RAC-TX

RAC-TX's work was made possible with generous seed funding from the Michael & Alice Kuhn Foundation.

The RAC-TX Campaign Against Maternal Mortality is Underway!

We are pleased to announce our 2023 legislative session campaign – L'Dor V'Dor: The RAC-TX Campaign Against Maternal Mortality. This session, we seek to expand coverage of state health insurance for women up to one year after giving birth through the passage of HB 12 by Representative Rose of Dallas. In Texas, we have one of the highest rates of maternal mortality – mothers dying before, during, or immediately after giving birth – in the country. As Jews, we have a moral obligation to save lives and we know that passing this bill will save the lives of countless women in Texas.

Join us for our campaign launch on March 20th!

Email Emily Bourgeois, Texas Organizer, with any questions

RAC National Racial Justice Campaign

Following the end of the legislative session on May 31, 2021, we will continue to engage, train, and organize Reform Jewish communities in Texas, as well as build our collective power to pursue racial justice across the state and federal levels – and within our own walls. 

Image
i stand for racial justice

RAC-TX Victories

  • Civic Engagement Campaign 2020: During the 2020 election, hundreds of leaders at two dozen TX congregations engaged thousands of voters, in particular educating them about how to vote safely and securely during a pandemic, including the complex rules governing mail ballots in Texas. Congregational teams in the 8 largest counties met with their county Elections Administrators and County Clerks to learn about the mechanics of running elections and partner with them to educate our members. We also sent thousands of postcards to low propensity, marginalized voters in partnership with Center for Common Ground.
  • 2020: In February, an immigrant justice coalition we work with in Harris County (Houston Leads) brought its campaign for a legal defense fund for immigrant residents to the County Commissioners meeting. Alongside two dozen immigrant leaders, four local rabbis testified in support of the fund, which passed 3-2, pending final approval. We continue to partner with the coalition leaders to move this fund forward.
  • 2019: We had a successful inaugural session, with the Legislature approving billions of dollars in new funding for schools across the state. RAC-TX put our organizing efforts behind the school finance legislation, called Texas House Bill 3, and mobilized Reform Jews across the state for our first Austin Advocacy Days over March 25 and 26.
    • Our work on school finance reform spoke to our deeply-held Jewish value that every child deserves access to quality education. You can learn more about our work on this issue by reading this blog post. As the new legislation is being implemented, we ask that you stay in contact with your local school district officials to ensure that they understand how to receive additional funding and watch for RAC-TX email updates as proposed education agency rules are posted for public comment.

Donate to RAC-TX

Support the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's RAC-TX

Past Campaigns

2018 Launch

On October 8-10, more than 60 clergy and leaders from across the state gathered at Congregation Emanu El and Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, TX to connect, train, and learn about critical social justice issues facing Texas, and strategize about how to organize for justice, wholeness, and compassion at the state and local level. 

2019 Austin Lobby Day

On March 25-26, 50 leaders from across the state joined together at the state capitol in Austin to advocate for school finance reform, a massive new investment for public education in our state. In May, we mobilized another 150 phone calls to state legislators to push for final passage of the bill. 

Civic Engagement

As part of the Reform Movement’s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign, RAC-TX is working with Reform congregations and communities in Texas to:

  • Encourage 100 percent voting in congregations
  • Reach out to voters of Color outside our congregations
  • Advocate with county election officials
  • Recruit poll workers

Gun Violence Prevention

We have a statewide team working on gun violence prevention, whose work has included partnering with the Houston Police Chief on a gun safety public messaging campaign, partnering with city and county officials in San Antonio/Bexar and elsewhere to ensure gun safety, and monitoring domestic violence courts in Dallas to ensure proper safeguards around firearm ownership for abusers.

Immigrant Justice

We have a statewide team working on immigrant justice, whose work has included sponsoring detainees, protesting detention and deportation, and working in coalition to disrupt the arrest-to-deportation pipeline in our cities and counties. See more under RAC-TX Victories.

Contact and Support our Team

  •  
  • Contact Emily Bourgeois, RAC-TX Organizer, to learn more and get involved.
  • You can support this critical organizing work in Texas online or by contacting Ilene Ausubel.