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Weekly Witness is your weekly update on the mainstream faith community’s perspective on everything Texas public policy. Hosted by Texas Impact's Scott Atnip, Weekly Witness is recorded in front of a live audience in downtown Austin. We host policy experts, faith leaders, and elected officials who provide in-depth information on relevant policy issues in the state. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact, Texas’ oldest and largest interfaith advocacy group. Visit texasimpact.org for more ...
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This week we say goodbye to maybe our closest friend of the show, who has been on the program more than any other guest. Texas Impact announced last week that Advocacy Director Joshua Houston would be leaving soon to take a new position with Caritas of Austin. So we thought we needed to say goodbye (for now) with one last episode reminiscing on som…
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Many Christians just finished Holy Week, Passover is coming and we are in the midst of Ramadan. All of those seasons can and should inspire people of faith to love our neighbor and have some intersection with advocating on behalf of our neighbors and communities at large. This week, we have a friend of the program Usama Malik, Program Coordinator f…
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This week, we follow up on the conversation from two weeks ago in advance of the Texas Medical Board meeting. More than 2,000 Texans of faith signed Texas Impact’s petition calling for a rulemaking process to define the abortion exception in Texas state law relating to the life and health of the mother. We spoke about Steve and Amy Bresnen, two Aus…
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This week we are talking about all things environment with friend of the program Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas. Luke joins us to share the good news from the November elections related to the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund AND the EPA’s new rules related to methane emissions. Spoiler: Texas is not handling the rules well…
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This week, we welcome Texas Impact’s Executive Director, Bee Moorhead, for an important and timely conversation about reproductive health. The Texas Medical Board is meeting Thursday, March 21st, and Texas Impact is promoting a sign on letter to ask them to undertake rulemaking to define the exception to the abortion ban related to the life and hea…
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This week we are wrapping up the primary elections with Texas Impact’s Advocacy Director Joshua Houston. We want to thank everyone who voted, organized your friends and congregations, volunteered for a campaign, or helped work the election. After this election, there is still a lot of work to do and Texas Impact has tools and resources for you, so …
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This week, we want to share another round of audio from the recent Houston Faith Votes event. We were honored to have Rep. Ann Johnson and Rep. Jon Rosenthal, two Texas State Representatives from the Houston area, for a conversation on the importance of primary elections, how Texans can best connect with their representatives and talk about how Tex…
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The Texas Impact team has toured the state, talked with, and resourced thousands of Texans of faith in the last two months. This week, we are going to bring you some of the content from our Houston Faith Votes event earlier this week. We thought you might enjoy the Faith Leader panel featuring Rev. Dr. Colin Bossen, Senior Minister, First Unitarian…
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With all the news about immigration and border issues at the national and state level, it’s getting hard to keep track of the issue beyond the rhetoric. So, we invited Kristin Etter to the program to help sort things out. Kristin is the Director of Policy and Legal Services at the Texas Immigration Law Council. Previously, she served as the Special…
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Ep. 332 "Your Voice is Crucial": Rep. Donna Howard Addresses the Texas United Women in Faith
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This week we are bringing even more content from the United Women in Faith Legislative Event while continuing the discussion about reproductive health. The United Women in Faith welcomed State Representative Donna Howard to talk with them at the Capitol last week. Rep. Howard is a woman of faith herself, and also has a special role as the Chairwoma…
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This week we kicked off Texas Impact’s event season with an incredible three days with about 250 United Women in Faith at their annual legislative event, and today we are going to bring you a little sample from that event. We start with Bishop Ruben Saenz, United Methodist Bishop for the North and Central Texas Conferences of the UMC bringing greet…
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This week, we discuss one of the issues that will be driving the conversation this election year, and a corresponding Texas Impact event, as we welcome leaders from Friends Congregational Church in College Station: Sr. Pastor Rev. Dr. Dan De Leon, Cecilia Hawkins, leader of the Justice and Mission Outreach Committee and Kyle Rile, Texas Impact's Ho…
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It is COLD outside, but this week's climate conversation will keep us warm as we welcome Susan Alvarez, Director of the Environment and Development Department with the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Susan joins us to talk about the work of the COG to address air quality and how you can get involved in your local community. Speaking of …
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We are excited to kick off the first episode of the new year with Rev. Angela Williams. Rev. Williams is the Associate Minister of Missional Engagement at First UMC Dallas and Executive Pastor of St. Paul United Methodist where she helps lead their Justice Builders Program which brings members from both congregations together to work in ministry to…
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This week we welcome back to the program Texas Impact's Advocacy Director, Joshua Houston, to wrap up what is hopefully the last special session of the 88th Texas Legislature for 2023. One of the main issues the legislature has tried to address is public school funding. In a year with an historic budget surplus, the Texas Legislature should have be…
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This week we welcome Texas Impact’s Climate Action Fellow, Becca Edwards, back to the program soon after returning to the U.S. after attending the first half of the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of Parties (COP) in Dubai. For those following along with the program, we had Becca and our Executive Director Bee Moorhead on the…
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This week, we are joined by Texas Impact’s Executive Director Bee Moorhead and Climate Action Fellow Becca Edwards to discuss the upcoming COP28. For longtime listeners, you will know that Texas Impact sends a team to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties. The 28th conference will be from November 30 until…
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This week we are taking a break from legislative goings on for an important conversation with Rev. Deanna Hollas, Coordinator of Gun Violence Prevention Ministries with Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. We will discuss the increased emphasis national denominations are placing on reducing gun violence and how congregations can both act locally and advo…
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This week, the Texas Legislature adjourned the third special session, and almost immediately, the Governor called them back for a fourth 30-day special session focused on public education-specifically trying to divert public dollars to private schools and immigration-related bills. Thursday, two House Committees met to hear bills, and the Texas Imp…
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This week our focus turns to an issue that has shaken many of our families and communities. We are joined today by Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund, Minister for Disabilities & Mental Health Justice with the United Church of Christ. Dr. Lund was part of an alliance that partnered with the US Health and Human Services Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Part…
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This week, we turn our focus back to the special session with a conversation about public school funding with Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes, Deputy Director of Policy with IDRA, the Intercultural Development Research Association. For 50 years, IDRA has focused on equity in the Texas education system, and Chloe brings an important perspective to the public…
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This week we welcome Stacey Pogue, Senior Policy Analyst with Every Texan, to the program to talk about healthcare as Texas prepares to roll back covid era policies. While there are a lot of important issues in the news right now, to the more than 1 million Texans who have lost their healthcare coverage during this “unwinding,” healthcare, or the l…
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Ep. 319 The Next Right Thing: A Conversation with Texas Impact Executive Director Bee Moorhead
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This week Scott talks with Texas Impact's Executive Director Bee Moorhead about the lay of the land in Texas and the role Texans of faith can play in this special session and in this heightened political climate. There is going to be A LOT of talk in the next few weeks about what quote “religious” people want–and a lot of those voices will be claim…
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This week we are preparing you for two events that should be front of mind this month. Josh Houston will join us to talk about the special session beginning Monday, October 9. We expect it to focus on public education and proposals relating to diverting public dollars to private schools through vouchers or other equivalent programs. Josh will help …
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This week we are continuing our series to prepare you for a special session of the Texas Legislature focused on public schools and proposals relating to diverting public school funds to private school vouchers. Spoiler: Texas Impact likes public schools. So, who better to give us the political lay of the land than Texas Impact’s outside legislative…
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This week we are preparing you for a special session of the Texas Legislature focused on public schools and most likely proposals relating to diverting public school funds to private school vouchers. Scott sits down with Dr. Scott Sheppard, Superintendent of Huntsville Independent School District, recently named the 2023 Region 6 Superintendent of …
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This week we are recording from University Presbyterian Church in Austin following the Texas Impact fall board meeting. It is always a good day when the Texas Impact board gets together. A room full of Texas faith leaders from various traditions committed to creating a more just and equitable Texas. It can’t get better than that right? So, we decid…
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We saw that y'all loved the first two faith leader panels so much that today we are bringing you the third and final installment. If you missed the first two–first, you should go back and listen to them. These panels of religious leaders were part of Texas Impact’s three Houston Faith Votes kick-off events, a partnership between local congregations…
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Last week Texas Impact concluded a series of kick-off events for our Houston Faith Votes campaign in partnership with local congregations and organizations in Houston. We aired the audio from the first of three faith leader panels and y'all loved it so much we thought we'd do it again! The material from these conversations isn’t Houston-specific, b…
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Last weekend Scott had a chance to moderate a faith leader panel with four incredible Houston faith leaders discussing the importance of civic engagement and why and how local congregations can engage their communities. That conversation was so rich and deep, we wanted to share it with the whole Texas Impact community…so we decided to run it as the…
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Many public school kids are returning to school across the state this week. Public school teachers, staff and administrators are excited about the new year's possibilities but maybe less enthusiastic about the legislature’s failure to use the record budget surplus to invest in public schools and teachers. This seems like a perfect week to have a ch…
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This week we traveled to the heart of Houston for a conversation with Texas state representative Gene Wu, representing House District 137. Rep. Wu is a fellow LBJ School alum, so I enjoyed catching up with him and hearing about his work during the session, concerns shared by Harris County residents and some thoughts on economic justice and how bill…
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This week we welcome back to the program Josh Houston, Texas Impact's Advocacy Director, to talk about public education in Texas, and specifically about the implementation of the school chaplain bill that will impact every one of your communities. We will discuss the multiple layers of public school conversations that are taking place in Texas, sta…
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This week we are taking a mid-summer break from our legislative wrap-up series to talk about the recent judicatory season with the Chair of the Board of Church and Society for the North Texas Annual Conference United Methodist Church and one of our Board Members, Rev. Phil Dieke. Every year from April through June, the Texas Impact team is busy wit…
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This week our Executive Director, Bee Moorhead had a chance to catch up with former State Senator Beverly Powell, who represented parts of Fort Worth and North Texas. And, while Sen. Powell would definitely have some wise words about legislative topics, the conversation this week focused on her work in organizing Texans to support Uvalde families w…
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This week we welcome Texas State Representative John Bucy, who represents House District 136 in Williamson County, to discuss higher education policy in the 88th Legislature. We haven’t talked a lot about higher ed policy on this podcast, but Texas colleges, universities, community colleges and trade schools are important components in our communit…
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This week we welcome Texas State Representative Donna Howard, who represents House District 48 in the Austin area, to discuss maternal health and the role it played in the 88th Legislature. We will talk about whether the glass was half full or half empty in regards to maternal health policy–yes, indeed there were some good moments during this legis…
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This week we welcome Texas State Representative James Talarico, who represents District 50 in the Austin, Travis County, area, to discuss Christian nationalism and the role it played in the 88th Legislature. Rep. Talarico had several “viral moments” during the session combatting Christian nationalism, speaking as a person of faith… an area where he…
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This week we welcome Representative Vikki Goodwin to the program. Rep. Goodwin represents House District 47 in the Austin area and has been a longtime champion for commonsense gun reform. Scott and Rep. Goodwin talk about how personal stories impact the policy discussion, and Rep. Goodwin offers practical tips for sharing your story with lawmakers.…
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This week we welcome Texas Impact’s outside legislative counsel, Beaman Floyd, as we discuss some of the factors at play as state leadership continues to figure out what is happening with the special session, or sessions. Weekly Witness will take a look back on the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature and what Texans of faith should be wat…
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Weekly Witness is back with a new legislative wrapup series, and we are excited to start by welcoming Senator Nathan Johnson to the program to discuss the grid and making sure Texas can keep the lights on in a sustainable way that is best for all Texans. Sen. Johnson is a leader on many of the issues Texans of faith care about. He represents about …
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The tax policy cliche "oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to exempt" is on point for this legislative session. This week, tax-whisperer Dick Lavine joins Scott to discuss legislation to increase property tax exemptions, including SB3 and HB5. This is the last episode of the regular session in the Texas Legislature. If you have i…
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Immigration and border issues have really come to the forefront in the last few weeks thanks to the news around the COVID-era Title 42 policy ending and some frankly shocking border militarization bills in the Texas Legislature. So, here to help us make sense of what is happening, is Bobby Watson, Texas Impact’s Human Rights fellow, fresh off a tri…
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This week we welcome Dr. Charlie Brown, Board Member with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to talk about key reforms to Texas’ ban on abortions that are necessary to better define steps that can legally be taken to protect the lives of Texas moms. Doctors need a better legal definition, and so far the Legislature has been unw…
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This week Scott welcomes two advocates in the struggle for common sense gun control. Christina Delgado, Southwest Regional Advocacy Associate with the Community Justice Action Fund and Nicole Golden, Executive Director with Texas Gun Sense, have both been working tirelessly at the capitol this session with legislators and the families of victims of…
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This week we recorded in between bill hearings with Doug Lewin, President of Stoic Energy Consulting and host of the Texas Power Podcast. Renewable energy is a big part of the Texas economy. We talked to Doug about some positive advancements this legislative session and work that still needs to be done to protect renewable energy. Check out Doug's …
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This week we are excited to be recording from the Texas Capitol office of Rep Trey Martinez-Fischer. Scott talks with his Senior Budget Analyst, Eva Deluna Castro—many Weekly Witness listeners will know Eva from her years with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, now Every Texan. Eva is one of Texas' most respected state budget experts, and tod…
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This week we are recording from the University of Houston Downtown at the invitation of the Center for Critical Race Studies. Scott sits down with Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas, author, and the Associate Professor of Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She also serves as co-founder of the Society for the Study of Race, Ethnicity …
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This week we welcome Terri Burke, Executive Director of the Immunization Partnership, to talk about the importance of vaccinations–one of the 10 major advances in public health of the 20th century–and the history behind the vaccine opposition movement, which is grounded in a discredited study in the mid 2000's.…
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This week we welcome Diana Forester, Director of Health Policy with Texans Care for Children. We are just over halfway through the 140 day legislative session, and Texas Impact has many priorities, and maternal health and Medicaid for Texas families are always important legislative priorities for Texans of faith across the state. But Diana joined u…
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