Leaders piled into City Hall to ask City council members to raise the minimum workers would be paid. Says Garcia,"When we're using public funds we've got to bring in jobs where families can at least afford to eat."

Controversy Surrounds New Jobs Coming to Austin, KVUE-ABC

"When University of Texas researchers studied the long-term benefits of an intensive Austin job training program called Capital IDEA, they found that graduates enjoyed a steady trajectory in earnings and within six years earned salaries that were $12,000 a year higher than participants in ordinary job-placement programs.

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"Eloina Serna wasn't the only one in her family who benefited when she signed up with Capital IDEA.... 90 percent of children who are now 18 or older earned a high school diploma and 64 percent of those children earned a college degree or are currently enrolled...."

Capital IDEA was founded in 1998 by Austin Interfaith, in partnership with Central Texas business leaders, to lift "families out of poverty through workforce training, especially in high-demand occupations such as health care, information technology, utilities and skilled trades." Capital IDEA graduate Eloina Serna poses with son in photo above.

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Over the last year, Austin Interfaith leaders publicly pressured the City Council to increase funding for successful programs including job training project Capital IDEA. They eventually held face-to-face meetings with public officials in efforts to get it back to current funding levels of $1 Million, but only after clearing City-imposed legal hurdles.

On the morning of October 6th, Austin City Council passed the Public Health and Human Service budget and two other items that moved additional funding to Capital Idea, keeping the program at 2011 level funding, $1.08 million, for FY 2012. Leaders also leveraged money from the Travis County Commissioners Court which voted not only for the continuation of level funding ($700,000) for Capital Idea, but an additional $97,000 to supplement cuts from the state.

MIT economist Paul Osterman names various Texas IAF strategies 'models' for the nation while discussing his new book, Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone.

In the New York Times he notes that despite low wages in the Rio Grande Valley, "the Valley is not hopeless....community organization Valley Interfaith has pushed for training opportunities and living wage jobs."

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Leaders from the Worker's Defense Project, a member institution of Austin Interfaith, successfully lobbied city council members to pass a resolution that will protect and train workers on all city-owned construction sites, whether or not a third-party is the developer. Until now, city contracts did not require safety trainings where third parties developed city-owned property. The resolution also requires that a safety supervisor with 30 hours of training be present at construction sites.

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Institutional leaders from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the Worker's Defense Project and the University Methodist Church weigh in on the Texas miracle and its effects on Austin residents.

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Divine Intervention at the Ballot Box, InFact Daily

Last spring, initial budget recommendations had slated Capital IDEA, Prime Time after School, ESL and other important programs normally supported by the city for ZERO funding. Since then, Council members approved a revised budget recommendation that expands funding for the highest rated programs at 70% of requested funding. If approved, Capital IDEA would receive continued funding at current levels of over $1,000,000 and other programs like Prime Time After School Program would also be funded. More than 100 Austin Interfaith leaders have been to City Hall this month to show their support for these programs. In addition to advocating for human development programs, AI leaders created a stir about the anti-lobbying ordinance preventing public participation in this process.

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So Far, Another Sleepy Austin Election, KUT News

Article and radio segment available here