By Allison Teegardin 

On February 13, 70 people from Jewish Federations in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth and El Paso convened in Austin for Jewish Communities Day at the State: Legislative Mission to Austin 2023.

The event is held every two years during the State’s legislative session as a day of advocacy and education at the capitol. Together, the group represented the more than 172,000 Jews living in Texas.

This year, the focus was on antisemitism and security. The group’s mission was to urge members of the Texas legislature to support the ask of $14 million in new state funds through a budget rider to Article 1 of General Appropriations bill to fund a Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

With the rising tide of antisemitism making this a critical mission, the Federations collectively decided to hire a lobbyist this year. This is the first time ever the Texas Jewish Federations have had a statewide lobbyist.

The all-day event included speakers sharing stories of real-life accounts of antisemitism, an overview of the 88th Texas legislature, a discussion with Texas Jewish Social Service leaders as well as a discussion about to be effective in an advocacy meeting.

Following the sessions, participants attended legislative meetings at the Capitol where they had an opportunity to meet representatives and staff members face-to-face making their case for supporting the funding.