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On September 8th and 9th, 600 leaders of the Network of Texas IAF Organizations, which includes the West Texas Organizing Strategy, WTOS, will ask state officials and gubernatorial candidates to support an agenda which calls for investments in education, health care, infrastructure, and job training as well as comprehensive immigration reform. Candidates Carol Strayhorn, Chris Bell, and Kinky Friedman have confirmed, and Congressman Lloyd Doggett and former Texas Comptroller John Sharp will also attend. This two-day strategy session will be followed by hundreds of neighborhood walks across the state in which leaders will engage more than 100,000 of their neighbors in conversations about the issues coming before the State Legislature and the Governor.
“We will be a watchdog at the legislature, calling on our elected officials to safeguard families in the upcoming session. We will watch for and oppose anti-immigrant legislation at the state level and support comprehensive immigration reform at the national level. We will also fight against efforts to limit school districts’ ability to raise money or paying for property tax breaks by increasing the sales tax,” said Rev. Davis Price, leader with the West Texas Organizing Strategy. “Investing in education and health care are critical for the future success of Texas, and we will build a formidable non-partisan constituency to fight for these investments and protect our tax dollars.” Leaders from the 12 Network of Texas IAF organizations will hold civic academies in their congregations, conduct block-walks in targeted precincts, and have thousands of face-to-face conversations with Texas families about their concerns.
• The Network of Texas IAF Organizations:
Supports more money for public education, health care, affordable housing, infrastructure for “colonias”, and job training for living wage jobs.
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Supports a tax system which that adequately funds these programs but doesn’t put a disproportional burden on poor and working families.
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Supports comprehensive immigration reform which provides a pathway to citizenship, protects workers rights, reunites families, and strengthens border security and the rule of law.
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Opposes paying for property tax reductions by increasing the sales tax. The sales tax should continue to exclude food, medicine, utilities, and items that would disproportionately affect the poor.
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Opposes efforts to limit the ability of school districts and local municipalities to raise adequate revenue.
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