The fACTs newsletter is for TSAHC's local partners in the Affordable Communities of Texas (ACT) program. The quarterly newsletter provides information to help make your programs as successful as possible.
State and Federal Legislative Issues:
How to Stay Informed
Texas Legislature
On January 8th, the Texas Legislature convened for the 86th legislative session. The 140-day session will conclude on May 27, 2019. If you want to stay informed on potential legislation and issues, here are some key resources.
This website allows you to search for bills of interest, track their progress, and stay up to date on committees and each chamber. You can also
create a custom bill track to follow your most important bills.
Key Committees
The two committees primarily responsible for considering bills related to housing are
House Urban Affairs and
Senate Intergovernmental Relations. Senator Eddie Lucio will once again Chair the Intergovernmental Relations committee, and Representative Angie Chen Button was named Chair of the Urban Affairs committee.
Each session, the
Texas Housers convene the Texas Legislature Housing Working Group, a non-partisan group that is open to the public and includes stakeholders and legislative staff who share information about legislative efforts related to housing. The group meets every other Friday, and the next meeting is Friday, February 1 at 9:00 a.m. in E2.018 at the Capitol. Individuals who can't attend in person are invited to call-in at (512) 537-4007 (no PIN necessary). Click here for a list of bills this group is tracking.
U.S. Congress
On January 3rd, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate convened to begin the 116th Congress. Here are some organizations to follow that stay up to date on housing issues at the federal level.
Nonprofits providing housing assistance to families impacted by Hurricane Harvey may still apply for a grant through the HEART program. Limited grant funding is still available in two categories: housing repairs and programming. Organizations may apply for both, but award amounts are capped at $50,000 per organization.
Housing Connection is TSAHC's education and capacity building program for nonprofits. Through this program, we offer in-person training and quarterly webinars designed to help nonprofits perform better.
Here are details on the next Housing Connection webinar.
