News

Remembering Fr. Alfonso M. Guevara

February 13, 2023

Fr. Alfonso Guevara, a long-time clergy leader with Valley Interfaith, passed away on February 10. He was worked for many years to help ordinary men and women develop their confidence and skills people so they could do extraordinary things in the parishes and communities....

Valley Interfaith, Texas IAF Underscore Lasting Consequences of Chapter 313 Subsidies

February 08, 2023

[Excerpt] "In December, legislators killed a controversial tax abatement program known as Chapter 313, but its effects will last decades.... “There’s no accountability at the statewide level; nobody administers it,” said Bob Fleming, an organizer with [T]he Metropolitan Organization of Houston who campaigned against...

National Catholic Reporter Spotlights Valley Interfaith Assistance with Synod

January 04, 2023

[Excerpt] "Among those also asking an IAF affiliate for help was Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who is overseeing the entire U.S. church's participation in the global synod... Flores pointed to the many commonalities between the synodal process and the methods long used...

Pope Francis Meets with Valley Interfaith Leaders

October 14, 2022

[Excerpt] On Friday, October 14, our network (Valley Interfaith and the Industrial Areas Foundation) had the rare opportunity to visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican. An interfaith delegation of 20 leaders and organizers from the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation met with him to...

Port Isabel School District Votes Down Ch. 313 Tax Break After Valley Interfaith & Allies Speak Out

July 27, 2022

At the Point Isabel ISD Board meeting, Texas LNG sought last-minute approval for tax abatement through the expiring Chapter 313 program. Leaders from Valley Interfaith, alongside allied organizations, made the case to the board. [Excerpt] On a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the school district voted...

Texas IAF Blocks $10 Billion Dollar Corporate Tax Giveaway to Big Oil

June 01, 2021

[Excerpts] When organizers set out to overturn Texas’s giveaway program for the oil and gas industry, they had a long game in mind. Over 20 years, the tax exemption program known as Chapter 313 had delivered $10 billion in tax cuts to corporations operating...

Valley Interfaith, Texas IAF Declare State Power Failure 'Act of Sheer Negligence' & Demand Accountability from Elected Officials

February 20, 2021

While state officials announced later in the day that power had stabilized and forced shutoffs were no longer needed, more than 300,000 households remained without power....Texas was especially hard hit because most of its power grid is isolated from the interconnected networks serving the...