized members to show up en masse to city budget hearings to plug these programs, meet with council members and bombard council offices with calls and emails in the days leading up to the final budget vote.
The nonprofit was elated that council members agreed to spend money on all of Austin Interfaith’s priorities, totaling $2.4 million.
Austin Interfaith and the parks coalition “were effective because they were very diverse, broad-based groups that had a clear message: that as a world-class city, we should be able to fund some of these critical needs better,” City Council Member Kathie Tovo said."
Organized Groups Won the Day in Austin Budget Vote, Austin American Statesman
Texas IAF Reconstitutes Job Training Fund to $5M
"The Launchpad Fund, which gave nonprofits $10 million starting in the 2010-11 biennium to support career training programs for low-income students, will be replaced by the Texas Innovative Adult Career Education Grant program. The ACE grant program will award about $5 million under a similar model to nonprofits for the next biennium. It will be administered by Austin Community College, which will step into the comptroller's office's current oversight role....
Said Minerva Camarena-Skeith, a representative of Austin Interfaith, the nonprofit that helped found Capital IDEA with business community members and advocates for public funding: “It still gives these job-training programs the opportunity to apply for these $5 million, and also be able to leverage more city and local funds.”
[Photo Credit: Callie Richmond, Texas Tribune]
Job Training Program Adjusts Amid Funding Cuts, Texas Tribune
Governor Signs Bill: $5 Million for Adult Career Training, Network of Texas IAF Organizations
AI Fights for Affordable Housing & Rental Code Enforcement
"Interviews with current and former public officials, real estate experts and citizen activists suggest that Austin has simply lacked the political will to do things differently. “We have very laudable standards on the environment and are willing to go to bat, even to war on those issues,” said Kurt Cadena-Mitchell, a leader with Austin Interfaith, which supports some form of rental registration. “To go to war for the poor, that type of will is not embedded here....”
Why 'Progressive' Austin Failed to Address Substandard Rental Housing, Austin American Statesman
Churches Forgo the Hammer on Housing, USA Today
Austin Interfaith's First In-District Charter Leads the Way
"The switch at Travis Heights has been in the making for nearly three years. Austin Interfaith, a coalition of schools, churches and unions, and district labor group Education Austin ...reached out to 100 campuses before they found a partner in Travis Heights willing to become a charter. Their volunteers then went door-to-door, garnering support and hosting school meetings to find out what parents and teachers wanted in a school. They reached 90 percent of the school’s households and got 99 percent support from parents and 97 percent support from staff...."
[Photo Credit: Ralph Barrera, Austin American Statesman]
Switch to Charter Means More Innovation at Travis Heights, Austin American Statesman
How Travis Heights Elementary Could Change Schools in Austin, KUT News
AISD's First Homegrown Charter School Promises Real Life Lessons, KVUE & KHOU
Organizer Jacob Cortes Weighs In on Texas Enrollment Challenge
“Texas officials have declined to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace, a major provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. So private organizations are working to educate Texans about coverage options through the federal health insurance exchange, which opens on Oct. 1….The [USHHS] department will also finance at least two “navigators” — organizations intended to guide people through the exchange — per state.
But Jacob Cortes, the lead organizer of the group Austin Interfaith, said that might not be enough. ‘The private sector would have to step up,’ he said.”
Promoting Health Insurance, With No Help From State, New York Times
Capital IDEA Carves Out Career Paths in Austin
“Representatives from Austin Interfaith and the local business community founded Capital IDEA in 1998, and Steven Jackobs has been heading the organization ever since. Under his direction, the group has helped support, train and find careers for hundreds of Central Texas workers and their families. Capital IDEA – the IDEA stands for Investing in Development and Employment of Adults – works closely with unemployed or underemployed workers to identify a viable and fruitful career path. It’s a rigorous process that’s designed to ensure that workers are committed to the training and completing it….”
Capital IDEA Leads Clients to Career Path, Austin American Statesman