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Public Policy
AAUW Responds
AAUW had signed onto the letter along with 3700 other nonprofits in response to a Presidential Memoranda September 25, 2025 which can be found at Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence – The White House . The memo threatens to investigate “institutional and individual funders, and officers and employees of organizations, that are responsible for, sponsor, or otherwise aid and abet” causes, policies or ideas that President Trump opposes. There is concern any nonprofit and its staff could be targeted.
Read the letter at https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/08/an-open-letter-rejecting-presidential-attacks-on-nonprofit-organizations
AAUW Texas Promotes Voting
The Public Policy Seminar held in October featured representatives from two nonprofit organizations, VoteRiders and Votebeat.
VoteRiders.org is a national organization that provides information on voter registration requirements and voting requirements in every state. It is focused on eliminating ID barriers to voting, educating voters on ID requirements to vote, and providing free, direct help to any indigent voter who needs an ID. That includes covering the fees and transportation associated with getting an ID. While you may not have difficulty obtaining an ID, you may know someone who can’t vote because they do not have an ID. Check out this organization.
Votebeat is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization committed to reporting about elections. Their specific focus is on how elections are run, from voter registration, early and mail-in voting to election security. There are Reporters are in five states including Texas. You can sign up for their national newsletter which comes out once a month or the Texas newsletter which comes out twice a month. Visit their website: Votebeat.org
Some recent good news
A federal court judge recently ruled that the law, Texas 2023 House Bill 900, the "READER" act, violates the U.S. Constitution. Barring an appeal by Texas to the U.S. Supreme Court the law will come to an end. The law would have required book vendors to put content ratings on their books. The Texas Education Agency would have been able to overrule those ratings, and failure to comply would have led to the removal of books from school libraries.
The New Citizenship Test
Citizens applying for naturalization on or after Oct. 20 will have to pass a more difficult test. Applicants will be asked 20 questions, drawn from 128 questions and chosen at random. The applicant must get a least 12 correct to pass. There’s a greater focus on American history, and some revised questions require longer answers than before. Could you pass? Civic Questions and Answers for the Naturalization Test - 2025 Version
Concerns of Texas Teachers
The annual Texas teacher poll conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation released in October found that 70% of teachers say they lack adequate support from their campus to meet the needs of students experiencing behavioral challenges. Teachers indicated they needed more support in handling discipline. Sixty-six percent of teachers said they have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year, an improvement over last year when it was 78 percent. Will the teacher pay raises passed by the legislature last year be enough to persuade teachers to stay in the profession? Find more information at The 2025 Texas Teacher Poll: Craft, Care, and A Call to Action
The Primary Election 2026 coming soon!
Your vote often matters more in a primary than in the fall election because a smaller share of people vote, and because of gerrymandering and noncompetitive elections. In Texas, who’ll run the state is usually decided in the spring primary election! Unless you live in one of the rare House districts with a relatively even partisan balance, your best way of impacting Texas legislative and congressional elections is by voting in the primary.
Prepare to make an informed decisions by learning about the candidates.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 - First day of early voting
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 - Primary Election Day
Georgia Kimmel
AAUW Texas Public Policy Chair
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