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Dear {name},
This week, the Texas Senate passed SB2, the latest version of the “Education Savings Account” (ESA) school voucher plan. Texas Impact’s Rapid Response Team generated more than 350 calls to senators in opposition to the bill the day before the vote, and LegeTV has a playlist of clips from the floor debate.
There were two interventions from individual senators that merit special attention. First, the bill’s author, Sen. Creighton, gave a raw, impassioned closing statement before the final vote on the bill, in which he characterized opposition to his bill as “lunacy.” Second, Sen. Robert Nichols, who cast the lone Republican vote against the bill, entered a written statement into the Senate Journal following the bill’s passage.
I’ve written a post reflecting in detail on these two extraordinary communications. I hope you’ll take a look at the post, including watching at least some of Sen. Creighton’s speech and reading Sen. Nichols’ statement.
Also this week, there were Senate committee hearings on the budget and on energy issues. You can find links to upcoming legislative hearings on the Capitol website. You can watch almost all the proceedings of the Texas Legislature there, too, and we post clips from the proceedings on our LegeTV channel.
To keep up with all the legislative action, be sure to sign up for Scott’s Rapid Response Network and participate in Marching Orders Monday (MOM), our weekly Zoom meeting where Texas Impact staff and friends talk about the legislative state of play and answer your questions live. MOM is only for Rapid Response Team members, and the Q&A is not recorded.
And this week we have new resources and opportunities for you and your faith community:
- Registration is live for Faith Days at the Capitol 2025—a collaborative, interfaith advocacy conference bringing faith voices to the Capitol at the height of committee action March 16-18.
- Check out our new immigration curriculum, “Beyond Barriers,” perfect for a Lenten study as well as many other religious education settings.
- On-demand videos of plenary presentations from United Women in Faith Texas Legislative Event are available on YouTube. Even if you missed Legislative Event, you can access the great content from our plenary speakers and share it with your community.
Finally, this week the Texas Impact family celebrates the ordination to the ministry of one of our staff members! The Reverend Kyle Riley was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Christ at Friends Congregational Church in College Station on Sunday, February 2.
We are proud of Kyle, and we are proud of you and your faithful witness. Thanks for devoting your time and energy to advancing justice!
Love,
Bee Moorhead
Texas Impact Executive Director |
