RAISE Texas Action Summit:
Moving Texans Toward Financial Success
April 29-30, 2008
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Houston Branch

The Alliance for Economic Inclusion (AEI) and RAISE Texas will convene the 2008 asset-building summit for bankers, credit union professionals, community organization leaders, government professionals and policymakers April 29–30 in Houston.  This action summit will launch a series of initiatives (products, programs, legislation) to increase financial prosperity for low-income families in our state. Save this date and be part of the solution for Texas. Four action campaigns will be discussed at this summit. You will be able to choose one action campaign to work on.  The event will include plenary sessions, breakout sessions to discuss the campaigns, invited speakers, and a dinner/reception on the evening of April 29.  More   information on the four action campaigns is below.  To register for the summit, please visit http://dallasfed.org/news/ca/2008/08raise.cfm.

 Saving for financial security – Asset Creation

 1. Matched Savings (click here for important reading material)
Children’s Savings Accounts
Over the past year, Texas has made some initial strides towards implementing a progressive match in two college plans administered by the state.  These efforts would be geared towards increasing post-secondary enrollment in Texas, especially for the low- to moderate-income and underrepresented groups.  The college savings campaign would focus on strengthening these advancements through the following policy initiatives:

       ·         Provide input on outreach strategies conducted by the state of Texas and 
                 fund managers to enroll Texans in college savings plans;

·        Shape The Texas Tomorrow Fund II “Texas Save & Match” implementation;

·        Integrate the college savings account outreach with EITC/CTC campaigns;

·        Identify funding for matching provisions for Texas Tomorrow Fund II and the
 Texas College Savings Plan

State IDA
There are approximately 15 individual development account (IDA) programs across Texas successfully helping individuals and families build wealth through homeownership, post-secondary education, and small business development.  Despite the success of these IDA programs, we need to serve more participants and to expand our work in more urban and rural areas.  In order to increase our outreach into these underserved areas, more IDA funding is needed in Texas.  The IDA campaign would focus on a policy initiative that would:

          ·        Seek bi-partisan support for IDA legislation that almost passed in 2007;

·                 ·       Allow IDA programs in Texas to receive state dollars as a non-federal match for
                   the federal AFI IDA funds.

Passage of this legislation will help us to expand the current and future outreach for IDA programs to more individuals and families around the state.

2. Community Tax Centers (click here for important reading material)
There are 464 Community Tax Centers around the state of Texas, which offer free federal income tax preparation services for low-income families.  Last year these centers prepared 154,000 tax returns, which provided refunds of over $205 million for these families, their local communities, and the state.  Use of the Community Tax Centers saved these taxpayers more than $30 million in commercial tax preparation fees. This statewide campaign would:

·       Support the development and expansion of the community tax center concept   with  the overarching goal to increase the number of free tax returns prepared for   taxpayers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit;

·       Educate taxpayers about other types of tax credits, predatory rate tax products such as refund anticipation loans, and opportunities for year ‘round asset building activities that will help to move them toward economic self-sufficiency;

·       Provide a legislative component which will seek state funding for resources to expand Community Tax Centers in both urban and rural locations.

Preventing asset stripping – Asset Preservation

3. Alternative Small Dollar Consumer Loan Products (click here for important reading material)
Payday lenders were virtually unheard of 15 years ago.  However, in the late 1990s the payday lending market grew at a significant pace.  It is estimated that Texas has over 1500 payday lending stores as compared to 716 Starbucks stores.  Though these products carry annual percentage rates ranging from 300 to over 500 percent, the industry continues to grow.   Families who need small dollar consumer loans would benefit from alternatives to this high-cost product.  The alternative small dollar consumer loan products campaign would focus on two major issues:

·                ·      Enable payday lending competition to lower the cost of this form of credit;

·                ·      Promote necessary regulatory oversight to provide basic protections to consumers.

 4. Home Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention (click here for important reading material)
The campaign will partner with the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, a statewide partnership of local, federal, and state government, financial institutions and servicers, non-profit organizations and coalitions, and other housing industry trade associations focused on residential foreclosure prevention.  The purpose of the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force is to reduce foreclosures and the impact of foreclosures on Texas families and communities.  Campaign plans would include:

·                 ·     Create a statewide outreach and education campaign to reach 20,000 households
                 and move them to action; 

·                 ·     Make available and promote a series of products to local communities including a
                 national hotline number 1-888- 995-HOPE, "Nothing is worse than doing nothing"
                 PSA from the National Ad Council, Foreclosure Prevention Education Workshops
                 and Forums, foreclosure research and data, foreclosure prevention materials,
                 dedicated website, and opportunity for face-to-face counseling;   

           ·     Recruit participants into the five committees that have been established to work on
                 this issue including a committee dealing with policy and regulation.

For more detailed information on each of the four campaigns please click here.

To register for the summit, please visit http://dallasfed.org/news/ca/2008/08raise.cfm.