Social Concerns
Giving in disaster: Give like the widow
By Jennifer Carr Allmon Executive Director, Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops “And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of…
Read MoreCatholic Church taking national collection for storm assistance
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked bishops across the country to consider a special collection to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast. He suggested in an Aug. 28 letter to bishops that the collection be taken during Masses…
Read MoreFoster care children win with Governor’s signing of HB 3859
Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 3859 into law today, allowing people and institutions with sincerely held religious beliefs the opportunity to serve children in the foster care system without violating their consciences. “We are very grateful to Governor Abbott for signing HB 3859, and for all of the hard work of Rep. James Frank and…
Read MoreHB 2008: requires payday lenders to comply with federal military lending regs
Jennifer Allmon Executive Director The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops support HB 2008. This bill requires that payday and auto-title lenders comply with the federal military lending act. The TCCB supports this bill to prevent predatory loans to active duty military. The Texas Catholic Bishops first became concerned about the harmful effects of payday and…
Read MoreHB 1134: uniform statewide payday lending regulations
Jennifer Allmon Executive Director The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops support HB 1134. We would like to thank Representative Craddick for filing this important bill to provide uniform statewide regulation for payday and auto-title lenders. Frustrated with the lack of meaningful regulation by the state, cities throughout Texas have taken steps to pass a unified ordinance…
Read MoreHB 1335: Parental choice helps children in foster care and with special needs, too
Michael Barba Associate Director of Public Policy My name is Michael Barba and I am testifying on HB 1335 on behalf of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops. The Principle of Parental Choice. We strongly support parental choice and we applaud Rep. Simmons for authoring this bill, both because it: recognizes that parents are the…
Read MoreHB 3081: Undermines attempts to regulate predatory payday and auto title lending
Jennifer Allmon Executive Director The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops oppose HB 3081. HB 3081 seeks to prohibit local cities from establishing payday and auto-title lending regulations. On its surface, this bill violates the Catholic principal of subsidiarity, which notes that governmental decisions are best made by those closest to those impacted by the decisions –…
Read MoreSB 2178: Should not include payday and auto title lending in its scope
Michael Barba The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops opposes SB 2178. Bill Analysis. SB 2178 establishes that a suit may be filed by a state-licensed business in district court against a municipal regulation if: the municipal regulation is more burdensome than the state regulation, or the municipal regulation would result in an adverse economic impact…
Read MoreHB 741: protects consumers of payday and auto title loans
Michael Barba The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops supports HB 741. HB 741 establishes that a credit services organization (CSO)[1] may not: extend credit to a consumer, or offer advice or assistance to a consumer unless they first evaluate the consumer’s ability to repay the extended credit alongside all other known obligations. We applaud Rep.…
Read MoreSB 892: expands a diverse network of foster care providers
Jennifer Carr Allmon The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops support SB 892. This bill ensures that Texas will maintain and expand a broad and diverse network of foster care providers. In light of the foster care crisis that Texas has endured, the passage of this bill is an essential tool in reform. Since 1727, Catholic…
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