In photo: Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, Archdiocesan Director of Social Concerns, speaks at the podium in front of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Houston with other congregational and community leaders, including Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS.

[Excerpts]

The historically African-American neighborhood inside Houston’s northern 610 Loop has held townhall meetings and protests since last year to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). But its Director approved a permit this past January for Texas Coastal Materials to build a concrete and rock crusher across the street mere yards away from the busy public hospital.

Now residents, state representatives and Church leaders hope a letter-writing campaign gathering thousands of signatures to Gov. Greg Abbott will help him to overturn the Standard Air Quality Permit 173296 given to the company.

Father Martin Eke, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in that neighborhood, said, “The company tells us it will not be a problem. But my parishioners and I live here in the community. The crushed gravel with its particulates will only add to the air pollution here.”

....[Sister Maureen O’Connell] added, “The letters reflect the commitment of the people of God and their desire to live and thrive in an environment that promotes the common good.”

Kashmere Gardens Community, Churches Protest Another Polluting Company, The Catholic Herald [pdf]

[Update: TCEQ's own Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC) finds that "good cause to overturn the ED’s decision exists, based on substantial evidence provided by the Movants that the entirety of the facility will not be located further than 440 yards from a school or place of worship."]

Leaders of EPISO and Border Interfaith join with a large and united group of organizations across El Paso in opposing Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attacks on Annunciation House, an organization that has been tirelessly serving migrants for decades. Migrants and those who serve them should be treated with dignity and respect, not scapegoated and persecuted for short-term political gain.

EPISO and Border Interfaith represent a broad-based coalition of churches, schools, nonprofits and neighborhood associations. Leaders from across our organization have been active volunteers with migrant shelters in El Paso and know first-hand the invaluable support that Annunciation House and others offer migrants on their difficult journey.

Statement in Support of Annunciation House, Most Rev. Mark J. Seitz, Bishop of El Paso

Catholic Church Will Not Be Intimidated by Ken Paxton's Threats to Annunciation House, Bishop Seitz Says, El Paso Matters [pdf]

On Friday February 16th, TMO leaders gathered a press conference to call on Governor Greg Abbott to overturn the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) permit that would allow construction of a concrete crushing facility next to the LBJ Hospital. Concrete crushers can have dire consequences for the communities that surround them including particle and noise pollution, damaged roads, and cracked windshields. Houston Public Media warns that the risks of fine particle exposure can include "elevated levels of heart disease, stroke, asthma, cancer and other respiratory issues."

To sign the petition and voice your support, click here.

Press Conference
Community Leaders Urge Greg Abbott to Reverse Permit for Concrete Crushing Plant Near LBJ Hospital, Houston Public Media [pdf]
Community Organizers Ask Governor to Pump the Breaks on Concrete-Crushing Facility, Houston Press [pdf]
Houston Religious Leaders Protest Concrete Crushing Plant near Hospital, Chron.com [pdf]
Religious Leaders Join Opposition Against Proposed Concrete Plant by LBJ Hospital, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

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“Tax breaks should be decoupled from school funding and from school board decision making, period,” said Rev. Miles Brandon, a [Central Texas] Interfaith leader and pastor of St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church...

Brandon said the new program is better than what existed previously because it no longer includes direct payments to schools, which he described as a “perverse incentive” for districts to approve deals despite the cost to the state's overall education system. He also said the decrease in the total size of each tax abatement is an improvement over Chapter 313, as is the requirement that each deal must pass the governor's office.

But he said Austin Interfaith will continue to encourage school board members to vote in opposition to any request by a company to participate in the new program...“As we see how this law unfolds, I think we will continue to oppose" applications, Brandon said."

[Photo Credit: Arnold Wells, Austin Business Journal]

Texas' New Incentives Tool is Ready, Austin Business Journal [link]

[Photo Credit: Steve Taylor, Rio Grande Guardian]

[Excerpt]

"Our immigration system is outdated, and Congress has been unable to update it in decades. As a result, Governor Abbott and his enablers in the Texas Legislature are coming up with ever more questionable ways to spend billions of Texas taxes to militarize border enforcement and criminalize migrants who are fleeing political, religious and criminal violence and persecution in countries across the world. Frustration over our broken immigration system is allowing the Governor and Texas Legislature to adopt inappropriate and self-defeating strategies like SB 4 and SB 3.

SB 4 will make it a state crime for anyone to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. Under the current immigration law, only 1450 people each day can legally cross the US-Mexico border at ports of entry and seek asylum. Many thousands more, fearing the violence and cartels on the Mexico side of the border, choose to cross between ports of entry and immediately turn themselves into border patrol officers and seek asylum. If state and local officers interact before they turn themselves into border patrol, they are liable under SB 4."

Valley Interfaith: We decry Gov. Abbott’s Signing of New Anti-Immigrant State Laws, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]

[Photo Credit: Fox SA]

[Excerpt]

"The American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit in Austin federal court against Governor Greg Abbott over Senate Bill 4.

It’s considered the strictest state immigration enforcement law ever passed. Some local leaders say this new law just creates fear throughout the community.

"We just think it’s the wrong approach a terrible thing to do and not the business of the state government," says Sonia Rodriguez, leader of Cops / Metro...

Valley Interfaith and EPISO teamed up to successfully oppose two bills that would have undermined the Model Rules for Development that govern real estate development in counties that border the Texas-Mexico border.  The Model Rules for Development have been a critical tool that our organizations fought for over 30 years ago and which have limited the development of substandard housing lacking access to sewer and clean water lines, drainage and roads.

The Texas IAF succeeded this session in placing the Texas Innovative Adult Career Education (ACE) Fund under the auspices of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) which oversees reform and improvement of graduation rates in Texas community college systems.

Alignment with THECB student success initiatives is a recognition of IAF 20+ year history and success in achieving high community college graduation rates and securing living wage and middle class careers for our graduates.

HB 12 to extend Medicaid coverage for low-income new mothers from two months to 12 months.

Leaders from across the Network of Texas IAF Organizations met with our legislators while they were candidates and again, once the 2023 Legislative Session began, to educate them about the need to extend Medicaid coverage from 2 months to 12 months for new moms.  Texas has the highest number and rate of uninsured people in the United States.  As a result, we have among the highest rates of maternal death and serious complications from giving birth, over 90% of which are preventable with proper ongoing health care.

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: