Central Texas Interfaith 2022 Achievements

At the beginning of the new year, Central Texas Interfaith (CTI) reports to its members on the achievements of 2022.

Here are some highlights:

Chapter 313

CTI joined sister institutions and allies from around the state to get this corporate welfare program defeated in the last legislative session, because it authorizes local school boards to give tax abatements to large companies at the expense of Texas school children. More recently CTI successfully lobbied the AISD Board to reject one corporation’s application still in the pipeline of this now discontinued tax give-away.

Huston-Tillotson

Huston-Tillotson University, a CTI member, partnered with CTI to host the first-ever conference of the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs). 125 representatives from seven of the nine Texas HCBUs pledged to work together to engage legislators in advancing their interests, including greater funding.

Supporting workers and workforce development

CTI leaders engaged workers, labor allies, and elected officials to convince the Austin City Council to adopt a budget that would raise the minimum wage of workers to $20 an hour, including city employees, city contracted workers, temporary workers, and those employed by corporations benefitting from city tax subsidies. CTI also worked with elected officials to maintain funding for Capital Idea, the job training program that raises workers out of poverty into middle-class positions with opportunities for career advancement.

Affordable housing and homelessness

Central Texas Interfaith was heavily involved in getting Austin to pass the largest affordable housing bond ever. CTI was instrumental in getting the City Council to raise the amount of the bond to $350 million, and in getting out the 70% positive vote in favor of the bond. In August here at All Saints’ the Core Team offered a civic academy to educate ourselves about how the housing bond works. Now that the bond has passed, CTI remains vigilant with regard to how these funds and funds from previous affordable housing bonds are being expended.

CTI has worked in the past year to get manufactured housing (“mobile homes”) covered by relief programs, like home repair and rental assistance, from which they are largely excluded. During the fall election, CTI got all the candidates who were elected to commit to making this change in eligibility requirements, so as to maintain one of the truly affordable housing options within the city limits.

Park and greenspace equity

With the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CTI has begun to address the relationship of park and greenspace equity to racial justice and health equity, primarily in East and South Austin. This project is based in schools, and CTI will partner with AISD Board members, administrators and principals to develop an organizing strategy that unites schools and surrounding neighborhoods in pushing for green spaces that meet the community’s health and recreation needs.

Getting out the vote

CTI held nonpartisan accountability sessions in connection with both the primary election in March and the general election in November. Candidates for state, county, and city offices were invited to publicly declare their support of the CTI agenda of issues. Other get-out-the-vote actions included calls and text messages, as well as neighborhood walks going door-to-door. As a result, the voter turnout in CTI-targeted precincts was 74% of eligible voters, 22% higher than the general voter turnout in Travis, Williamson, and Hayes counties.

For more information on these and other topics see www.austininterfaith.org.