Neal Frey, president Arlene Wohlgemuth, executive director Mary Katherine Stout, director,Laffer Center ), Pojman strongly opposed the election of state Rep. Tom Straus, R-San Antonio, as speaker of the Texas House in January 2009. Justice at the Gate is the assumed name of At the Gate Ministries, Inc. Texas Right to Life Committee Education Fund (c3) Groups such as the Baptist Christian Life Commission have historically held considerable influence on abortion, gambling, and alcohol issues, but are involved increasingly on social justice issues like predatory lending and human tracking. Wendy Lee Gramm, chairman Free Market Foundation, Plano $100,278 Vision Americas fundraising has declined substantially in recent years. 501(c)(4) The anti-abortion group Texans for Life Coalition (formerly Texans United for Life) also opposes embryonic stem cell research as well as teaching students in high school health classes about birth control and STD/AIDS prevention other than through abstinence. Religious groups have a long history of advocacy in Texas. Cheryl Barton,secretary/treasurer Jeffrey Stewart, director In fact, the group has called for the impeachment of activist judges whose rulings it opposes. The most prominent umbrella group for labor in Texas is the AFL-CIO, but with increasing competition from SEIU Texas, which specializes in government and service workers. The group has backed its extreme position with extreme tactics, including the distribution of literature with jokes suggesting that doctors who perform abortions should be shot. EIN: 73-1164337. Texas Alliance for Life 501(c)(4), Financial Information, During her tenure as the groups present, Adams has rarely showed a problem with using religion as a political weapon. Randall Odom Peoples religions are part of their own personality and character, said Dallas Democratic Chairwoman Carol Donovan. Fundraising in 2008 was less than half that figure and was down to $433,930 in 2010. Authored by: Andrew Teas. Cindy Sullivan More about the Texas Public Policy Foundation on our TFN Insider blog. 501(c)(3) nonprofit Websites Texas Gov. Patrick Linbeck, board member The Niemoller Foundation has also funded similar Restoration or Renewalprojects in other states, raising and spending more than $2.1 million from 2005 through 2007 for such pastor-mobilization efforts. Houston, TX 77008-2431 Conference, Colorado Pastors Policy Briefing, Oct. 2-4 $176,650, 2005 IRS Form 990: The majority religion can influence state politics. Judge Paul Pressler More about Texans for Life Coalition on our TFN Insider blog. What are some of the types of interest groups in Texas? 501(c)(3) nonprofit EIN: 74-2524057. William Gattis Steve Smother Copyright 2022 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. The Texas Nursing Association advocates for safe nursing practices through education and licensure in the Texas Nursing Practice Act. The constitution intends church and state to be institutionally separate, but people of faith are always going to bring their religious convictions into the political order because it shapes their concept of what is right, what is wrong, said Matthew Wilson, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. More about Texas Alliance for Life on our TFN Insider blog. EIN: 75-1627779. Leadership, Prominent supporters have included Rod Parsley a fundamentalist evangelical pastor from Ohio and David Barton, the former vice chair of the Texas Republican Party and the founder and head of WallBuilders, a Texas-based group that opposes separation of church and state. Anything I said on the video when I was not under oath, that is a different story. (Roll Call, 3/13/2000), Life Dynamics has also threatened legal action against school districts. He has testified before the State Board of Education, including in favor of an anti-Muslim resolution (2010) and requiring students to learn creationist arguments against evolution in public school science classes (2009). EIN: 75-1403169. J. Keet Lewis, Heritage Alliance Finally, in 2002, the organization became known as Texas Alliance for Life, but it may still operate under any of the assumed names. Trade associations are groups of companies involved in the same business. Dale Brown Deborah Muse Carlson Brandon Frye While its work today is not tied explicitly to the religious right, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) has played an increasingly influential role in shaping public policy in Texas from a far-right perspective. During these lunches, he presented a slideshow of American monuments, discussed his view of Americas Christian heritage, encouraged pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit. The group has supported censorship of school textbooks in the past, opposes funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program and promotes policies such as private school vouchers and school deregulation that threaten public education in the state. George Seay, director, Staff Thomas Smith, vice president, Vision America Action Julie Ford, treasurer Union Members in Texas - 2018. 501(c)(3) nonprofit I mean, it is one thing to have your belief system and to pick your candidates accordingly. Mark Dorazio Justice at the Gate, San Antonio $100,000, 2007 IRS Form 990: Jerry Falwells Liberty University bookstore. I am all for them running and I am all for them being elected, said Lovell. It is absolutely fair. Hiram S. Sasser, director of litigation In fact,there is no medical evidence that this is true. While union members account for less than 5 percent of wage and salary workers in Texas, unions play a prominent role in the political process. In 2009, the groups president, Kyleen Wright, shockingly testified at the TexasLegislature against legislation requiring that information taught in public school sex education classes be medically accurate. Kendall Miller, director He is the Pastor at Christ Church in Carrollton and a former Republican party chair in Carrollton as well. Posey, director Bartons 2012 book, The Jefferson Lies, was a flop. Mike Valerio The president of Vision America is Rick Scarborough, a former Southern Baptist pastor who is a prominent leader in the far rights campaign to undermine an independent judiciary. EIN: 75-2633461. Data comes from tax records (Form 990) nonprofit organizations file with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. It was more accommodating, however, to Bartons call for revising the political history of the civil rights movement. Mark Crutcher, founder and president Conference, Austin Pastors Policy Briefing, May 23-24 $261,047 Laurence White, as well as his wife and Andrew Adams. David Edmondson, vice president Rick Perrys The Response prayer rally at Reliant Stadium in Houston in August 2011. The group also distributed a video charging that clinics were engaged in an illegal underground trafficking of fetal tissue. More about Educational Research Analysts and Neal Frey on our TFN Insider blog. By the end of this section, you will be able to: As of 2019, the Texas Ethics Commission listed 1834 registered lobbyists, many of whom represent multiple clients some interest groups, some individual companies. Stephen McDowell, director, WallBuilder Presentations, Inc. Post-Roe v. Wade in Texas: Info + Action Center, Teach the Truth: Texans United Against Censorship in Education, Texas Restoration Project/Niemoller Foundation, there is no medical evidence that this is true, discredited claim that abortion raises a womans risk of breast cancer. Dr. Laurence White, who has served as chairman of the Texas Restoration Project another organization whose mission is to mobilize pastors into a conservative political force. Its founder and president, David Barton, was vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas from 1998 to 2006. We will have almost no chance of getting badly needed pro-life bills through the committee process and onto the House floor, effectively killing them, Pojman said. Although officially nonpartisan, the group has made its support for certain political candidates especially Gov. To begin to understand the importance faith plays in public life in Texas, look no further than the state legislature. George W. Strake, Jr., director Kelly J. Shackelford, president/CEO In recent years the rabidly anti-gay group has led a smear campaign against Annise Parker, who won election as Houstons first only gay mayor in 2009. More about Liberty Institute/Texas Values and Kelly Shackelford on our TFN Insider blog. 501(c)(4) nonprofit EIN: 75-2310139. Cathcart, Board, Rev. All Rights Reserved. Barton has published several books and produced several videotapes calling for the restoration of Americas Christian values. In these works Barton argues that the separation of church and state is a myth foisted on the country when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government-sponsored prayer in the public schools was unconstitutional.The United States ,Barton insists, was founded by Christians and was intended to be a fundamentalist-style Christian nation. In fact, Barton argues that the Supreme Courts ruling against state-sponsored prayer in schools is directly tied to the erosion of morals in this country and is just one example of renegade federal judges who too often impose their own personal values on communities.. The Constitution doesn't guarantee hostility towards religion, and so I fought back against that hostility. Kyle Stallings, Liberty Institute/Texas Values (formerly Free Market Foundation) Financial Information James R. Leininger, chairman Texas Right to Life Committee (c)(4), Financial Information. San Jacinto Public Affairs, Austin $473,881 Texas Right to Life Committee Educational Fund (c3), P.O. Dot Hogue, treasurer Vance C. Miller, director United States Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics. Renaissance Hotel-Austin $92,323 That can likely affect voting. Coordinators distribute election material and facilitate voter registration efforts. Management I am all for Christians who want to specifically bring Christian thinking to a particular issue. The days begin with a prayer and on the wall it says, "In God We Trust.". The Niemoller Foundation was headed by the Texas Restoration Projects chairman, Rev. Talmadge Heflin, director, Center for Fiscal Policy Phone: (800) 491-9032 Richard C. Trotter, vice president His radio program, WallBuilders Live, (which he co-hosts with fellow WallBuilders speaker and former Texas legislator Rick Green) has featured prominent opponents of gun control. In 2004, Barton served as a political consultant for the Republican National Committee, traveling the country and speaking at about 300 RNC-sponsored lunches for local evangelical pastors. The groups leader, Dave Welch, called a federal judge a domestic enemy and compared her to terrorists for ruling against Dont Ask, Dont Tell, the now-ended policy barring openly gay people from serving in the U.S. military. The organizations president, Alice Patterson, was a key supporter of Texas Gov. I think we live in a democracy and people get to vote on what they want to vote on. Richard Gibson, director Vision America Action 501(c)(4) Financial Information, Take action to ensure our religious liberties are protected with the Protect Our Freedom to Worship Act. The organization lobbies at the Texas Legislature and the State Board of Education. Adams has also been a strident opponent of state Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who became speaker of the Texas House in 2009. David Smith Financial Information, The groups representatives have often testified at SBOE hearings on curriculum standards and textbook content. According to tax records, Heritage Alliance PAC loaned Heritage Alliance $25,000 in 2011. Since 2005, much of Niemollers funding appears to have come from Leininger and the American Family Association. San Jacinto Public Affairs, Austin $50,136 Dr. Joseph Graham, board president That agenda is virulently anti-gay and includes opposition to abortion rights, comprehensive sex education and embryonic stem cell research. Liberty Institute has also worked to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classrooms and in 2009 supported the State Board of Educations controversial revision of new history curriculum standards that the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute has criticized as a politicized distortion of history filled with misrepresentations at every turn.. Interest Group Typologies. For example, Liberty Institute represented the Ector County Independent School District (Odessa, Texas) in its unsuccessful effort in 2007-08 to use a blatantly sectarian and error-riddled curriculum for public school classes about the Bible. Financial Information, (Such unions were already prohibited by state law.) He has argued that Straus is a liberal Republican with a clear voting record that demonstrates overt hostility toward unborn life and traditional family values.. The group has an increasingly partisan agenda as well. In 2007 the group supported legislation that essentially allows student speakers to evangelize at public school events. 501(c)(3) nonprofit I personally see NO evidence that Obama has that kind of saving faith. Andrew A. Adams, Texas Restoration Project/Niemoller Foundation (713) 869-8346, Niemoller Foundation Board(2008) Barton has strongly opposed the election of state Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as speaker of the Texas House. 2006 IRS Form 990: Rebecca Rosenberger, director Liberty Institute reintroduced itself as a litigation group with a focus on issues across the country. Like other anti-abortion groups, Texas Right to Life peddles a variety of unproven or discredited medical claims. The Texas chapters longtime president, Cathie Adams, resigned to become chair of the Republican Party of Texas in fall of 2009. Conference, Texas Pastors Policy Briefing, Jan. 15-16 $193,720, 2006 IRS Form 990: Religion affects the way that many of the voters perceive the world ought to be. Most of the projects have been established since 2004. Financial Information, Rick Perry and other elected officials on public policy. Identify the various interest group typologies, One of the least-known, but most powerful classes of interest groups in Texas, are groups of. In 2005 the Heritage Alliance Marriage PAC worked to pass a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. Log in. libertyinstitute.org, txvalues.org, Management 501(c)(4) nonprofit Jeff Fisher, director Jim Sneeringer, executive vice president Kyle Stallings, director A major fundraiser in 2013 featured Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Baylor University President Ken Starr. All rights reserved, Tarrant Area Food Bank Adds New Locations, Expands Hours Before School Year, Parkland Clinic Will Offer Health, Dental Care to a Community in Need, US Strike Killed Top Al Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri: Sources, North Texan Who Stormed Capitol With a Gun Apologizes Before Being Sentenced to Prison, 14 Years Later, Jury Selection Begins in Trial of Man Accused of Killing His Teen Daughters, Tenants Face Early Removal From Dallas Boarding Homes, 22 Infants Hospitalized Due to Parechovirus Infection as CDC Issues Warning. B.J. Welch says progressive clergy disgust me and has suggested that they are not real pastors. Richard A. Ford, president Protect Life: Support The Texas Heartbeat Bill. Board WallBuilders has also marketed materials in public schools as a Biblical History of the Middle East. When parents in a Mississippi public school asserted that the course designed by Barton was a ruse for teaching fundamentalist Christianity,a federal court ruled that materials like Bartons video Americas Godly Heritage were inappropriate for use in public schools. Rick Perrys political campaigns. More about At the Gate on our TFN Insider blog. On things like marriage, on things like human life, on things like family relation, also on school books, the way religion is talked about in history texts, sometimes in science texts, in social studies texts, he added. Noah Frey, director, Educational Research Analysts Thomas Lyles, secretary Beverly Nuckols, secretary (Texas House speaker throws in the towel, Associated Press, Jan. 5, 2009). In June 2007, for example, Barton told the Environment and Public Works Committeeof the U. S. Senate that the federal government should take no action on climate change, an environmental crisis on which Barton remains a skeptic. Christian publisher Thomas Nelson Publishing dropped the book about Thomas Jefferson in August after a number of scholars noted that it was filled with distortions of fact. 501(c)(3)nonprofit Some people, I believe, especially those who are extreme, try to make everybody like them. Conference, Colorado Pastors Policy Briefing, June 5-6 $162,675 As Texas politics become more urban, however, groups like the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, while still important, dont dominate policy in Texas as much as in the 20th Century. Board Members Rose Barton, director Barton made a number of highly controversial recommendations while in that role, including the removal of revered labor leader Cesar Chavez from the standards, arguing that Chavez was a poor role model for students. I will vote in line with those convictions, but I am all for people of other faiths having a role, voice in public discussions as well.. Joseph Pojman, executive director The organization saw smaller bumps in revenue in the 2004 and 2008presidential election years. The Texas Municipal League and the Texas Association of Counties have been increasingly active during state legislative sessions as legislators deal with property tax and local control issues that aect their ability to serve their constituents. He points to a growing Catholic population, a big influx of people from out of state and more Texans who may not be religiously affiliated. He remains a prominent speaker before Republican and other conservative groups around the country. Kyleen Wright, president and CEO Its quite another to try to pass legislation that is going to force everybody else to have the same belief systems you are, said Donovan. EIN: Niemollers EIN is11-3749299. Deborah White Christopher Maska, vice president San Antonio businessman Dr. James Leininger founded TPPF in 1989, using the Heritage Foundationas a model for a conservative think tank. The organization writes and disseminates supportive reports on issues long important to Dr. Leininger,especially private school vouchers and tort reform. John Patterson, director, At the Gate/At the Gate Ministries, Inc. (Justice at the Gate) Brooke Rollins, president Email: restoration@sanjacintogroup.com, Niemoller Foundation Contact Information I think as we move into the future we are going to see more of a kind of secularist, non-religious pushback against some of those things. Founded by Richard Ford, the Heritage Alliance and the Heritage Alliance PAC are successors to the Free Market Committee and the Free Enterprise PAC, or FreePAC. 501(c)(4) Funded by conservative donors such as San Antonio businessman James Leininger, FreePAC tried to purge moderates from the ranks of Republican elected officials by funding incendiary mailers attacking a half-dozen GOP House members and senators during the party primary elections in 2002. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade in Historic Pro-Life Win, Supreme Court: Coach Prayer Wins in Football Case, Action Alert: Moses & In God We Trust Out; LGBT, CRT In for New TX School Standards, TX State Board of Ed to Review Radical New Standards, Austin City Council Defies TX Abortion Law Through Proposed Taxpayer-Funded Measure, Breaking Abortion Case Update: Texas Values Files Legal Brief to Support Enforcement of Texas Pro-Life Laws, Protect Children from Gender Modification. Texas Eagle Education Fund 501(c)(3), Management More about the Texas Restoration Project here. ' She then encouraged the recipients of her e-mail to help the Republican Party turn out voters on election day. For an informative feature on Frey, see Chapter& Verse, Teacher Magazine, Jan. 1, 2006 (www.edweek.org).