National Council of Jewish Women representatives Bettie Forman and Elyse Rosenberg call for religious pluralism at Texas Impact’s press conference May 8

Dear {name},

This week, Texas faith leaders stood on the Capitol steps and warned that this legislative session, legislators have taken action after action to undermine pluralism and move Texas down a path to establishing an official state religion. At the press conference attended by more than 50 clergy and lay leaders from across the state, Rev. Phil Dieke said:

“For Texas Impact and the faith communities we represent, the situation is untenable. Our faiths are as important to us as the faith of anyone in this Capitol is to them. We don’t believe we are called to force others to affirm what we affirm or worship how we worship or live in the world as we do, but we insist that each and every one of us has an equal right to walk in the world unafraid. And today, an increasing number of our siblings are very afraid.

We dedicate ourselves today to working to remedy this situation. We will be working with our member faith communities to mitigate the harm this legislature is doing—and we will be working to reset the table so that in two years, lawmakers can understand better why religious pluralism, decency, and love for all is the way forward.”

Watch Texas Impact's press conference

Also this week, the Texas House passed SB 17, which would prohibit some foreign nationals from countries that are hostile to the United States from buying property in Texas. The bill is widely perceived to be reminiscent of Anti-Alien Land Laws that targeted Asian immigrants.

Rep. Salman Bhojani urged lawmakers to take a more measured approach, sharing his own story as an immigrant and laying out serious problems SB 17 will cause for direct foreign investment, which has been a driver of economic growth in Texas.

WATCH: Rep. Bhojani speaks in opposition to SB 17

Speaking against the bill, Rep. Gene Wu, who came to the US from China as a child, exhorted the Asian-American Pacific Islander community to fight alongside other communities that have faced discrimination, saying when victims of discrimination join forces, “that is the day we will win.”

WATCH: Rep. Wu speaks in opposition to SB 17

As the legislature careens into its final weeks, the news is getting increasingly dire about congressional proposals to make deep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The US House hopes to vote on the cuts before the end of May. The proposals include cutting capping Medicaid spending per enrollee; shifting 10% of SNAP costs to states; and changes to federal matching rules for Medicaid that could cost Texas’ health system billions of dollars.

To explain what’s in the proposals and how to take action, Texas Impact is partnering with Texans Care for Children to host “Defending Medicaid & SNAP,” a webinar featuring Congressman Joaquin Castro and ELCA Advocacy’s Andrew Fuller.

Briefing on Proposed Federal Medicaid and SNAP Cuts

Thursday, May 15

6PM to 7PM Central

Register here

As we move toward summer, the days are getting longer—including inside the Capitol. Legislators will be meeting on Saturday and Sunday (yes, Mother’s Day) this weekend, and legislation is moving. That means legislative offices will be open, so if you ran out of time to make calls on priority bills this week, consider taking a few minutes between errands to make sure your senator and representative know where you stand. Got questions on a bill? Texas Impact staff are happy to help!

This week’s Action Alert

To those who celebrate, Happy Mother’s Day! And a reminder that Mother’s Day didn’t start as a greeting-card and brunch affair—it started as a call for peace and justice in a time of division and strife. Do you feel called to work for peace and justice in our time? We’re grateful to work alongside you.

Love,

Bee Moorhead

Texas Impact Executive Director

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