Free, Safe, and Flourishing:

A Faithful Agenda for Texas

Support fair, sufficient public education funding
- Increase the basic allotment so that Texas per-pupil funding is equal to the national per-pupil average
- Index the basic allotment to inflation
Oppose legislative micromanagement of elected school boards and the state board of education
Oppose subsidizing private education with public funds through vouchers or other means

Support reproductive health programs and services
Support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act
Support strengthening enrollment systems for public benefits so all Texans can receive the benefits for which they are eligible
Oppose harmful criminal and civil burdens on health professionals and institutions where those burdens discourage evidence-based health care
- Clarify that lethal abnormalities and threats to the life and health of the mother are exceptions to abortion prohibitions
- Eliminate criminal and civil consequences for doctors who perform abortions they determine meet the legal standard

Support access to healthy food for all Texans
- Implement 12-month SNAP certification
- Fund universal free public-school breakfast and school lunch
Support proven strategies to use faith communities’ property for affordable housing

Support personal autonomy for those seeking reproductive, abortion, or gender-affirming healthcare
- Allow abortion in cases of rape or incest without requiring confirmation of a crime
- Protect fertility options including IVF
- Protect availability of medication abortion
- Lift bans on hormone replacement therapy
Oppose penalties for non-medical assistance to people seeking health care abortions or gender-affirming care
- Clarify that “travel bans” adopted by local jurisdictions have no actual legal status and bear no legal consequences

Oppose preferential treatment for specific faiths
- Reject public school curricula that promotes sectarian religious content and elevates particular religious beliefs while undermining others
- Protect children from unlicensed chaplains acting as counselors in public schools
- Ban the teaching and display of the 10 Commandments in public schools
- Allow higher education institutions to fund and facilitate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives according to their values and the needs of their students and employees

Support requiring all “Operation Lone Star” spending to be appropriated as line items within the Texas Department of Public Safety’s appropriation
Support limits on executive actions related to federal immigration laws
- Prohibit state officials from intervening in immigration cases by inviting or coercing migrants to accept state-funded travel assistance
Oppose co-opting providers of health, education, or human services or faith communities into immigration enforcement

Support standards for responsible gun ownership
- Licensing
- Storage
Support requiring a study of the costs of gun violence to state and local taxpayers, businesses, and individuals
Support regulation of gun purchasing
- Regulations related to age
- “Red flag” regulations related to evidence that the purchaser poses a threat to themselves or others
Support community violence intervention programs

Support a prohibition on use of personal data collected in the course of general surveillance of individuals by law enforcement without a warrant
Oppose limits on rights to protest and peaceably assemble
Support monitoring and prosecution of hate crimes and domestic terrorism

Support a comprehensive state climate change resilience plan
- Support development of distributed energy resources and microgrids
- Support adoption of resilient building standards
Support funding for air-conditioning in Texas prisons

Support fees and rate structures that prioritize renewable energy development, including battery storage facilities, and de-emphasize fossil fuel development
- Add battery storage to incentive programs for dispatchable generation
Support energy efficiency incentives for residential, commercial, and industrial energy users
- Require Texas’ electric reliability plans to include strong consumer-directed energy conservation measures, structured to provide accountability in their savings to the grid and to consumers
- Direct state agencies with utility ratemaking authority to set utility rates that account for subsidies for low-income ratepayers and create positive incentives for consumer-side efficiency and conservation
- Expand financial incentives for demand response to residential customers

Support robust Texas compliance with federal methane rules
Support increased environmental law enforcement
- Restore the “protection of the health and welfare of Texas’ citizens” to the mission statement of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Support extending early voting for a longer period
Support online voter registration
Support “any location” voting for all counties
Support modernizing vote by mail
- Expand ballot tracking to domestic voters
- Eliminate the need for an excuse
- Allow the ballot to be hand-delivered to the county any time
- Switch the ballot receipt deadline to a postmark date
- Provide voters an opportunity to adjust and resend a rejected ballot
- Pay postage
Oppose new restrictions or onerous administrative processes on county election administrators
Oppose new requirements or restrictions for individual voters
Support strengthening public engagement practices at state agencies and legislative bodies
Support efforts to increase civic participation through rank choice voting and other strategies that center voter choice