Our Texas chapter has been working on growing and expanding its reach with legislative strategy meetings and recruitment post-election! We hope you enjoy this newsletter as we look back at our successes and key moments this year and into 2025! As we shift into a new administration and a new legislature, we know our work ahead is cut out for us, so we turn to community and building power together from the ground up to gear up for the fight ahead!
From wins on reproductive justice and decriminalization of marijuana on the ballot, to successes on federal implementation and housing, we have a lot to be proud of in our state! Check out what opportunities are coming up for you to take action and build community with us in the new year as we prepare for the 89th Texas Legislative Session in 2025!
🎉 Save the Date for our LPTX January Meet & Greet in Austin!
Our LPTX Chapter is gearing up to engage members, partners, and allies on our 2025 legislative priorities and agenda after spending this fall season having legislative strategy sessions across the state.
To commemorate the state of the 89th Texas Legislative Session, you are cordially invited to join Local Progress Texas partners, members, and allies for a meet & greet with light bites and beverages Austin on Saturday, January 11, 2025! RSVP here!
📚 LPTX Organizing Committee to Host Legislative Advocacy Days
Stay tuned for the announcement of our LPTX Legislative Advocacy Days to come soon! Like in the 88th Texas Legislative Session, we will come together again this session with members, partners, and allies to engage in office visits and committee hearings on key issues for our state and communities this spring.
There will be additional opportunities as the legislative session ramps up for you to engage virtually in community with members and partners as well. Please be on the lookout for email updates with more information coming soon!!
💪2025 National Convening
As we prepare to face four more years of an authoritarian regime, it will be paramount to stay rooted in the strength of our national network. Local Progress is committed to creating spaces for local elected officials to collaborate, inspire each other, and share in collective grief and joy. By gathering together, we become more resilient.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that our next national convening will be held on July 10 – 12 in Chicago! Stay tuned for more details and registration information!
🤠 LPTX Legislative Meet-Ups in San Antonio & Houston
This fall, we gathered members, partners, and allies across the state to get grounded in the opportunities and challenges that will come up in the next legislative session as our state government exercises constant abusive preemption to attempt to stifle progress for our communities. We celebrated the amazing gains that have been made possible by strong collaboration between our members and partners like in Harris County with the Power Up Harris campaign co-led by Workers’ Defense Project and the Gulf Area Labor Federation to ensure strong labor standards on IRA implementation and the union apprenticeship programs that have brought in over $13 million dollars of ARPA funding to offer debt-free alternatives to college and are paving the way for good union jobs!
We were also briefed on different issues and legislative priorities from our partners the ACLU of TX, ILRC, TX AFT, Texas Climate Jobs Project, and Texas Housers. All in all, we crafted powerful spaces where cross-issue conversations reminded us exactly why our opposition is so fearful of our power. We are ready for the work ahead of us with strong strategy and collaboration!
📣 Welcoming Our New Organizing Committee Co-Chair David Stout!
Our LPTX Organizing Committee is happy to announce our newest co-chair, El Paso County Commissioner David Stout, who is also a co-founding member of the Local Progress Texas Chapter! David has been on the El Paso County Commissioner’s Court since 2015 and has a background in journalism, legislative affairs, and binational affairs.
In El Paso and around the state, David has been a staunch immigrant rights and justice advocate and has been a leader in the movement to end SB4 and Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star alongside partner organizations like Border Network for Human Rights. David is also a member of Local Progress’ Immigrant Justice Advisory Committee and has leaned into his background in communications to contribute to important narrative shaping work in Texas.
We’re excited for your leadership and to see where you’ll take the work in Texas to next, David!
📜 Ballot Measure to Safeguard Abortion Access Travel Wins in Amarillo!
This summer, the Amarillo City Council rejected a proposal to ban abortion-related travel that would have allowed almost any person to file a civil lawsuit against people who “aid or abet” abortion and reap $10,000 in damages, similar to the state’s bounty hunter-style Senate Bill 8 which came out of the 87th Legislative Session.
This November, that same proposal was on the ballot and thanks to the hard, community-driven organizing work by the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance, it was defeated by a margin of about 20 percentage points! Congratulations goes out to all the reproductive justice warriors and allies who proved that when abortion and protecting reproductive freedoms is on the ballot, we win!
🌟Dallas joins the Movement on Decriminalization of Marijuana
Celebrating another people-powered win in Dallas are our partners Ground Game Texas, Texas Organizing Project, and Texas Working Families Party, who spearheaded the Dallas Freedom Act to decriminalize marijuana possession! Although the Texas Attorney General has moved to sue the City of Dallas on this measure, its resounding mandate is noteworthy nonetheless and we will be following closely on any updates on this litigation.
This effort passed on the November ballot with a 67% approval rate by voters and its implementation was protected by our Local Progress members in the Dallas City Council thereafter. Congratulations partners and members on your strides to expand decriminalization for our marginalized communities!
💰 ARPA Deadline is Fast Approaching!
Leaders across the Local Progress network seized American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronaivrus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) for recovery programs informed by the principles of advancing equity, reimagining public safety and advancing worker’s rights. The deadline for local governments to obligate ARPA SLFRF funds is December 31, 2024. Remember, budgeting is not the same as obligating. For more information about what obligating means, check out this resource.
🧰 Resources & Opportunities
The incoming Trump administration has promised to implement policies that will attempt to undo all the progress we have made toward building a more just multi-racial democracy. We know that a second Trump Presidency will be even more destructive than the first. We also know that we’re capable of meeting the moment. Local Progress members were at the forefront of fighting back during the first Trump Presidency, and as we approach another four years, it’s up to us to defend our communities and our democracy. Local Progress Impact Lab have designed a toolkit for local elected officials that outlines strategies to navigate the threats posed by an authoritarian regime: Toolkit for Local Elected Officials in Second Trump Administration
And check out this new policy memo: Unpacking the McKinney-Vento Act: Understanding Your School Districts’ Obligation to Students Experiencing Homelessness
This year, we’ve hosted an incredible series of Policy & Strategy Primers, which are virtual learning sessions designed especially for new members and newly elected folks. Visit the site for upcoming trainings and in the meantime, browse through our resources library here.
❤️ Join an LP Caucus!
LP now has three established identity-based caucuses:the Black Caucus, the Women’s Caucus and the Nuestro Caucus, as well as one newly forming caucus: the 🌈 Pride Caucus 🌈! Each caucus represents a space for healing justice, community building and policy organizing with other members who share your lived experience. For LGBTQ+ members, we are calling on you to fill out our survey and join a listening session. The survey can be found here, and stay tuned for our next listening session dates in the new year!
Local Progress Black Caucus is hosting a post-election call on January 29 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET, where we will take time to talk about what this coming year will look like for all of us AND what tools we collectively have to take action and support one another. This call will be an opportunity to process questions or feelings you might be having going into 2025 in a safe space but will also ground us in the tools and systems of support that we have as part of this LP Black Caucus. Register here!
We are also excited to announce that on February 12 at 3pm PT / 6 pm ET, we are hosting our first All Caucus member call. This will be a space to reflect on the lessons learned over the last 5 years of caucus development, preview our plan for restructuring caucus staffing support and to do some healing justice and renewal work together. Register here!
We are organizing a partners pipeline briefing to connect the existing movement pipeline to support the transition from candidate to elected as they step in these new roles to lead and govern. During this briefing, partners will:
- Learn about LP and the Impact Lab’s network and our strategic framework.
- Learn about the impact of LP and the Impact Lab’s work.
- Gain an understanding of how they can support the movement pipeline from candidate to governance.
That’s a wrap for our December newsletter! See you soon!
