150 PCIC leaders, DREAMers and their parents filled the Board Room at Pima Community College and cheered when the Board of Governors voted 4-1 in favor of in-state tuition discounts for DACA students. Currently, hundreds of undocumented local students pay five times the in-state rate and are not eligible for financial aid.

PCIC leader Melanie Nelson spoke of the six Deferred Action Civic Academies held at her church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, last fall. "These students have lawful status now, but they can't afford the high tuition. Before DACA we had several attempted suicides in our parish. Now they need an pathway to an education and a future," she said. Before the vote, Jimmy Ojeda, a homeowner and parent, from St. John's, and Monica Leon, a U of A graduate, from Casa Maria Catholic Worker shared their own immigration stories. The group's goal is now to get the University of Arizona system to follow Pima's lead.

"On a bipartisan vote, Bexar County commissioners Tuesday urged Texas lawmakers to expand the state's Medicaid program and take advantage of federal matching funds under the Affordable Care Act.2014 to 2017, expansion will bring $27.2 billion in federal revenue to Texas for just over $3 billion in state investments," said County Judge Nelson Wolff....

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"This is an opportunity to create good jobs for our families," said Kurt Cadena-Mitchell, with Austin Interfaith, a coalition of churches, schools and local governments that is an advocate for jobs paying a living wage, among other issues....

The new jobs are believed to be part of the company's plans to hire more technical workers and engineers to support its expanding business. The average annual wage for the new jobs is $65,000, and the lowest-paid 10 percent will make about $40,000."

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"...Valley Interfaith members were at Hidalgo County Commissioners Court to urge commissioners to pass a resolution in support of Adult Medicaid. In a news release, Valley Interfaith said it urges other counties in the Valley to stand also in support. The Rev. Javier Leyva, a Valley Interfaith leader, pointed out that expanding Medicaid would bring over $400 million in Medicaid funds to Hidalgo County and nearly $670 million to the Valley overall."

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"With more than $200 million a year at stake, the Travis County Commissioners Court is urging the Legislature to expand Medicaid coverage to more needy people in Texas, the state with highest rate of uninsured residents. The court spent time Tuesday tweaking the resolution that it passed last week to satisfy its lone Republican member, Gerald Daugherty. It was approved unanimously, 5-0. Austin Interfaith leader Oralia Garza Cortes called the bipartisan support "absolutely critical" and said that sister organizations of the advocacy group in Dallas and Bexar counties helped pass similar resolutions this month."

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"Groups seeking expansion of Texas' Medicaid program will plead their case outside the Bexar County Courthouse on Tuesday before Commissioners Court is set to take up a resolution supporting their position....Leading the 9:30 a.m. gathering Tuesday ... will be County Judge Nelson Wolff. Also expected are representatives of the county hospital system community organizations called COPS/Metro Alliance.

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"Valley Interfaith leader Rosalie Tristan gave two personal healthcare stories to highlight the need for expanding Medicaid. Tristan...spoke of her 55-year-old brother, David Contreras, a husband and father of two. He has a tumor on the back of his head the size of a melon. He has been told he has to come up with $10,000 in order to see a doctor. He does not have $10,000.

He has also been told he cannot go to the emergency room of his local hospital until the body tissue bursts. He earns too much to qualify for Medicaid...."

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'Nevadans for the Common Good' leaders Andrea Swanson and Camille Naaktgeboren testified before the Assembly and Senate judiciary committees for Assembly Bill 67.

"You take a domestic violence abuser, you take a rapist and you take a child abuser and you put them all in one and you have a pimp," said Andrea Swanson, who told a packed legislative hearing room about how her 18-year-old daugher was swept from her into a life of sex trafficking.

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"The Network of Texas Organizations, convened 200 leaders from various faith traditions on the steps of the Capitol to call on Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Legislature to expand Medicaid.

Religious leaders and clergy from throughout the state gathered at the north entrance the Capitol on Wednesday at noon to rally in support of Medicaid expansion..."

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"At the urging of Austin Interfaith, the Travis County Commissioners Court this week passed a resolution supporting expansion. Dallas County has approved a similar resolution, and Bexar County is expected to do the same next week....

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