Dallas must get every penny of federal infrastructure funds
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The city cannot build the future on local taxes alone.
Dallas is an aging city, and there is little question that taxpayers here will never be able to pay enough from property and sales taxes alone to catch up with the backlog of maintenance that we have.
Residents complain, and rightly so, about our streets, sidewalks, alleys and traffic lights, among any number of other concerns that, every bond program, we chip away at even as more potholes open up and more sidewalks crumble.
For that reason, we are supportive of a plan from Mayor Eric Johnson to set up a working group to coordinate efforts to capture as much money as Dallas can from three key federal infrastructure programs.
Johnson has set up any number of task forces around a variety of issues. And while we worry about the goal and purpose of some of these task forces, and whether they are duplicating work better done by city staff, this one appears much needed and correctly set up.
It will be led by Alan Cohen, who has done important work leading the Child Poverty Action Lab. Cohen gave us assurances that he is working closely with leaders in City Hall with the goal of coordinating efforts to leverage existing city funds to win the greatest share possible of available federal funds.
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Equity in Bond Planning
This report highlights DISD's efforts to make place-based investments in historically redlined communities with bond funding.
- The bond designated $41 million to create community hubs providing wraparound services in four feeder patterns: Spruce in Pleasant Grove, Lincoln in South Dallas, West Dallas’ Pinkston, and Oak Cliff’s Roosevelt.
- Community Resource Index data across 40 indicators and 5 domains underscore what we know to be true: that these communities have experienced disinvestment as a result of intentional policy-making.
Closing the Gap: The $25M Initiative Aiming to Improve Maternal Outcomes Across DFW
In the face of discouraging maternal health data in Texas, TCU and UT Southwestern have joined forces to launch the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator. Since December 2024, 11 philanthropic organizations have committed nearly $25 million to address maternal morbidity, preterm birth rates, and other maternal health conditions at a crucial time for the accelerator.
- The $25 million commitment from 11 partners across the region comes at a key time for the MHA initiative, which was poised to secure $15 million in federal funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health’s (ARPA-H) Health Care Rewards to Achieve Improved Outcomes program, an outcomes-based payment model that would have released funds based on measurable impact. When the new administration cut the budget on the eve of the funding being distributed this summer, the future of the MHA was in jeopardy.
- Despite the lack of funding, MHA forged ahead with one of its goals: reducing severe obstetric complications by more than 20 percent over three years and developing economic models that reward maternal health improvements.
Eviction less likely for Dallas County tenants who get a lawyer — but most don’t have one
CPAL's data analysis shows that eviction chances fall dramatically when tenants have legal representation.
- Law students at SMU observed nearly 1,300 eviction hearings across five of Dallas County’s ten justice of the peace courts from November 2022 to April 2023, representing about 10% of all initial eviction cases heard in those courts.
- Renters who had lawyers lost their cases just 7% of the time, whereas renters without lawyers lost their case – and, typically, their home — nearly 70% of the time.