Texas United Methodist Women Announce 2007 Legislative Priorities

Texas United Methodist Women to Lawmakers: Move Forward on Kids’ Health, Avoid a Wrong Turn on Coal Plants

Senator John Whitmire shared his own experience as a victim of violent crime during his presentation to the UMW.

(Austin)—Leaders of the United Methodist Women of Texas voted Monday to ask lawmakers to “chart a new course” for Texas in key policy areas including health insurance for children, energy, and immigration. More than 150 United Methodist Women (UMW) met for three days at the 19th annual Texas United Methodist Women’s Legislative Event, a conference bringing together leaders of Texas’ six “annual conferences”—regional governing bodies of the United Methodist Church.

Marie Murray, a UMW officer from North Texas Annual Conference, said children’s health insurance continues to be a top priority for the women. United Methodist Women were enthusiastic supporters of the establishment of Texas’ Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1999, and have been vocal advocates for restoration of the program after the deep cuts of 2003, including spearheading an interfaith postcard campaign that has delivered more than 33,000 postcards to lawmakers calling for CHIP restoration and expansion.

“The lack of funding for CHIP and impediments to enrollment must be changed to allow more Texas children to be insured. We fully support all the restorations to the CHIP program that lawmakers are proposing and look forward to working with the Legislature to get children’s health back on track,” Murray said.

Representative Mike Krusee fielded tough questions from the women about transportation issues such as the Trans-Texas Corridor 

The women maintained their historic commitment to clean energy alternatives, which this year includes support for a moratorium on the permitting process for new coal-fired power plants. Pam Wilshire, a UMW officer from the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, said, “We need to take a time-out on permitting new coal-fired plants so we can look at all the possible energy sources available to Texas, especially those that are clean and won’t hurt people or the environment.”

Outgoing Legislative Event president Mary Beth Gibson and Rio Grande Annual Conference Social Action Chair Jesusita Ponce

There was broad support for comprehensive immigration reform, which the women said should incorporate the principle of “being good neighbors.” Jesusita Ponce, a UMW officer in the Rio Grande Annual Conference, said that congregations have to be educated about immigration issues. “There are negative attitudes in our congregations, and we need to be in conversation about them,” Ponce said.

Lee Thornton, a UMW officer from the Texas Annual Conference, said the group’s issue agenda reflects concern for Texas families. “All these issues affect families, and addressing the issues would help to rebuilding families. It’s hard to isolate any one issue, because they all overlap each other. They all are intertwined—immigration affects public education, environment affects health, and they all affect families,” said Thornton.

Evelyn Burleson of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference with Reverend Jim Mayfield. The women began their conference with a prayer for Molly Ivins, who died Wednesday of breast cancer. 

The United Methodist Church is the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with more than 8 million lay members nationally and more than 800,000 lay members in Texas. The United Methodist Women is a group within the United Methodist Church committed to social action and advocacy. There are an estimated 100,000 members of United Methodist Women in Texas.

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