Click here for West/Southwest IAF Key Victories in 2023
North Texas IAF Expands Pressure on Payday Lenders
As part of a two-pronged approach to restrict payday lenders, the North Texas IAF succeeded in persuading the Council to pass zoning restrictions which would separate payday and auto-title lenders from banks, credit unions and more traditional financial institutions, while also requiring them to seek a specific-use permit from the council. The purpose of this would be to prevent high concentrations of payday lenders in low-income (or any) neighborhoods and would apply to new businesses.
Read moreSpokane Alliance Wins 'Sick & Safe' Leave for Local Workers
More background here, Spokane Alliance
'Nevadans for the Common Good' Staves Off Medicaid Privatization in 2016
State legislators in attendance carefully listened and soon followed up with a delegation of NCG leaders, promising that Medicaid privatization of services would NOT happen in 2016, and that the legislative proposal would move more slowly, transparently, and inclusively.
Read moreCOPS / Metro & Bexar Co. Residents Continue Fight for Streets
When Maria Bernal's baby stopped breathing after midnight, she called 911. The child turned blue as she waited 90 minutes for ambulances to arrive; the ambulances were stuck in the sand.
Read more'Together Louisiana' Wins BIG, Gov. Signs Medicaid Expansion
This expansion came two months after what many called "an intervention" in the gubernatorial runoff election, which had devolved into a brawl of personal attacks. At the only event in which both candidates appeared jointly, more than four hundred Together Louisiana leaders assembled from 38 cities to put family issues like healthcare, wages, higher education and transportation back at the center of the campaign.
Read moreThe Border Organization Raises Police and Cafeteria Worker Wages
After collective bargaining with the city manager stalled, the police officers union asked The Border Organization (TBO) for help. Politicizing the issue of police pensions and wages, police union firefighters and TBO leaders targeted the City Council, meeting with individual members to line up the four votes they needed. On the day of the vote, police, firefighter, cafeteria worker and TBO congregational leaders piled into the chambers. After a two hour debate, the council unanimously voted to increase city retirement matches on police and firefighter pensions, maintain previously promised step increases, AND increase all city worker wages by 2%!
Read moreSan Antonio Express-News Credentials COPS / Metro Priorities
Agenda 2016: Community Leaders' Top Priorities for 2016, San Antonio Express News
Austin Interfaith & Mobile Home Residents Win Major Protections
Last July, Hidden Valley / High Meadows (mobile home) residents became distressed when lot rents for people on month-to-month leases were raised for the second time within a 12-month period. New rules mandated improvements and standardizations — adding new costs to residents — including deck and railing upgrades, paint jobs, skirting repair, shed standardization, and control over inside window coverings. Families were asked to demonstrate possession of a drivers' license to drive on the property, impacting hundreds of residents. Many families scrambled to comply; some left.
Read moreCapital IDEA Expands with 'Career Expressway'
Read more"As far as Michael Brown is concerned, he wasn't supposed to be here.
DAI Takes on Apartment Landlords in Battle vs. Mold & Crime
In November, extra chairs had to be hauled out to accommodate 160 people who gathered at San Juan Diego Catholic Church at a meeting in which they brought specific issues with apartment conditions straight to the police chief and City of Dallas elected officials. They and the audience listened with approval as Mayor Pro Tem Monica Alonzo and Roberto Garcia, a Dallas police senior corporal, vowed to help the residents.
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