Food-insecurity and hunger have become a very real crisis for families across the state as federal benefit payments are caught in the crosswinds of politics and budget gridlock.
“When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” It’s an old African proverb. The meaning is that when the powerful clash, it’s the ordinary people — the powerless — who suffer the consequences. We are seeing that with the federal government shutdown stalemate in Washington D.C. and the resulting non-payment of SNAP.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program supports roughly 3.4 million Texans—including about 1.7 million children. But in November, payments that normally land between the 1st and 15th of the month have been delayed because the federal government shut down.
A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore full SNAP funding, but President Trump’s Department of Justice filed an appeal challenging the order.
Here in Texas, food banks are seeing surging demand, and community agencies are mobilizing to fill the gap. But they are in no way capable of meeting the needs of so many families in Texas during this time.
Bobby Kogan is the Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress
ACA Premiums Hike
When enrollment for Affordable Care Act heath care plans opened this month, low-income families accustomed to small or non-existent monthly premiums were hit with sky high prices.
That’s because the tax credits that kept premiums low will expire at the end of the year. Houston Public media’s Bianca Seward reports the impact for Texas will be more severe than anywhere else in the country.
Porch Pirates
Porch pirates is the informal term for people who steal packages that have been delivered and left outside someone’s home. Many thefts are caught on doorbell cameras, which helped popularize the term even more.
Porch piracy is theft, but some states, including Texas, have passed laws making it a specific crime with harsher penalties, especially if the thief steals from multiple homes or from vulnerable individuals.
Kirk Evans, president of U.S. LawShield, cautions fed up homeowners not to take the law into their own hands.
High-speed Chases
High-speed police chases can be deadly —and rules and accountability for chases can vary by state.
Texas doesn’t have statewide standards. Only six states collect any data on chases at all.
What could regulations in Texas look like at the state level, and can they make a difference?
KERA’s Caroline Love went to Minnesota to find out.
