1. OpportunityTexas Increasing Income & Assets, Building Savings, & Creating Jobs West Texas Asset Building Summit Breaking Down Economic Barriers San Angelo, TX June 10, 2010 Don Baylor, Jr. Senior Policy Analyst

2. What CPPP Does
Improving public policies to better the economic and social conditions of low- and moderate-income Texans.
Creating economic opportunity to strengthen families and grow the middle class;
Increasing access to quality, affordable health insurance;
Helping families meet basic needs;
Enhancing child well-being and child protection;
Ensuring effective public administration; and
Securing fair and adequate taxation to pay for critical public investments in Texas.

3. Why Assets? “Income helps families get by. Assets help them get ahead”
Assets matter economically, socially, and psychologically
Asset poverty rates are higher than income poverty rates, and wealth gaps are larger than income gaps
Assets help to increase:
Household economic stability
Educational attainment
Economic mobility
“Income helps families get by. Assets help them get ahead”
Use only if giving presentation to total newbie audiences to asset building field
By assets we mean a home, a business, savings for a rainy day or retirement, education, health insurance
Focus on assets is essential for lower-income Americans to enter the economic mainstream and build wealth 3

4. Asset Building: Who Benefits?
U.S. continues to subsidize wealth creation
Homestead Act
GI Bill
Home Mortgage Deduction
401ks, IRAs, 529 College Savings Accounts
VA and FHA Loan Programs
Bottom 60% of households receive less than 3% of outlays for federal asset building budget.
Earned Income Tax Credit/Child Tax Credit
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
Proposed Saver’s Credit
Texas (Low investment in asset building strategies)
For presentation where it is helpful to set larger policy context– text to be developed
Make the case that the US does have a long history of subsidizing asset building, and much of what can be considered “asset policy” helped to create strong middle class that was the hallmark of American productivity.
But asset policy has been uneven and inconsistent, and in many cases even as the government subsidizes asset building for middle and upper income households, it restricts opportunities for low income households.
Housing Trust Fund one of the few notable examples of AB investment 4

5. What is (Household) Asset Poverty?
Inability to subsist at the poverty line for 3 months upon loss of income.
~1 in 3 TX households with kids = ASSET POOR
14% of Texans live in extreme asset poverty with zero or negative net worth
Minorities are nearly twice as likely to live in asset poverty
% of households Share of those living in asset poverty by race
White % 23.7%
Black 11.8% 52.1%
Latino 26.4% 47.4%
Asian 2.8% %
Native 0.4% %
Texas Asset Poverty Data
The highest income households had 17 times the net worth of the lowest ($182,075 vs. $10,788)
14% of Texans live in extreme asset poverty
Minorities are nearly twice as likely to live in asset poverty
Source: CPPP Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

6. West Texas Asset Poverty
More than 1 in 3 West Texans are Asset-Poor
(36%, Coke/Tom Green)
Education
46.3% (less than high school)
35.3% (some college)
14.6% (Bachelor’s)
Ethnicity
29.9% (Anglo)
61.5% (African-American)
46.4% (Latino)
Income Poverty ranges from 10-20% in West Texas. Asset poverty about two to three times Income poverty
San Angelo MSA, 15.8% all individuals; 11.5% for families

7. National Trends (Pre-Recession)
Median Net Worth fell for the 40% of U.S. households that earn less than $37,000
Savings declined to zero/sub-zero
Median amount of revolving debt rose 64% ( )
Percentage of individuals with employer-provided health insurance fell
Even though median net worth increased overall for U.S. households

8. Recession’s Wake Eight million jobs lost; LTE at 46%
Massive wealth destruction ($15T)
Reduced home values, foreclosure surge
Savings rebounded but may have peaked in 2009 (3%)
Revolving debt has declined sharply
Teachable Moment?
19th consecutive month of declines in revolving debt

9. Assets & Opportunity Scorecard
Most comprehensive tool measuring ownership and financial security at state level
Provides assessment of how well states support efforts of residents to build and protect their assets
Focus on assets is essential for lower-income Americans to enter the economic mainstream and build wealth
This slide is where you communicate the BIG PICTURE of what the Scorecard is and why we do it. 2nd bullet on slide is key.
OPTIONAL explanations for why we focus on assets:
No better or more tangible indicator of the strength of an economy than the reserve of financial, business, home, education and health assets and protections built by families and society.
Range and distribution of assets of an economy provides an incisive picture of current health and resilience of an economy, but more importantly, reflects the ability of an economy & families to adapt to, take advantage of and shape the future.
Assets move families beyond living paycheck to paycheck and give them tools to plan for the future. Getting by may require only a paycheck, but getting ahead requires a variety of assets, a financial safety net, education and health care.
About the Scorecard & Campaign 9 9

10. Assets & Opportunity Scorecard
Covers performance and policy priorities in five Issue Areas
Financial Assets & Income
Businesses & Jobs
Housing & Homeownership
Health Care
Education
Framework underscores need to integrate asset development, asset protection, and social insurance to advance financial security for all Americans
Brings stakeholders across a diverse set of issues to work together
This slide is about the ORGANIZATION of the Scorecard and why it covers what it does.
About the Scorecard & Campaign 10 10

11. Texas’ Final Grade: D Index Grade Financial Assets & Income C
Businesses & Jobs
Homeownership
Health Care D
Education
-9 of 48 policy “pie slices”

12. Outcomes: Where Texas Fared Poorly
Measure
Rank
Low Wage Jobs
41st
Homeownership Rate
44th
Mortgage Debt as % of Home Value
48th
Health Insurance Coverage
51st
High School Degrees
Head Start Coverage
49th
Net Worth
Income Poverty
Asset Poverty
37th
Unbanked Households
Retirement Plan Participation
Installment Debt
46th
Health Insurance Coverage: In the bottom five for Uninsured Rate, Uninsured Low-Income Children, Uninsured Low-Income Parents, and Employees Insured by Employer;
Educational Access: High School Degrees, Head Start Coverage, Four Year Degrees by Race
We also know that Texas has the lowest composite credit score

13. RAISE Texas
Statewide network working to support and expand asset-building activities in Texas, with a focus on low- and moderate-income areas.
Committed to building financial success of Texans through financial education, IDAs, children's savings accounts, community tax centers, and other programs that lead to increased economic security and prevent asset stripping.

14. RAISE Texas: Opportunity Hub Model
Need to build collaboration
Provide one stop financial centers.
City of San Antonio Office of Financial Empowerment, Foundation Communities Community Financial Center, Financial Opportunity Center in Houston.

15. Building a Movement on Common Ground
OpportunityTexas Model
The Family Bottom Line

16. What is OpportunityTexas?
Income, Savings, and Job Creation
Community Investment
Innovation
Public-Private Partnerships
Systems Integration
Joint Project of CPPP and RAISE Texas
Rollout in Fall 2010
Mention Ford

17. The Year Ahead
CFED Assets Learning Conference (September 22-24), Washington, D.C. (
RAISE Texas Policy Conference, Fall 2010, Austin (
OpportunityTexas Launch, Fall 2010
82nd Legislature, January 2011 (

18. Use of This Presentation
The Center for Public Policy Priorities encourages you to reproduce and distribute these slides, which were developed for use in making public presentations.
If you reproduce these slides, please give appropriate credit to CPPP.
The data presented here may become outdated.
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