In 2023, leaders from COPA congregations, schools, and nonprofits spoke with over 400 families, hearing dozens of stories about families that had paid thousands of dollars in unnecessary application fees just to apply to live in an apartment. Sometimes, families learned later that the apartments they had applied for didn’t even exist.

In response, COPA leaders reached out to member institutions, building a powerful constituency across Central California. Leaders at Holy Cross engaged leaders at Temple Beth El and Mujeres en Acción, who in turn reached out to other institutions as the team grew. All in all, 13 institutions joined the process and, together, built a relationship with Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin.

COPA leaders:

• researched the issue with state policy experts and attorneys - worked with Assemblywoman Pellerin to craft new legislation, 
• testified in both the Assembly and State Senate (in 3 different languages!) and 
• overcame vested opposition by crafting a compromise with power groups.

When petrochemical companies operating in rural Louisiana attempted to directly negotiate an industrial tax discount with the local parish (county), the effort ran up against the Louisiana Constitution. The local tax assessor sued and the state courts ruled that the agreement violated the Constitution. Developers then crafted House Bill 444, a constitutional amendment that would legalize direct negotiations with local governments. The amendment would allow corporations to work around Industrial Tax Exemption Program reforms recently won by Together Louisiana.