Today's bulletin is music to my ears!  I am so proud to be a longtime member of LULAC.  LULAC's advocacy is for all!

Fighting for all of our rights!  

Please consider joining and supporting LULAC. 

-Angela Valenzuela

LULAC Declares Victory In Texas Vote By Mail Lawsuit

Nation’s Oldest & Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Applauds Court Order Allowing All Texas Voters to Vote by Mail During COVID-19 Pandemic

Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American (LULAC) and the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas last week, challenging the state’s restrictions on mail-in ballots. The case was argued by Chad Dunn, who filed suit against Texas on behalf of the Texas Democratic Party. The current law restricts access to mail-in voting to a specific group of voters, including those over the age of 65, imposing unconstitutional and illegal burdens on most voters in the midst of a global pandemic.

LULAC National President Domingo Garcia issued the following statement:

“It is in times of national crisis where our constitution is tested, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. Today’s ruling means no American in Texas will have to decide between their health or civic duty to vote. Today’s ruling proves that only allowing specific groups of voters to vote by mail in a deadly pandemic is a clear violation of the 26th Amendment’s protections against voting discrimination based on age.”

LULAC CEO Sindy Benavides issued the following statement:

“Today LULAC upheld its mission to protect the civil rights of Hispanics. No state has a right to choose which demographic groups can vote by mail, safely and out of harm’s way, and which citizens must sacrifice their health to cast a ballot. LULAC looks forward to having this case heard in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. We know constitutional law is on our side.”

About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/

LULAC Files Lawsuit With Partners To Challenge Voter Suppression In Texas Nation’s Oldest & Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Calls for Expanded Resources as New Data Confirms Latinos are Bearing the Economic Brunt of COVID-19 Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, challenging Texas’ restrictions on mail-in ballots. As it stands, Texas law restricts access to mail-in ballots to voters who are over 65, people who are in jail and not convicted, people who will be out of the county, and people who are sick or disabled. Texas officials have threatened criminal prosecution of voters who attempt to cast mail ballots who do not meet these specific criteria, including those who would prefer to vote by mail due to fear of contracting or spreading COVID-19. Long wait lines during the primaries, if repeated in the November general election, could lead to thousands of voters of both parties getting sick and possibly dying. Additionally, most poll workers are retired, elderly, and the most at-risk portion of the population. The coronavirus pandemic continues to disproportionately impact Latinos around the country, these prohibitive policies have a significant impact on Texas Latinos seeking to exercise their right to vote without risking their health during the July primary runoff elections and in November. LULAC, along with other civic organizations, is represented by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), and is asking a federal judge to block the Texas Secretary of State from enforcing the provisions. “Once again, Texas officials are looking for ways to effectively disenfranchise Latinos and people of color by suppressing their right to vote. People should never be forced to make a choice between showing up to the polls and risking their health,” said LULAC President Domingo Garcia. “LULAC will not stand for this blatant oppression of our community’s constitutional right to vote in the middle of a pandemic that has killed more than 1,000 Texans and infected over 40,000. Texas is stronger when more people can participate in our democracy and determine who is fit to govern. I asked our Governor and state officials to support a bipartisan interim law to allow all Texans to be able to vote by mail in the 2020 election.” The complaint can be found here. # # # About LULAC The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org.    Make sure you receive email updates from LULAC. Add info@lulac.org to your approved senders list. This email was sent to: valenz@austin.utexas.edu. Click here to unsubscribe from email sent by LULAC. LULAC National Office | 1133 19th Street NW, Suite 1000 Washington DC 20036, (202) 833-6130, (202) 833-6135 FAX Powered by ARCOS | Design by Plus Three

LOHE LAWSUIT FILED BY LA FERIA AND JOAQUIN ISDs AGAINST TX COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

I just learned about this lawsuit.  School funding politics in Texas continue. Thought I would share. -Angela

SCHOOL DISTRICTS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST TX COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION COMMISSIONER'S DECISION SPENDS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS TO PAY FOR TAX CUTS FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Two Texas school districts have filed a lawsuit against Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, the Texas Education Agency, and the State Board of Education today in Travis County District Court. La Feria and Joaquin independent school districts are alleging the Commissioner failed to follow requirements in the Texas Administrative Code by unilaterally changing a long­standing rule adopted by the State Board of Education. Left unchallenged, this change will take hundreds of millions of dollars that would otherwise be available to fund public education for all districts and charter schools and funnel those funds to a select few.

La Feria ISD and Joaquin ISD, in conjunction with the Equity Center, joined together to oppose the February 1, 2017 change by the Texas Education Agency to a long­standing provision of the Texas Administrative Code, resulting in an immediate cost to the state budget of more than $80 million for the current year and hundreds of millions for the next biennium.

Ray Freeman, Executive Director of the Equity Center, stated, "This decision spends hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for tax cuts for a small number of school districts at the expense of all others.  Several school districts reached out to our association looking for relief, and this legal action will ideally give the legislature the opportunity to address this issue to save the state revenue and avoid reducing resources for every other district in the state. If the state's budget going forward is as tight as everyone says, we can ill afford to spend any of it inefficiently or irrationally."

Freeman added, "If this benefit is good enough for one taxpayer and school district, it should be good enough for all taxpayers and school districts. Taxpayers deserve better than special deals for a small group of schools."

The rule that determines taxable value for school funding purposes had been honored by 6 previous commissioners. This "change by letter" results in the State picking up the tab for one­ half the cost of local option homestead exemptions for the wealthiest districts and their taxpayers, but not providing the same benefit for all other Texas districts and taxpayers in similar circumstances.  Effectively, the Commissioner of Education chose to have the state of Texas pay for tax cuts for a select group of school districts at the expense of the rest of the school districts and taxpayers in the state.

Richard Gray IV, with Gray & Becker added, "The Education Code provides that the mission of the public education system of this state is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation. The recent actions of the Commissioner, conducted outside of the mandatory Administrative Procedures Act requirements, work squarely against that mission and will result in benefits flowing only to students in certain property­ wealthy districts of TEA's choosing through an increase in funding while at the same time cutting funding to all other districts in which that funding is arguably more necessary to provide a quality education to their students.  It is estimated that the recent actions of the Commissioner could cost the state close to one billion dollars for the 2018­2019 school year and that cost will only increase in future years. The state's ability to afford this expense will surely be a burden on the state and potentially taxpayers." If you have any questions, please contact us at 512­478­7313 or info@equitycenter.org.