7/29/2019 UMW 2012 Legislative Agenda
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United Methodist Womens Legislative Agenda 2012
There are more than 100,000 members of United Methodist Women in
Texas. At their
annual legislative conference, UMW members from all seven of
Texas United Methodist
Annual Conferences adopt a consensus legislative agenda
reflecting their priority legislative
concerns. United Methodist Women was established in 1865. United
Methodist Women place
particular emphasis on issues impacting the well-being of women,
children and youth.
For more information about United Methodist Women in Texas or
this legislative agenda, contact any of
the following UMW Social Action Coordinators:
Lori Stafford 214-649-2233 [email protected]
Judy Wiggins 806-895-4648 [email protected]
Frances Curry 432-940-4587 [email protected]
Terry Schoenert 210-601-2800 [email protected]
Denise DuBois 979-575-4098 [email protected]
Sonia Cruz 210-371-4433 [email protected]
Susan Nix 682-429-4755 [email protected]!!
State Budget
We affirm that the state budget is underfunded, structurally
unsound, and insufficient to meet the needs of the
people of Texas. We are especially concerned that the education
budget is woefully underfunded. Texas
needs a public school budget that fully funds enrollment growth,
guarantees funding to implement state
educational requirements, and fulfills Texas constitutional
mandate to provide free public schools. A
generation of litigation has squandered the publics resources
and must end. Texas needs a real budget to
meet our real needs, even if it takes new revenue.
Immigration
Texas must use our limited state law enforcement resources to
keep Texas communities safe, not to enforce
federal civil immigration laws. The Legislature must avoid
wasting valuable time debating punitive stateimmigration policies
that have little or no chance of actual implementation. We call on
Texas legislators to
use their influence in encouraging the Texas Congressional
delegation to enact compassionate federal
immigration reform.
Predatory Lending
The Legislature should build on the foundation of sensible
regulation of payday and auto-title lending
established in 2011 and work to eliminate the cycle of debt in
the 2013 legislative session through strategies
such as limiting rollovers, capping fees and allowing partial
payments.
Health and Wellness
Legislators should maintain and strengthen Medicaid and CHIP,
and ensure that Texans receive themaximum benefit due them through
the provisions of the Affordable Care Act such as access to
affordable
private health insurance. Lawmakers should renew and strengthen
initiatives to improve Texans health and
wellness through nutrition and preventive health programs.
Women and Youth in the Criminal Justice System
We call on legislators to guarantee humane treatment for all
Texans caught up in the states criminal justice
system, especially the most vulnerable, including women,
children and youth. We urge the Legislature to
increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment
for offenders. We are concerned about
disproportionately punitive treatment of youthful nonviolent
offenders, and we urge legislators to reward
prudence and wisdom in ticketing, sentencing and incarceration
of juveniles.
