How We Fight Back Billionaires for Safe and Thriving Communities (Austin)

Texas is facing a crisis of homelessness, unmet mental health needs, and drug overdoses. It’s not just major cities that are being impacted – it’s happening across urban, rural, and suburban communities. While decades of inadequate funding into housing, services, and health care have led us to this point, anti-democracy voices, corporate-backed think tanks and well financed NIMBY groups are all attacking proven interventions, while promoting the policing, incarceration and institutionalization of suffering people.

Austin, Texas is home to the nefarious Cicero Institute – the most prominent think tank promoting the criminalization of marginalized people and demonizing evidence-based policies that actually work. Over 135 anti-homeless bills have been introduced in cities and states across the country, including the notorious HB 1925 in Texas, and HB 5 in Kentucky following Cicero template legislation. They supported the recent Grants Pass Supreme Court decision, effectively making it illegal to sleep on the ground. Under a Trump Administration, they will have federal level support to advance their agenda that will only fuel this potential crisis, while driving up profits for private prison companies, of which their founder Jon Lonsdale is a major investor.

As the 89th legislative session gets underway, join us for a timely conversation with the National Homeless Law Center, Center for Popular Democracy and other allies, about how we fight back against right wing billionaire attacks on poor and marginalized communities.