Recent Articles
Civic Engagement
How would a federal government shutdown affect Texas?
In a webinar with White House staff this week, officials from the Biden administration presented an overview of what programs will be affected in the event the federal government, and in particular the US House of Representatives, is unable to reach an agreement on...
Whistleblowers Warn of Systemic Failures
Recently, there has been a lot of reference in the media to state employees who are “whistleblowers.” The Texas Whistleblower Act protects public employees who make good faith reports of violations of law by their employer to an appropriate law enforcement authority....
Voting: A Matter of Faith with Rev. Leslie Jackson
Last Sunday, we held the first of Texas Impact’s Houston Faith Votes Kick-off Events at Congregation Beth Israel. We welcomed almost one hundred attendees representing roughly thirty faith communities across Houston. This weekend, we are excited to welcome even more...
Climate Justice
Texas Springtime Weather Roundup: Memorial Day Haze
The stagnant, hot, humid conditions over the weekend led to very hazy conditions in Central Texas over the weekend. The haze obscured distant skylines and natural features, turned the sky white, and generally contributed to the unpleasantness of the extremely hot...
Texas Springtime Weather Roundup: Extreme Heat
Memorial weekend saw extreme heat across a large portion of the State of Texas. My family was scheduled to go camping and hiking Sunday and Monday at Enchanted Rock. We chose Memorial Day weekend for the outing because that is early enough in the summer that our...
Texas Springtime Weather Roundup: Statewide Severe Weather
Springtime is severe weather in Texas, so it is not unusual to see thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes this time of year. What has been unusual is the frequency and severity of the severe weather. A brief survey of the storm reports for Texas available at the National...
Economic Justice
How would a federal government shutdown affect Texas?
In a webinar with White House staff this week, officials from the Biden administration presented an overview of what programs will be affected in the event the federal government, and in particular the US House of Representatives, is unable to reach an agreement on...
New Explainer with Model “Chaplain Resolution” Options
Texas Impact's new brief "Chaplains: Right for Faith Communities, Wrong for Public Schools" is designed to help school district trustees understand the requirements of SB 763, which mandates that every school district in Texas take a record vote by March 2024 as to...
Two Issues That Affect Us All: Climate Change and Public Education
Last night a frontal boundary combined with extremely hot temperatures and high humidity levels to spark a severe thunderstorm that brought widespread hail, wind, and extreme precipitation to much of the Austin metro area. Like many Central Texans, I was initially...
Human Rights
What Do Dropping Crime Rates Mean for Gun Violence Prevention?
When I hear presentations on gun violence in America often they mention rising gun violence rates as evidence of America’s need for reform. The logic is sound – a rising number of deaths is clearly an indication that something is wrong. However, preliminary data for...
The Sanctity of Public Space
Photo by Everytown of advocates calling for gun violence prevention measures at Dallas City Hall.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the State Fair of Texas for banning firearms at its annual event. The State Fair of Texas, which has historically allowed those...
Inextricably Linked: Faith, Religion, and Migration
Migration has occurred since biblical times and is not a new phenomenon. People migrate for a multitude of reasons. One of these reasons is for religious persecution which is a protected ground under the refugee convention and in U.S. asylum laws. Today there...