Raising Wages and Protections for Workers Lifts All Texans
December 13, 2024
Worker Power & Thriving Families
No matter our race, gender, or place, Texans deserve dignified jobs that support thriving individuals and families. We raise the bar for every Texan living in our state when workers of all backgrounds earn living wages, experience safe working conditions, and access essential benefits like affordable health care coverage and paid family, medical, and sick leave.
When Texas leaders don’t invest in our people and the programs that keep us fed and healthy, Texans and our families suffer. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which processes and distributes Medicaid and SNAP, runs the eligibility system well, but our state’s history with streamlining enrollment in public benefits has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Before 2020, Texas consistently met federal guidelines for timely processing applications for Medicaid and SNAP. However, a surge of new applicants through the pandemic and very high turnover of eligibility workers led to significant delays in processing applications.
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Our valuable state workforce is made up of working people just like you and me. But our elected officials are intentionally underfunding public services and the state’s workforce because they don’t want their wealthy friends to pay their fair share of taxes. This means the state government faces historically high staff turnover, which limits our access to public goods and services in many ways. As Texas’ population grows, the hole that our greediest elected officials dug to bury all of us will only get deeper. Our most powerful elected officials have an agenda to give their wealthy and powerful friends tax breaks, passing off the costs to working Texans and our families.
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The most powerful elected officials in our state prove that they favor wealthy corporations over everyday Texans by rigging the system against working families of all backgrounds. These same officials give billion-dollar tax giveaways to their friends in high places, while not doing their job to fund or responsibly manage the public goods and services that benefit us all, like public parks, libraries, schools, highways, and more. It’s time for Texas’ elected officials to invest in our common good. This new report provides insight into the devastating consequences of low pay and high turnover for Texas state employees and those they serve.
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Living Wages
As the cost of living continues to rise, many Texas struggle to make ends meet despite working full-time jobs. Only 50 percent of full-time, full-year private sector workers age 18-64 are covered by a workplace retirement savings plan.
Worker Power
Everyone – no matter our race, gender, or where we come from – deserves dignity, humanity, and the opportunity to pursue our dreams. Worker power balances our economy and ensures working Texans share in the prosperity their labor creates.
Paid Family, Medical, & Sick Leave
Paid leave promotes healthier communities, supports our economy’s lowest-paid workers, and builds a stronger and productive Texas workforce, but approximately 40% of the Texas workforce lacks access to them.
Kids Living with Relatives
Across Texas, family members and friends have stepped up to provide homes for children whose parents cannot care for them (Kinship Care).
Cash Assistance
Helping needy families with children is both in their interest and in ours as a society. Cash Assistance, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provides that help.
Related Resources
State of Working Texans 2024
December 13, 2024
Texans Are Worth High-Quality State Services
September 20, 2024
The Texas Workforce Is Resilient and Undervalued
August 12, 2024
Texas Workers Want Unions
May 1, 2024
Texas Is the Tale of Two Economies
March 14, 2024
Texas Union Coverage Holds Steady During Strong Job Growth
February 8, 2024
United Auto Workers is Making History: Texans Take Note
October 9, 2023
Domestic and Care Worker Power Raises the Bar for All of Us
September 8, 2023
Your Support Makes a Difference
We believe Texas can be the best state in the United States, and our public policy work is an indispensable part of getting there. Your support improves equity in health care, food security, education, and financial stability.