Baton Rouge, LA - From its earliest days, starting shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the network of religious congregations and citizen organizations that make up Together Louisiana asked:

How is it that Louisiana, a state as rich in resources as Texas, looks so much like Alabama?

That question led leaders to what looks like a normal state incentive program, but upon closer inspection, revealed itself to be anything but. The 87-year-old Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) facilitates the largest state-led transfer of public dollars to private corporations in the United States.

In 2016, Together Louisiana released a ground breaking study which revealed just how unusual ITEP is and how much it costs local school districts and other taxing entities ($1.9 Billion every year). The study also showed how the Louisiana Constitution gave the Governor the authority to reform the program, a fact leaders pointed out in a nonpartisan accountability assembly with gubernatorial candidates.

The Senate bill, introduced September 29 by State Senator William Brownsberger, addresses all four of GBIO’s issues: repealing mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, pretrial and bail reform, reducing/eliminating fees and fines, and shortening length of time spent in solitary confinement — the result of 9 in-district meetings with 23 State Representatives and Senators by over 60 GBIO Leaders. GBIO wants to see the Senate bill do more on mandatory minimums, and will continue to fight for deeper reforms.

On May 18th, GBIO celebrated the leaders of the Criminal Justice Team’s In-District Meeting Campaign.

Southeast Wisconsin Common Ground successfully negotiated over $4 million in housing re-investment from financial institutions whose foreclosures had devastated the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee.

Action in Montgomery successfully organized for the development of 140 new senior housing units in downtown Silver Spring, a diverse and vibrant suburb immediately adjacent to the District of Columbia.