United Methodist Womens Legislative Agenda 2014

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. Texas United Methodist Women affirm the dedication of every member of the Texas Legislature. We thank you for your work in the 83rd legislative session, in particular your work in limiting statewide assessments and exploring alternatives to testing, funding a comprehensive state water plan and your progress on many fronts to improve treatment and outcomes in our states criminal justice and mental health systems. We particularly look forward to thanking you for your action in the 84th legislative session on the following issues, which we believe are crucial to our states wellbeing:

Medicaid
The Legislature should extend Medicaid to adults under 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. We encourage legislators to recognize the financial benefits that would accrue to local governments, medical providers, the Texas economy and Texas taxpayers.

Education
The Legislature should affirm its constitutional obligation to provide high quality public education for the benefit of all of its residents. Critical legislative actions include restoring cuts, funding enrollment growth, and increasing teacher compensation to competitive levels. We strongly reaffirm our historic opposition to any movement toward allowing the flow of public money to private schools.

Criminal Justice and Mental Health

We call on legislators to guarantee humane treatment for all Texans subject to the states criminal justice system, especially the most vulnerable, including women, children and youth. We strongly urge the Legislature to increase access to mental health services, substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation, educational opportunities and re-entry programs. We believe sentences should be fair for all regardless of race, gender or ability to pay. We believe legislators have a special duty to prevent wrongful convictions and to protect those in the criminal justice system with mental health concerns and individuals facing execution.

Water
We support lawmakers as they continue to address Texas long-term water needs. We urge lawmakers to create structures that ensure all stakeholders are included in discussions around the primary principle of fair access to clean water for all Texans. We acknowledge the interaction between water and energy resources and encourage lawmakers to plan comprehensively for our water and energy future.

Predatory Lending
The Legislature should build on the foundation of sensible regulation of payday and auto-title lending established in 2011, and eliminate the cycle of debt through strategies such as limiting rollovers, regulating fees and allowing partial payments. For more information about United Methodist Women in Texas or this legislative agenda, contact any of the following UMW Social Action Coordinators:
Darlene Alfred Mary Helen Gracia Lois Shaw Denise DuBois Mary Alice Garza Rose Watson Beth Weems Pirtle Betty Smith Patricia Hutchinson 254-624-4685 210-764-0522 830-257-3980 979-575-4098 972-596-3534 940-482-6744 972-243-7353 505-881-7891 806-857-3463 dralfred@earthlink.net woodie123@windstream.net duboisdc@aol.com garzama@verizon.net rewatson@embarqmail.com bethsigns@att.net bettyphotos@msn.com patrhtc@aol.com