Faithful Advocates' To-Do List for the Week of September 27, 2026

• Call for the State to release the Maternal Mortality report
• Sign up to defend SNAP next session
• Submit a comment on EPA's proposed climate change rule
• Check your voter registration (again)
• Register for United Women in Faith Texas Legislative Event 2027
• Download Texas Impact's legislative priorities for 2027

Registration is open for the 40th Annual United Women in Faith Texas Legislative Event!

We welcome all who are committed to justice, freedom, and opportunity for all people. Presented in partnership with Texas Impact, the event includes three days of speakers, inspiration, workshops, and legislative visits.

Dear {name},

This week, Texas Impact wound up our Ready Set Go tour with a great event at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Houston. This series of events has prepared hundreds of Texans of faith to participate in the midterm elections and the upcoming legislative session. The events have built new relationships and networks across faith communities, and built Texas Impact’s capacity to mobilize advocacy around shared priorities for Texans of faith and conscience.

Read Rebecca’s Ready Set Go Wrap-Up

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis joined us for a frank conversation about effective advocacy. He talked about his long history of collaboration with Texas Impact, which began when he was in the Texas Senate and has continued in his time as a county commissioner. Drawing on decades of experience in politics and policy, Ellis emphasized the need to work across the aisle and to value incremental progress—lessons that are hard but necessary for many in the current partisan environment.

Commissioner Ellis was on hand to see Jack Yates High School senior Rhyan Champion read her award-winning essay on citizenship. Good Hope Church partners with Yates HS in several ways, including sponsoring the essay contest.

Read the whole post

Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards testifies to EPA officials in opposition to the proposed reescission of the greenhouse gas findings and repeal of regulations for power plant greenhouse gas emissions

Also this week, Becca and I both provided public comment opposing the EPA’s proposed rollback of power plant greenhouse gas emission regulation. 

As progress on climate change is undone by current officials, it’s vital to remember that policy and politics are cyclical, not linear. Laws change. The officials who make the laws change. The community changes, and as high-schooler Rhyan Champion said so eloquently, “I may not have lived through the battles that came before me, but I live because people before me refused to give up during them. And now, my responsibility as a citizen is not simply to receive that inheritance. It is to carry it forward.”

In a little more than two weeks, early voting will begin in Texas. When you vote, remember: you are carrying forward the efforts and accomplishments of Americans and Texans who worked, fought, lived, and died to make the whole world and our particular corner of it more free, just, and loving.

Love,

Bee Moorhead

Texas Impact Executive Director

We are calling for the repeal of HR. 1 (known as the One Big Bill Act) and renewal of the federal government’s commitment to justice. Legislators, policymakers, and candidates must repeal this immoral law and replace it with legislation reflecting our shared values: feeding the hungry, healing the sick, protecting the environment, and  treating migrants with dignity.

This week, Scott is joined by Bishop Sue Briner, who serves as the bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Judicatory leaders are faced with decisions about when and if to respond to a wide range of policy concerns, so Scott and Bishop Briner discussed how faith leaders can discern when to speak out. Bishop Briner has chosen to spend considerable effort in working to protect democracy, so she shares her perspectives and challenges listeners to get involved with election protection efforts.

Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform.

Check out our full events calendar

Texas Impact is on Substack—look for new posts, notes, and bonus videos on our stack.

New this week:

• • Kyle Riley on the missing maternal health report
  • Scott Atnip on being the hands and feet
  • Becca Edwards on fuel economy rollback
  • Bee Moorhead on policy resilience
  • Rebecca McIlwain on statewide civic engagement

NOTE: Texas Impact membership includes access to all our Substack content. If you are already a member of Texas Impact and need help accessing our Substack, please email members@texasimpact.org and we’ll get it sorted. Not a Substack reader? Find our posts on the Texas Impact website.

Texas Impact is member-supported! If you're already a member, thank you—if not, please consider chipping in to support our network.