Renewing Our Communities: Texas' Faith and Community Based Initiative
HB 1965 (Kolkhorst/Deuell) represents the latest step in the evolution of Texas' faith and community-based initiative. HB 1965 will implement findings from a task force created by the 81st Legislature charged with strengthening nonprofit capacity and building partnerships between state agencies and local nonprofits.
HB 1965 expands on earlier legislation—HB 492 in the 81st legislative session—which established a standing "interagency coordinating group" (ICG) of liaisons from several state agencies to work with the nonprofit community. HB 1965 expands the number of agencies participating in the ICG. Agencies added by HB 1965 include the Office of the Governor, the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Insurance, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Agriculture, the Office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the Department of Information Resources, the Office of State-Federal Relations, and the Office of the Secretary of State. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and OneStar (Texas' nonprofit resource center and the state's designated partner agency for Americorps and other service programs.)
The bill establishes a stakeholder task force to assist the ICG in its work.
The bill charges the ICG and the task force with specific tasks for the next biennium, including:
- developing and implementing a plan for improving contracting relationships between state agencies and faith- and community-based organizations;
- developing best practices for cooperating and collaborating with faith- and community-based organizations;
- identifying and addressing duplication of services provided by the state and faith- and community-based organizations; and
- identifying and addressing gaps in state services that faith- and community-based organizations could fill.
ROCA—"Renewing Our Communities Account"
HB 492 established the "Renewing Our Communities Account" (ROCA), a capacity-building grant program for small nonprofits which distributed $2 million in grant funding to faith and community-based organizations in 2010-11. Due to budget constraints, ROCA received no general fund appropriation for 2012-13.
Background: HB 492 (2009)
House Bill 492 by Representative John Zerwas establishes several new initiatives to strengthen the capacity of faith and community-based organizations to serve their communities, including a task force charged with reporting to lawmakers on barriers to nonprofit effectiveness and potential reforms. Texas Impact executive director Bee Moorhead is one of eight Texas nonprofit leaders appointed to the task force.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is the state agency with primary responsibility for implementing HB 492. HHSC is implementing the bill through a partnership with the OneStar Foundation, Texas' State Commission on National and Community Service and the home of the Governor's Office of Faith and Community-Based Initiatives.
HB 492 includes a number of innovative strategies for improving partnerships between public and nonprofit agencies and programs and increasing the capacity of nonprofits in Texas to carry out their missions and serve their communities. HB 492 establishes national model practices in the areas of interagency coordination, accountability and transparency, and nonprofit capacity-building.
Interagency Coordinating Group: the bill establishes community liaisons in 14 state agencies tasked with improving coordination and removing barriers to public/nonprofit partnership. The liaisons form the Interagency Coordinating Group, which works across agencies and programs. Significantly, the participating agencies are not only the state's traditional social service agencies but include the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the Texas Workforce Commission, among others.
Renewing Our Communities Account (ROCA): the bill authorizes a pool of state funds to be granted to small and medium-sized nonprofits and local governments for nonprofit capacity building activities. OneStar has just completed the first funding cycle for ROCA and the list of grantees is available here.
Task Force on Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity: the bill requires HHSC to establish a task force of experts from nonprofit-related fields to take public testimony and make legislative recommendations for strengthening nonprofit capacity in Texas. The task force is currently holding public hearings and will also be launching a public comment process.
ROCA Advisory Committee: the bill requires HHSC to establish an advisory committee to help guide the grant process and maintain transparency and accountability for ROCA.
Here's How They Voted On Final Passage of HB 1965:
HOUSE
AYES - 144
Aliseda(R); Allen(D); Alonzo(D); Alvarado(D); Anchia(D); Anderson, Charles(R); Anderson, Rodney(R); Aycock(R); Beck(R); Berman(R); Bohac(R); Bonnen(R); Branch(R); Brown, Fred(R); Burkett(R); Burnam(D); Button(R); Cain(R); Carter(R); Castro(D); Chisum(R); Christian(R); Coleman(D); Cook(R); Craddick(R); Creighton(R); Crownover(R); Darby(R); Davis, John(R); Davis, Sarah(R); Davis, Yvonne(D); Deshotel(D); Driver(R); Dukes(D); Dutton(D); Eiland(D); Eissler(R); Elkins(R); Farrar(D); Fletcher(R); Flynn(R); Gallego(D); Garza(R); Geren(R); Giddings(D); Gonzales, Larry(R); Gonzales, Veronica(D); Gonzalez, Naomi(D); Gooden(R); Guillen(D); Gutierrez(D); Hamilton(R); Hancock(R); Hardcastle(R); Harless(R); Harper-Brown(R); Hartnett(R); Hernandez Luna(D); Hilderbran(R); Hochberg(D); Hopson(R); Howard, Charlie(R); Howard, Donna(D); Huberty(R); Hughes(R); Hunter(R); Isaac(R); Jackson, Jim(R); Johnson(D); Keffer(R); King, Phil(R); King, Susan(R); King, Tracy(D); Kleinschmidt(R); Kolkhorst(R); Kuempel(R); Landtroop(R); Larson(R); Laubenberg(R); Lavender(R); Legler(R); Lewis(R); Lozano(D); Lucio III(D); Lyne(R); Madden(R); Mallory Caraway(D); Margo(R); Marquez(D); Martinez(D); Martinez Fischer(D); McClendon(D); Menendez(D); Miles(D); Miller, Doug(R); Miller, Sid(R); Morrison(R); Munoz(D); Murphy(R); Naishtat(D); Nash(R); Oliveira(D); Orr(R); Otto(R); Parker(R); Patrick, Diane(R); Paxton(R); Pena(R); Perry(R); Phillips(R); Pickett(D); Pitts(R); Price(R); Quintanilla(D); Raymond(D); Reynolds(D); Riddle(R); Ritter(R); Rodriguez(D); Schwertner(R); Scott(R); Sheets(R); Sheffield(R); Shelton(R); Simpson(R); Smith, Todd(R); Smith, Wayne(R); Smithee(R); Solomons(R); Strama(D); Taylor, Larry(R); Taylor, Van(R); Torres(R); Truitt(R); Turner, Sylvester(D); Veasey(D); Villarreal(D); Vo(D); Weber(R); White(R); Woolley(R); Workman(R); Zedler(R); Zerwas(R)
NAYS - 0
PRESENT-NOT-VOTING - 2
Frullo(R); Straus(R)
ABSENT - 4
Callegari(R); Farias(D); Thompson(D); Walle(D)
SENATE
Passed unanimously on the Local Calendar.
