Groups Demand City Investment in Collective Priorities for Austin Budget in the 2025 Community Investment Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Kathy Mitchell, Equity Action, 512-695-4670

Austin, TX—Today, 41 community organizations release the annual Community Investment Budget. Austin’s budget process traditionally fails to account for growth (e.g. additional parks require more park maintenance, new facilities require staff, libraries need more money for materials) or solve for emerging problems. Incrementally, we demand that city departments address housing, health, and safety in new ways where the old ways have failed while also addressing long overdue park maintenance, library shortages, and leaky pipe repairs guided by equity and sustainability across all departments.

“This proposal has emerged from a months-long collaboration among the undersigned organizations,” said Kathy Mitchell, Senior Advisor to Equity Action. “These items are the ones that dozens of community organizations agree should be prioritized by the City Manager and Council in the upcoming budget process. They represent only 5% of the City’s general fund, and can absolutely be funded if they are made a priority by our new manager and elected leaders.”

“This year’s Community Investment Budget emphasizes sustainability and the long term health of our community as well as the continued need to prevent eviction and stabilize low income families,” said Yasmine Smith, Esq. of the Austin Area Urban League. “We must ensure everyone in our ecosystem has a quality of life that reflects the true values of this City which undoubtedly should include our low and no-income neighbors in a meaningful way.”

“Austin’s failure to adequately address climate resiliency and improve our ability to help residents in extreme weather emergencies is appalling and a top priority in this year’s community budget is to fix that,” said Bobby Levinski of the Save Our Springs Alliance. “This proposal will ensure Austin seriously invests in the Climate Equity Plan and the food plan in the coming year, and improves how it helps all vulnerable residents when the power goes out, or the water is rising, or the temperatures hit the extremes we’ve seen in recent years.” 

“Austin’s failure to meet resident needs can be measured by waitlists,” said Monica Guzmán, Policy Director for GO! Austin/VAMOS! Austin. “As of March 5, 2024, the Workforce Solutions Capital Area (WFS) waitlist for child care subsidies exceeded 4300 children, a total increase of 26 percent (26%) since October 2023. The waitlist was showing as "Enrollment Status: LIMITED" with subsidy applicants being referred to a waitlist. For the past month, maybe two, the waitlist has displayed as "Enrollment Status: FULL" with subsidy applicants being referred to a waitlist, with an estimated 24-month wait time before WFS reaches out to families about subsidy enrollment. Working families rely on child care - "the workforce behind the workforce"; when families cannot afford the cost, they face the possibility of missing work. When Austin finally launched the I Belong in Austin rental assistance program back in December of 2023, the immediate need far exceeded the funding but we can now measure the need, serve families and plan for future years.”

"Workers Defense is an ardent supporter of the Community Investment Budget,” said Workers Defense Austin Policy Coordinator Daniela Silva. “As an organization with members who are primarily Latine construction workers, we are excited about the items supporting workforce development for marginalized communities, immigration legal services for low-income families, and early childhood education and development. We hope that the City of Austin takes these budget recommendations seriously and look forward to seeing them reflected in the manager’s proposal."

“The strength of a community can be measured by how their children are cared for; but in Austin today, too many children go underserved,” said Ken Zarifis, President of Education Austin. “Investing meaningfully in early childhood education, expanded options for childcare, continued funding of Parent Support Specialists and all the other priorities of the CIB will demonstrate a long-term vision for the wellness and strength of our community.”

“There’s no denying it – pregnant Texans are under attack. Between multiple abortion bans from the Supreme Court and the Texas Legislature contributing to the growing gap in healthcare services throughout the state, our options for lifesaving reproductive care are more limited by the day,” said Yaneth Flores of Avow Texas. “Austin has long taken political and moral stands against the most extreme and regressive bans on our civil liberties – we deserve to see that same prioritization of our wellbeing, survival, and access to basic rights through our budget in these desperate times.” 

“The evidence is clear that the people of Texas are policed, prosecuted, and incarcerated with vigorous inhumanity,“ said David Johnson of Grassroots Leadership. “The harm caused by these systems does not end when people exit jails and prisons. Instead it carries over into daily life and brings with it unemployment, lack of quality housing, diminished health outcomes, and poverty for those returning to our communities. This must end. The demand for reentry funding, and an overhaul of policies and practices that exclude from consideration the needs of the formerly-incarcerated, is a call for the City of Austin and its leaders to honor the humanity of every individual - not just those with power and resources.”

“The hope of Keeping Austin Weird is only possible if creatives are able to live and work here. Many artists and performers in Austin have found refuge in the more affordable, but less visible, East Austin area,” Jasmine Games of The VORTEX said. “While the City of Austin currently funds art programs throughout the more visible areas of the city, we want to see the City aggressively fund East Austin Arts where many artists live and work to help sustain our culture… and our street cred.” 

“Climate Change doesn’t care about ethnicity, sexual orientation, location, if you are rich or poor, political party, gender, family status etc.,” said Roy Waley – Chair Conservation Committee, Sierra Club Austin Regional Group. “The impacts are devastating for all of us, this generation and the ones to come. Dirty Air and Clean Air, Dirty Water and Clean Water just don’t care. Overwhelming dangerous heat and floods from Rain Bombs don’t care. So we have to. We have to convince our City Leaders to care. About us. About our future. And act.”

“The Community Investment Budget presents a vision working toward true public safety. This coalition knows safety requires preventing harm before it occurs – not just responding after the fact. And when tragedy does occur, Austinites deserve an appropriate and timely crisis response, which means making investments in alternatives to policing.” said Chris Harris of Austin Justice Coalition. “The safest communities have access to the resources necessary to thrive, and receive emergency responses appropriate to the nature of the problem. We support those groups and organizations doing the work of violence prevention, harm reduction, and better mental health emergency response. We hope the City will take decisive action on the CIB to enhance true public safety in Austin.”  

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