Public Policy Update

1. Public Policy Update Suzii Paynter

2. Statewide trends • Energy Companies are using the pattern of church utility use to create new fee structures • Move churches to commercial class • Charges for PEAK demand • Charges are sustained for up to 11 months • Expect proposed rate increases that are disproportional to other increases

3. Avg increase for HOW

4. Steps for resolution/ relief? • Support /analysis from CLC Austin mcall.johnson@texasbaptists.org • Contact the Texas Public Utility Commission regarding disparity • Aggregate energy plans by joining with other churches to bargain • Local churches and Association leadership in rate cases

5. HT Going the right direction • Protected Innocence Challenge • Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking • State Report Cards • Texas @ 84 “B” • Number ONE in the country Justin Dillon, Senator Leticia Van de Putte, Rep Rafael Anchia, and Eric Nichols, Deputy Attorney Office of Attorney General.

6. Ending Human Trafficking • SB 24 – The Big One • Culmination of OAG Task Force work (32 of 35 recs) • Divides trafficking into 4 categories • No longer have to prove force, fraud, coercion when trafficking a child into sexual conduct • Expands definition for “sexual conduct” for children • Enhances penalty for offenders who force minors under 18 into prostitution from 2nd degree to 1st degree felony • Requires sex traffickers to register in the Sex Offender Registry

7. Next: Stop Human Trafficking • Joint Interim Committee (HCR 68) • victim services, including the long-range need for safe houses and shelters • best practices for public/private partnerships • procedures and services available for youth identified as sex trafficking victims, including analysis of the appropriate criminal penalties associated with prostitution • OAG’s Task Force • Single voice of contact on a national level, creating a unified voice for Texas

8. Horizon Awards • Achievement and recognition • Hispanic Education Initiative • Food & Hunger • Reforming Payday Lending • Human Trafficking • Anti-Gambling

9. Baptists Hunger & Food Policy • Texas Hunger Initiative – recognized national leader Hunger Free Communities Alliance • Texas Baptist Hunger Ministry recognized leadership for DAILY BREAD • CLC recognized for food policy leadership by USDA for Food Policy Roundtable Top Chef with First Lady

10. Hispanic Ministry Advocacy Day

11. Church & State: Prayer Public Prayer Cases boundaries of legislative prayers allowed under Marsh v. Chambers (1983). I the Supreme Court recognized a narrow Establishment Clause exception for nonsectarian prayer “tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the [American] people,” Indian River School Dist v. Doe Prayers at school board meetings are different than legislative/government bodies. Constituency is children Joyner v. Forsyth County, County board of commissioners …formal prayer policy that appeared neutral on its face but, in practice, had the effect of advancing Christianity.

12. Religious Liberty and Contraception • Religious liberty concerns extend beyond churches and houses of worship to religious institutions. • FEB 13 - expands the religious accommodation and requires insurance companies to offer contraceptive services free of charge directly to employees at religious institutions that object to providing them.

13. Dub Oliver ETBU testimony

14. East Texas Baptist University • Include “preventative services, including contraceptives, under our employee health plan.” • At least one of the approved contraceptives can cause an abortion. The government has publically stated the HHS mandate does “not include abortifacient drugs,” but the text of the regulation itself contains no such guarantee. • Institutions that self insure, like ETBU, even under Feb 13 exceptions might be paying for the drugs they believe cause abortion.

15. Payday Lending Payday lenders - law firm Grapevine writing churches to chill Pastors speak out on the issue. Intimidation, not factual. Activity by many cities and towns to pass local ordinances to curb exploitation. Important to show local interest. • Passed 2 bills to reign in the exploitive practices of Payday and Auto title lenders – Registration and Data Collection • Sen John Carona, • Rep Vickie Truitt • Rules are being created at the Finance Commission by Commissioner Pettijohn.

16. Anti gambling : TAG honors CLC

17. Lottery : Internet & Sweepstakes DOJ opinion regarding internet lottery Fall 2011 . Texas Lottery created a internet sweepstakes drawing Luck Zone, a "promotional drawing" that gives lottery losers a free chance to lose again. Texas has had second-chance games for a while, but losers had to mail in their losing scratch-off tickets. Now Luck Zone entries are submitted through the Lottery Commission website Baptists, question the commission's authority to use the Internet in connection with games.

18. Sen Jane Nelson Requested Opinion “Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to rule on whether the Baptists are right and the Lottery Commission is doing wrong in a game that involves Elvis, thank you very much.

19. CLC Dallas 214.828.5190 Ferrell Foster Marilyn Davis Joyce Gilbreath Alicia Enriquez Linda Wear (c) Carrie Beaird (pt) Joe Haag (pt) CLC Austin 512 .473 .2288 Stephen Reeves Anne Olson Julie Valentine Rob Kohler (c ) McCall Johnson (i) Bianca Duenas (i) Cam Scott Suzii Paynter Director

20. Texas Small Business Healthcare • Healthy Texas Plan – health insurance for small businesses • Includes churches and nonprofits • 2 or more employees, 1/3 below $32,6K (pt) • not provided health insurance for 1 year • #5 plans an employer can enroll in • All plans are now available with Celtic and United HealthCare : 500 d - 2,500 HSA • Employer pay 50% of cost + employ + TX • www.healthytexasprogram.com