November 4, 2025 • 31 mins
Texas Tribune reporters Terri Langford and Gabby Birenbaum join the Tribcast to discuss how Texans are coping with the loss of SNAP benefits, chaos at airports and rising health care premiums amid partisan fighting in Washington.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello, and welcome to the Texas Tribune trip cast for Tuesday,
November fourth. It is election day, and I am Matthew Watkins,
editor in chief of the Texas Tribune, joined as usual
by law and politics reporter Eleanor Klippenoff.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Nailed it, nailed it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This time, nailed on the first try.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Happy Election Day.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Happy election. Have you voted yet?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Actually, I will be voting this afternoon. Gat you got
any like zany election day predictions for us?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
No, I think I think it's gonna be very low
turnout and very predictable outcomes.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
But I voted this morning and the vibes were good.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So here's here's my one wild prediction. SD nine Texas
Senate race Kelly Hencock, who you know became comptroller. Three
candidates in the race, two Republicans and Democrats. I predict
that the Democrat will be the leading vote kidder. What, Yes,
it's a Trump plus seventeen district.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Do you want to put money on that too?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Credible? No? I don't. I don't believe in it that much.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But you know, I'm trying to bring some excitement to
the podcast. Two credible Republicans on the ballot that I
think the Democrat gets around forty percent in the other
two and it creates this whole thing, like people on
Twitter will.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Be like, look what's happening in Texas and.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It will mean nothing in the Republican who advances to
the runoff will cruise to the actual seat.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's my prediction.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I think I think you we should bet right now.
We don't put money on it, uh huh, but if
we have an upcoming live trip cast happening at Tripfest
with Formerhouse Speaker Dade Feelin, you can still get.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
To a strip fest if you haven't. Yeah, I think
that if you are.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
However it goes, you have to announce the outcome at
that event and either eat crow or I will ecrow.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
That sounds good. I'm ready for that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's pretty low stakes, but yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Maybe we'll come up with something better between than and
now that. Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'll shame you quite public are all right?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, But that's not what we're going to talk about today, because,
in addition to election Day, today also marks day thirty
five of the federal government shutdown. For the first month
or so of the shutdown, it has seemed mainly remarkable
for how much the general public and politicians don't really
(02:39):
seem to care that much. They've just sort of continued
on with their daily lives. Negotiations maybe not even really
that happening, at least in the public eye. But you know,
of course, two hundred and eighteen thousand federal workers in
Texas have been furloughed or working without pay, and this
week it really feels like the pain of the shutdown
is starting to hit Texas. For the neatest Texans, that
(03:02):
has meant Snap benefits. There are three point four million
Texans in the state who receive SNAP benefits to help
pay for food. Those have been halted, perhaps temporarily. We'll
get into that here in a little bit. And then,
you know, for our more upwardly mobile Texans, it's been
the airports being disastrous, our long waits at TCA, t SA,
(03:23):
there have been, you know, talks of maybe even further
airline disruptions in the coming weeks. We're going to talk
about this with two Texas Tribune reporters. First of all,
health reporter Terry Linkford. Hello, Terry, Hey.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
There have you voted yet? I voted last week?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow, do you have any Zany predictions.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I have no Zanny predictions. It's Texas. Why would you predict?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
You've written a lot about the dementia prevention proposition that
is correct, a Prop fourteen Prop fourteen YEP, that is correct.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
A priority of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick Patrick.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And also waiting patients Lee for US is our Washington
correspondent Gabby Beerenbaum. Hello, Gabby, have you voted? Is there
anything to vote on?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
In DC?
Speaker 7 (04:09):
Nothing to vote on?
Speaker 8 (04:10):
My parents in Virginia did call me to ask why
their congressman wasn't on the ballot, and I had to
explain off your elections versus midterms, big governor's race in Virginia.
But that was the extent of my political participation today.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
NICs excellent. Okay, Well let's start with SNAP because it
feels to me like the most impactful thing that's happening
with this shutdown. Terry, I want you to just sort
of start by giving us the sort of lay of
the land of SNAP in Texas, Like, who receives it?
What do they receive all that?
Speaker 6 (04:40):
Well, SNAP is a federal program. It brings seven to
eight billion dollars to needy Texans each year. These are
federal dollars that are passed through by the Health and
Human Services Commission, which issues it on a lone Star
car card, which is sort of a debit card that
(05:02):
folks use in a grocery store. It is a supplement.
So on average, the average allotment is around four hundred dollars.
But for a lot of people who wait for that
allotment to hit their lone Star cards to start grocery shopping,
they're in limbo right now.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Basically, starting on November one, folks who would have been
receiving allotments to help pay for groceries, including you know,
over a million children in the state, have not been
receiving that those funds.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
That is correct.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
It takes like a three day turnaround to turn it
off or turn it on. And on the twenty seventh,
Snap users were or lone Star card users in Texas
were notified that it would not be coming November first.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Now, the thing is is.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
That all three points you know, all three point five
I've a million Texans don't receive this on one day.
It's distributed through the month, so everyone has a certain
day where it hits their account. Also, if there's any
unused benefits they can roll over, so some people have
(06:19):
been saving. According to grocery retailers, they say that not
all have been spent according to their accounts. So some
people the minute they were notified around October seventeenth that
this could be a possibility, a lot of them started
stopping spending their snap But that's not a lot. You know,
(06:39):
at the end of a month, as we all know,
our grocery money kind of evaporates waiting for that next paycheck, right,
so people are waiting for this money, and Trump just
announced that he doesn't want to renew it until after
the shutdown ends.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
And I mean this is like, I mean commonly, like
we think of his food stamps, right, this has been
a program for sixty years.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
It has been entirely uninterrupted for sixty years.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
This is actually it goes back to the thirties, but
the formal one that we know as food stamps is
going back to the LBJ era. That's correct, and it's
never been interrupted ever.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So because I think, you know, I don't know, like
every couple of years we have a shutdown and everyone thinks,
oh right, the TSA doesn't get paid and whatever. But
this is pretty exceptional that snap is now falling through the.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Crack it is.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
And as Gabby has pointed out, the last longest shutdown,
snap money was kind of negotiated as part of the
deal that it would proceed despite the shutdown, ahead of
the shutdown, right, Gabby, I mean yeah, they.
Speaker 8 (07:43):
Sort of they had an account that they were like,
all right, we can draw on this in case of
an emergency like a shutdown, and then that shutdown. This
is the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen one was also weird
because I went from the middle of one month to
the middle of another month, whereas this one started, you know,
on October first, and we're now passing no member first.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I see. And so what's different this time? Why is it?
Is this essentially just a leverage play by the president
to try to bring Democrats back to the table.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Why what I think.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
Both parties right are looking at, you know, what's what
pain points can be avoided and sort of what are
the political you know, benefit to each And so for example,
right like the Trump administration sort of found a pot
of money to pay to make sure that the military
didn't miss their first paycheck in the middle of October,
and so there's sort of varying legal theories about you know,
what accounts you can draw and to pay for what,
(08:34):
and what money can be used for what, And we're
seeing these things sort of get adjudicated in the courts
in real time. And then obviously there's the court ruling,
and then you know, we'll see with the Trump administration
how exactly they interpret the court ruling and how long
they can sort of stand off in that sense. But
I think, yeah, as as the shutdown drags on, like
you mentioned, it's getting more painful, and it seems like
it's dragging at least sort of rank and file members
(08:56):
to the negotiating table here in DC. But yeah, a
lot rides onto how the White House and how these
agencies are interpreting, you know, various accounts and what they can.
Speaker 7 (09:06):
And can't be used for.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, the problem with recording a podcast in twenty twenty
five is that by the time you're done recording the podcast,
things have changed. But Terry, can you give us just
a you know, a brief update as to where we stand.
There was a lawsuit that was brought by a couple
of states to try to force the federal government to
pay out for food stamps.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Where are we with that lawsuit?
Speaker 6 (09:26):
So there were two states that two rulings, correct me
if I'm wrong here, Gabby, but there were two actions
by two different judges, both in Boston and in New Hampshire,
and they both ruled that they couldn't that SNAP couldn't
be interrupted. USDA, which administers the food stamp or stamp program,
(09:50):
said yesterday that they were going to work towards partial
payment of benefits for this month, But just a few
minutes ago President and Trump said on True Social that
he is not going to let stamp money go until
after the until the shutdown in So there's a lot
of confusion and everyone's trying to figure out whether the.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Partial will move forward.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
The federal government hasn't appealed as far as I know,
Gabby has not appealed those two rulings, So we're kind
of in limbo waiting to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
What's your sense of how this is playing out on
the ground in Texas?
Speaker 6 (10:29):
You know, I follow a lot of Facebook groups involving
SNAP recipients. There's a ton of confusion out there. Am
I going to get my stamp benefits? Should I reapply?
Is it coming do you know, what do I do?
And what's happening is there's more pressure put on food
banks right now. They are in the midst of helping
(10:53):
all these furloughed federal workers in addition to people just
in you know, sort of food insectecurity. So throwing another
you know, three million or you know, roughly over a
million households onto the back of the food the food banks,
(11:13):
it's it's it's an impossible situation for them right now.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, and this comes on top of the fact that
a lot of food banks in Texas and elswhere have
already been sort of struggling due to federal cuts that
were made earlier in the Trump administration. This, you know,
the second Trump administration. I mean one thing that I saw,
you know, the Texas Department of Agriculture lost access to
one hundred and nine million dollar grant that basically bought
(11:37):
foods from local farmers and brought them to food banks.
So what we're seeing here is under resource food food
banks dealing with, you know, a extremely high spike in
demand due to, like you said, federal workers being in trouble,
but also now people who are missing out on their
(11:57):
on their benefits.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
And once again, I mean Texas relies greatly on you
know sort of it's you know, pull itself up by
its bootstrap mentality and the fact that you know, we
rely our safety net is nonprofits essentially, and so when
the nonprofits are struggling, you know, where do Texans go.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
It's it's a question, you know.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
They have gone to governor abbott as have Democratic lawmakers
in asking for some sort of state assistance to offset
this loss. So far that's not happening. We are seeing
that in other states, but it's not happening in Texas.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Could I mean, what could the state do?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Obviously this is typically federal funds that go to as
passed through the state.
Speaker 6 (12:45):
Well what what USDAA has said. They've kind of issued
a sort of line in the sand to the states saying,
if you cover snap losses for the month of November,
we're not reimbursing you on that.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
You're on your own. Now.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Some Republican governors, notably Louisiana and Virginia have said, well,
we're gonna We're going to help out anyway, and they're
moving money. And that's what Texas could do. It could
move money from another agency on an emergency basis using
abbots emergency powers, and then next legislative session there would
(13:21):
be a supplemental budget bill to kind of reconcile those books.
So I mean that is one.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Option that has not yet happened, that has not happened.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
But they are asked.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
But Democrats in both the Senate and the House have
asked for that well.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
And one of the things that people advocating for Abbot
to do this, they know, you know, it would cost
around six hundred and fourteen million dollars to provide this
SEMNTH funds for one month for November. Texas day point
out has over twenty billion dollars, and it's rainy day
fund that that you know, could eventually, through the maneuverings
that you bring up, essentially access to help cover these costs.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Right, and certainly I think some other you mentioned some
other states have just sent money to food banks to
shore them up.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I mean, these food banks.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Are not in a position to supplement four hundred dollars
per family, you know, per family that gets food stamps
on a dime.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
But the you know, some are thinking, you know, I know,
California has sent emergency funding to food banks several hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
That way we could do the same thing that has
not happened.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
We will say though Social Safety Nets slash, Big Trip
cast Fan HGB has sent some funds.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
They've sent five million dollars to food banks.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
They have sent it to that, they have sent it
to feeding Taxos. Now that also that was already in
the works because of Thanksgiving. I mean AGB does do
this during Thanksgiving. And you know we have also Paul
Cobblers written about the impact to retailers.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
You know, people don't.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Just go in and use exactly the amount they have
on their lone Star card. They also shop for other things.
This can impact our grocery stores.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
So, yeah, just a couple of facts about SNAP which
I'm going to read, but I will credit Terry for
providing to us here. About eleven percent of Texans are
on SNAP. I already mentioned three point five million people
in the state. One point seven million of those are children.
You know, there are areas of the state where that
is considerably you know higher though the Star County, in
(15:32):
the Rio Grande Valley, forty one percent of the population
is on SNAP.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You know, rural areas.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
South Texas County is twenty five a quarter of the poplpulation.
So there are areas in the state that are really
going to see the you know, are going to suffer
because of this. And then one other data point that
you pointed out, forty two percent of Texans Texas SNAP
recipients work, you know, this is not just sort.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Of and another percentage of them are children, right, right,
Husky child labor laws right, and SNAP has regulations that
if you have a child fourteen and under, you are.
Speaker 6 (16:05):
Exempt from you know, rules that you need to be working.
And forty two percent of those folks are working. So
it's not that this is like, I think what some
older Texans would remember as sort of a welfare check
that's pretty much gone away. SNAP is the biggest, it's
(16:26):
one of the biggest nutrition programs. It it helps keep
a family stable, It keeps a family healthy and away
from the emergency rooms.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
It pays dividends in many other ways.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Okay, okay, Gaby, I want to shift focus now to
the airports, which you've been writing a little bit about
in recent days. Tell us how the folks at DFW, Bush, Austin,
various other places are feeling the impact of this shutdown.
Speaker 8 (16:55):
Yeah, I think for any listeners who have traveled in
the past few days, I'm sure I've been experiencing. There
were enormously long lines at tsat at IH in Houston
yesterday and over the weekend, three hour long waits to
get through. There was a ground stop yesterday in Austin,
and then DFW has just been pretty much every day
in the top three in USA airport rankings for delays,
(17:18):
and a lot of this is due to staffing shortages
because air traffic controllers TSA are not getting paid but
are expected to work. They're increasingly calling and sick, and
when you have you know, when they don't hit a
certain threshold, they have to necessarily issue delays because they
have smaller crews working. And this has now gotten to
a point where just today Secretary Duffy from the Department
of Transportation said that if this goes into next week,
(17:39):
they might have to shut down certain parts of airspace.
So this is something that members of Congress certainly feel
right because they travel more.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
Than more than just about any point.
Speaker 8 (17:47):
So people often say that something that affects travel is
like more likely to move politicians and almost any other issue.
But yeah, I mean I certainly think that's an area
and if you you know, I've seen a ton of
people complaining this online about the lines and delays and everything,
and so I think this is this is certainly another
pressure point on Congress right now.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Can you sort of explain, like obviously it's clear from
you know, the way President Trump is dougumbout food stamps
or this sort of fear of shutting down airspace, like
the Republicans certainly are trying to hold on to some
of these bargaining chips. What like, what do the Democrats
have in terms of bargaining chips other than just sort
(18:29):
of weathering the pain of people being mad about this shutdown.
Speaker 8 (18:33):
Yeah, I mean that's kind of why we're here, because
one of the democrats only bargaining chips was the fact
that you need sixty votes in the Senate for a
government funding bill and Republicans have fifty three members. And
so that was I think sort of the pressure for
Democrats to not, you know, vote for this funding bill
that only funded the government through November twenty first, that
they were not included on negotiations and to say, well,
this is our one point, we separately want an extension
(18:55):
on these ACI tax credit subsidies in healthcare, and this
is sort of our leverage point to do it. And
I think at various points Republicans have thought, oh, they're
only doing it through whatever date and then you know,
the pain points will kick in and it'll become too much.
That first it was they're just getting through the No
King's rally, and then it kept going, and then it was, oh.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Well on November first.
Speaker 8 (19:14):
You know, once things get more painful, like we're talking
about with snap with airports, then they'll cave. Now the
Republicans have been saying, oh, once the elections are through today,
then they'll cave. So I think it's and I think Democrats,
you know, want different things. I think some say at
some points has got to end, and you know, we'll
come to some sort of spending deal or we'll get
a vote on the subsidies. A lot of the House
(19:34):
Democrats are more I think, dug in and say no,
we don't just want like a process. We want an outcome,
you know, not just oh we'll have a vote. We
want the vote to pass. And so I think there's
definitely been movement starting last week and into this week
that this might end.
Speaker 7 (19:50):
But you know.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
I certainly the Republicans, I think, did not think that
Democrats were going to last this long.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Well, let's you mentioned the healthcare subsidies, which is essentially
what Democrats are asking for in this shutdown breakdown kind
of what's happening there and why that might have a
particular impact on Texans.
Speaker 7 (20:07):
Yeah, and so this is this is going to be
huge deal.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
It's Terry's aren't about as I've written about in Texas
because Texas is one of ten states that never expanded Medicaid,
and so that means that people who are making above
one hundred percent of the federal poverty level are not
eligible for Medicaid.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
What they are eligible for is these pretty.
Speaker 8 (20:23):
Generous tax credits for their premiums if they get healthcare
through the Affordable Care Act through the marketplace. And so
Texas has more enrollies in the ACA than all but
one state, than all but Florida, another state that didn't
expand Medicaid. And those subsidies which create a sliding scale
for people to only pay a certain percent of their
income towards their premium and the government pays for the
rest that's expiring at the end of the year, and
(20:45):
so the size of these subsidies are going to shrink,
and as a result, people's premiums, the amount they'll pay
towards the premiums will rise, and then also the cost
of the underlying premiums expected to rise because insures already
pricing in the expiration of these subsidies. And so this
is going to be a huge sort of shock to
the to the health insurance system in Texas and something
that Democrats have sort of seized on as something they
(21:08):
want addressed in exchange for negotiating on government funding.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
And I mean, it's really interesting.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
We've got two health programs right fighting, you know, a
fight to keep two health programs going, the ACA and SNAP.
I've been talking to older Texans who are over the
age of fifty but too young for Medicare, and they're
getting hit, they're getting clobbered. They were all receiving their
(21:35):
premium prices.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
I'm talking to.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
A woman in the Beaumont area who is going to
see her increase. You know, she's fifty five, has a job,
but no insurance coverage through her employer, and it's going
from five hundred and eighty dollars to over one thousand
a month.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I mean right, and a lot of a lot of
people I assume who work jobs that don't have health
insurance may also so if those are low wage jobs,
qualify for SNAP.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
They're seeing just sort of all of these pinches all
at once.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, compounding problems. Yeah, absolutely of each other for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And as Gabby you reported last week, right, the average
ACA premiums in Texas going up thirty five percent this year.
Speaker 8 (22:18):
Yeah, and that's just the underlying premium, right, So the
amount people are actually going to pay towards it is
going to.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Rise higher than that.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
I think there was like an a point early in
the Trump administration where like much of what they were
targeted this era of the Trump administration, which what they
were targeting was Medicaid, you know, programs we haven't expanded,
Like the pinch was sort of less apparent for Texas first,
and now you know these Texas just by virtual of
being such a large state, but also you know some
(22:44):
of what makes us Texas, We have a lot of
people on these programs and just have like a huge
like the human toll of some of these pinches is
pretty significant numbers wise, and some of that.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
I mean, well, the focus has been on the ACA,
I mean contained in the big beautiful bill. Correct me
if I'm wrong again, Gabby, You're the best fact checker
there is on this. You know, we're seeing cuts to Medicaid, right,
so we're going to see a decrease if that passes,
and so that's going to squeeze textans even more in
(23:16):
a state that has not expanded Medicaid.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, go ahead, Gabby.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Oh yeah, I was just going to say, I think,
you know, Texas sort of avoided the most intents of
the because it never expanded. And so what's called the
expansion population of people you know making over one hundred
percent of the federal poverty level are now going to
have work requirements in other states, not in Texas, right,
because those.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
People don't Medicaid in the first place.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
But this is the exact population that you know, people
are worried are on ACA and are going to drop
ACA because their premiums are getting unaffordable.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
So it seems to me like we're in this situation
where the you know, the Democrats who who care about
these ACA premiums and want the government to do something
about it, are shutting down the government down, non essential services,
shutting down social welfare programs that you know, many Republicans
(24:09):
feel as though we're spending too much money on anyways,
and the response from the Republican administration is sort of,
don't threaten me with a good time, like.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
What, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I mean, I am having a hard time seeing how
this is putting enough pressure on the Trump administration to
actually bend to Democrats will in this regard.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
What am I.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Missing, if anything, on this? And I mean, are the
Democrats you're talking to, particularly once from Texas being confronted
by this situation? I mean, how do they respond to
that skepticism when folks raise it?
Speaker 8 (24:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of the Democrats
have been desperate for Trump personally to get involved because
there's been some reporting out of the White House that
the Trump team sort of understands that this ACA Premium
tax credit thing might be an issue for them in
the midterms, whereas a lot of the you know, Republican members,
a lot of them from Texas especially, you know, would
would rather see these these subsidies sort of expire and
(25:10):
rovert back. They worry that there's there's too much federal
spending on that issue, and so Trump, you know, has
been traveling a ton.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
He was in Asia. He came back, I think on Halloween.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
But has been mostly content to let Republicans in the
House and Senate negotiate this. And yeah, I mean I
think part of the calculus too. I mean there's a
few different political dynamics. I think the Democrats. A lot
of the polling has shown that, you know, Democrats are
you know, seen as better on the shutdown than Republicans,
even though like you said, Democrats are the ones that
you know, didn't vote for the funding bill.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
You know, I think it's sort of political.
Speaker 8 (25:46):
The traditional political wisdom is like nobody cares about a
twenty twenty five shut down when they go to vote
in October November twenty twenty six. So I think the
timing here certainly like means that both parties have incentive
to dig in. But yeah, I mean this is not
a true additional administration.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
You know.
Speaker 8 (26:03):
Russ Vote, the head of the Office of Management Budget
was you know, I think, totally fine with the shutdown
and has been you know, threatening to lay off more
federal employees. He did lay off some additional federal employees.
And so, yeah, at a certain point, if you're saying
which party is going to experience more pain from this,
Who takes the blame for things like snap being shut off? Ultimately,
(26:24):
when is it intolerable to either party that the pain
that's being inflicted on people from the shutdown. I think
we're kind of getting to that point this week, and
it looks like ultimately, you know, find some sort of
short term spending deal and we might do this all
again in a few weeks.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
So remind me how long the twenty eighteen like, because
you were saying, this is the second long longest shutdown.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
We tied, We tied today thirty five days?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Did it to become the longest?
Speaker 8 (26:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Yeah, what's that Chinese curse? You live through interesting times? Yeah,
you live through record setting times? Yeah yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Okay, So you you seem to be a little bit optimistic, Gabby,
that we might be getting to the point because of
like we just talked about all the pain that is
being felt this week in particular, that we might be
getting closer to to some resolution here. I mean, is
there anything is there anything public that that suggests that too,
(27:28):
or is that more of a hunch.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
I think it's more of a hunch.
Speaker 8 (27:31):
I mean a lot of the again, a lot of
the Republican senators have been projecting confidence that this is
going to get resolved this week.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
They've been wrong in the last few weeks before. But
I think some of the some of the more.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
Moderate Democratic senators have said, you know, maybe it's time
to look for an off ramp or find an agreement
that we can live with. I think part of the
problem is, you know, the notion that Republicans will completely
cave on subsidies. It's like classic situation where if you
put a one year extension for example of they say
subsidies on the House floor to it would pass. It
(28:01):
would involve the House actually coming to work, but it
would pass. You know, with all the Democrats and maybe
fifteen or so Republicans who have expressed interest, including Monica
Della Cruz in Texas.
Speaker 7 (28:10):
You know, people who are sort.
Speaker 8 (28:11):
Of I don't know if i'd call it a front liner,
but someone who's going to have a competitive race, whose
district you know, has a ton of ACA and role is.
But it would pass against the you know, objection of
the vast majority of Republicans. And so if you're the Speaker,
Mike Johnson, you don't want to create that situation, and
so I think for Democrats there's probably an internal debate
about is having a vote on this issue enough in
(28:32):
the Senate at least, or what exactly do we negotiate here,
But it's it's one of those situations where there's not
a ton of incentive for House Republicans for leadership to
bring it up against the wishes of most of their members,
even if you know, some people acknowledge that it could
be a political problem.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Well yeah, and possibly the one thing this must be
part of the democratic calculus. Possibly the one thing that
could get Republicans to be okay with having a vote
on this in the House floor would be Donald Trump
asking for it, right, And of course, you know, he
did say to CBS News this week right that he
there were things he wanted to fix about Obamacare, right,
(29:12):
although lacking specifics or how that would actually work. So
I don't know, you know, it seems like a bit
of a pipe dream, but maybe there's an opening democrats.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
See.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
I mean, the other thing is just I think there
are a lot of Democrats. We are a long way
from the November twenty twenty sixth elections. We are a
shorter way away from the twenty twenty six primaries, right,
and there are a lot of Democratic primary voters who
want to see their members of Congress showing resistance to
(29:44):
Trump in whatever way possible.
Speaker 8 (29:47):
Absolutely, yeah, And I think that's why a lot of
Republicans expected this to be over after the No King's Rally.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But not so to see what happens with Mom Donnie first.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I did.
Speaker 8 (29:59):
An older journalist said to me, he thinks that it'll
get resolved tonight so that they can kick Democrats and
swing states can kick mom Donnie off the headlines. Interesting
as that was just that was the one person speculation.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, that sounds like magical thinking to me.
Speaker 8 (30:13):
Yeah, it was a little it was a little tinfoil hat,
but New York at the.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Center of the universe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Well, well it is my sincere hope that this gets
resolved before Tripfest, So Gabby that you can get on
an airplane and fly down here and participate, as well
as the many members of Congress and other people coming
from out of town. As Eleanor gave a shout out earlier,
Trip Cast will also be live at the festival with
former House Speaker Dade Feelin. So I encourage folks to
(30:42):
visit festival dot Texastribune dot org to buy their tickets.
It is less than two weeks away, almost just a
little bit over a week away.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Yeah, and I will Also while you're on our website,
I believe Terry and the health teams put together a
guide on how to give and receive help during this
snap shutdown. So if you want information on you know,
whether you need help with food assistants or would like
to contribute to food assistants, check that out.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
All right, And that just about does it for today.
Thank you Gabby, Thank you Terry for lending your expertise here.
Thank you to our producers Robin Chris, thanks Eleanor, and
we will talk to you all next week.
Hello, and welcome to the Texas Tribune trip cast for Tuesday,
November fourth. It is election day, and I am Matthew Watkins,
editor in chief of the Texas Tribune, joined as usual
by law and politics reporter Eleanor Klippenoff.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Nailed it, nailed it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This time, nailed on the first try.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Happy Election Day.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Happy election. Have you voted yet?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Actually, I will be voting this afternoon. Gat you got
any like zany election day predictions for us?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
No, I think I think it's gonna be very low
turnout and very predictable outcomes.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
But I voted this morning and the vibes were good.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So here's here's my one wild prediction. SD nine Texas
Senate race Kelly Hencock, who you know became comptroller. Three
candidates in the race, two Republicans and Democrats. I predict
that the Democrat will be the leading vote kidder. What, Yes,
it's a Trump plus seventeen district.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Do you want to put money on that too?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Credible? No? I don't. I don't believe in it that much.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But you know, I'm trying to bring some excitement to
the podcast. Two credible Republicans on the ballot that I
think the Democrat gets around forty percent in the other
two and it creates this whole thing, like people on
Twitter will.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Be like, look what's happening in Texas and.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It will mean nothing in the Republican who advances to
the runoff will cruise to the actual seat.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's my prediction.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I think I think you we should bet right now.
We don't put money on it, uh huh, but if
we have an upcoming live trip cast happening at Tripfest
with Formerhouse Speaker Dade Feelin, you can still get.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
To a strip fest if you haven't. Yeah, I think
that if you are.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
However it goes, you have to announce the outcome at
that event and either eat crow or I will ecrow.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
That sounds good. I'm ready for that.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's pretty low stakes, but yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Maybe we'll come up with something better between than and
now that. Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'll shame you quite public are all right?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, But that's not what we're going to talk about today, because,
in addition to election Day, today also marks day thirty
five of the federal government shutdown. For the first month
or so of the shutdown, it has seemed mainly remarkable
for how much the general public and politicians don't really
(02:39):
seem to care that much. They've just sort of continued
on with their daily lives. Negotiations maybe not even really
that happening, at least in the public eye. But you know,
of course, two hundred and eighteen thousand federal workers in
Texas have been furloughed or working without pay, and this
week it really feels like the pain of the shutdown
is starting to hit Texas. For the neatest Texans, that
(03:02):
has meant Snap benefits. There are three point four million
Texans in the state who receive SNAP benefits to help
pay for food. Those have been halted, perhaps temporarily. We'll
get into that here in a little bit. And then,
you know, for our more upwardly mobile Texans, it's been
the airports being disastrous, our long waits at TCA, t SA,
(03:23):
there have been, you know, talks of maybe even further
airline disruptions in the coming weeks. We're going to talk
about this with two Texas Tribune reporters. First of all,
health reporter Terry Linkford. Hello, Terry, Hey.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
There have you voted yet? I voted last week?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Wow, do you have any Zany predictions.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I have no Zanny predictions. It's Texas. Why would you predict?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
You've written a lot about the dementia prevention proposition that
is correct, a Prop fourteen Prop fourteen YEP, that is correct.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
A priority of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick Patrick.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And also waiting patients Lee for US is our Washington
correspondent Gabby Beerenbaum. Hello, Gabby, have you voted? Is there
anything to vote on?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
In DC?
Speaker 7 (04:09):
Nothing to vote on?
Speaker 8 (04:10):
My parents in Virginia did call me to ask why
their congressman wasn't on the ballot, and I had to
explain off your elections versus midterms, big governor's race in Virginia.
But that was the extent of my political participation today.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
NICs excellent. Okay, Well let's start with SNAP because it
feels to me like the most impactful thing that's happening
with this shutdown. Terry, I want you to just sort
of start by giving us the sort of lay of
the land of SNAP in Texas, Like, who receives it?
What do they receive all that?
Speaker 6 (04:40):
Well, SNAP is a federal program. It brings seven to
eight billion dollars to needy Texans each year. These are
federal dollars that are passed through by the Health and
Human Services Commission, which issues it on a lone Star
car card, which is sort of a debit card that
(05:02):
folks use in a grocery store. It is a supplement.
So on average, the average allotment is around four hundred dollars.
But for a lot of people who wait for that
allotment to hit their lone Star cards to start grocery shopping,
they're in limbo right now.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Basically, starting on November one, folks who would have been
receiving allotments to help pay for groceries, including you know,
over a million children in the state, have not been
receiving that those funds.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
That is correct.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
It takes like a three day turnaround to turn it
off or turn it on. And on the twenty seventh,
Snap users were or lone Star card users in Texas
were notified that it would not be coming November first.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
Now, the thing is is.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
That all three points you know, all three point five
I've a million Texans don't receive this on one day.
It's distributed through the month, so everyone has a certain
day where it hits their account. Also, if there's any
unused benefits they can roll over, so some people have
(06:19):
been saving. According to grocery retailers, they say that not
all have been spent according to their accounts. So some
people the minute they were notified around October seventeenth that
this could be a possibility, a lot of them started
stopping spending their snap But that's not a lot. You know,
(06:39):
at the end of a month, as we all know,
our grocery money kind of evaporates waiting for that next paycheck, right,
so people are waiting for this money, and Trump just
announced that he doesn't want to renew it until after
the shutdown ends.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
And I mean this is like, I mean commonly, like
we think of his food stamps, right, this has been
a program for sixty years.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
It has been entirely uninterrupted for sixty years.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
This is actually it goes back to the thirties, but
the formal one that we know as food stamps is
going back to the LBJ era. That's correct, and it's
never been interrupted ever.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
So because I think, you know, I don't know, like
every couple of years we have a shutdown and everyone thinks,
oh right, the TSA doesn't get paid and whatever. But
this is pretty exceptional that snap is now falling through the.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
Crack it is.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
And as Gabby has pointed out, the last longest shutdown,
snap money was kind of negotiated as part of the
deal that it would proceed despite the shutdown, ahead of
the shutdown, right, Gabby, I mean yeah, they.
Speaker 8 (07:43):
Sort of they had an account that they were like,
all right, we can draw on this in case of
an emergency like a shutdown, and then that shutdown. This
is the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen one was also weird
because I went from the middle of one month to
the middle of another month, whereas this one started, you know,
on October first, and we're now passing no member first.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I see. And so what's different this time? Why is it?
Is this essentially just a leverage play by the president
to try to bring Democrats back to the table.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Why what I think.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
Both parties right are looking at, you know, what's what
pain points can be avoided and sort of what are
the political you know, benefit to each And so for example,
right like the Trump administration sort of found a pot
of money to pay to make sure that the military
didn't miss their first paycheck in the middle of October,
and so there's sort of varying legal theories about you know,
what accounts you can draw and to pay for what,
(08:34):
and what money can be used for what, And we're
seeing these things sort of get adjudicated in the courts
in real time. And then obviously there's the court ruling,
and then you know, we'll see with the Trump administration
how exactly they interpret the court ruling and how long
they can sort of stand off in that sense. But
I think, yeah, as as the shutdown drags on, like
you mentioned, it's getting more painful, and it seems like
it's dragging at least sort of rank and file members
(08:56):
to the negotiating table here in DC. But yeah, a
lot rides onto how the White House and how these
agencies are interpreting, you know, various accounts and what they can.
Speaker 7 (09:06):
And can't be used for.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, the problem with recording a podcast in twenty twenty
five is that by the time you're done recording the podcast,
things have changed. But Terry, can you give us just
a you know, a brief update as to where we stand.
There was a lawsuit that was brought by a couple
of states to try to force the federal government to
pay out for food stamps.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Where are we with that lawsuit?
Speaker 6 (09:26):
So there were two states that two rulings, correct me
if I'm wrong here, Gabby, but there were two actions
by two different judges, both in Boston and in New Hampshire,
and they both ruled that they couldn't that SNAP couldn't
be interrupted. USDA, which administers the food stamp or stamp program,
(09:50):
said yesterday that they were going to work towards partial
payment of benefits for this month, But just a few
minutes ago President and Trump said on True Social that
he is not going to let stamp money go until
after the until the shutdown in So there's a lot
of confusion and everyone's trying to figure out whether the.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Partial will move forward.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
The federal government hasn't appealed as far as I know,
Gabby has not appealed those two rulings, So we're kind
of in limbo waiting to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
What's your sense of how this is playing out on
the ground in Texas?
Speaker 6 (10:29):
You know, I follow a lot of Facebook groups involving
SNAP recipients. There's a ton of confusion out there. Am
I going to get my stamp benefits? Should I reapply?
Is it coming do you know, what do I do?
And what's happening is there's more pressure put on food
banks right now. They are in the midst of helping
(10:53):
all these furloughed federal workers in addition to people just
in you know, sort of food insectecurity. So throwing another
you know, three million or you know, roughly over a
million households onto the back of the food the food banks,
(11:13):
it's it's it's an impossible situation for them right now.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, and this comes on top of the fact that
a lot of food banks in Texas and elswhere have
already been sort of struggling due to federal cuts that
were made earlier in the Trump administration. This, you know,
the second Trump administration. I mean one thing that I saw,
you know, the Texas Department of Agriculture lost access to
one hundred and nine million dollar grant that basically bought
(11:37):
foods from local farmers and brought them to food banks.
So what we're seeing here is under resource food food
banks dealing with, you know, a extremely high spike in
demand due to, like you said, federal workers being in trouble,
but also now people who are missing out on their
(11:57):
on their benefits.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
And once again, I mean Texas relies greatly on you
know sort of it's you know, pull itself up by
its bootstrap mentality and the fact that you know, we
rely our safety net is nonprofits essentially, and so when
the nonprofits are struggling, you know, where do Texans go.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
It's it's a question, you know.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
They have gone to governor abbott as have Democratic lawmakers
in asking for some sort of state assistance to offset
this loss. So far that's not happening. We are seeing
that in other states, but it's not happening in Texas.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Could I mean, what could the state do?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
Obviously this is typically federal funds that go to as
passed through the state.
Speaker 6 (12:45):
Well what what USDAA has said. They've kind of issued
a sort of line in the sand to the states saying,
if you cover snap losses for the month of November,
we're not reimbursing you on that.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
You're on your own. Now.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Some Republican governors, notably Louisiana and Virginia have said, well,
we're gonna We're going to help out anyway, and they're
moving money. And that's what Texas could do. It could
move money from another agency on an emergency basis using
abbots emergency powers, and then next legislative session there would
(13:21):
be a supplemental budget bill to kind of reconcile those books.
So I mean that is one.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Option that has not yet happened, that has not happened.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
But they are asked.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
But Democrats in both the Senate and the House have
asked for that well.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
And one of the things that people advocating for Abbot
to do this, they know, you know, it would cost
around six hundred and fourteen million dollars to provide this
SEMNTH funds for one month for November. Texas day point
out has over twenty billion dollars, and it's rainy day
fund that that you know, could eventually, through the maneuverings
that you bring up, essentially access to help cover these costs.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Right, and certainly I think some other you mentioned some
other states have just sent money to food banks to
shore them up.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I mean, these food banks.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Are not in a position to supplement four hundred dollars
per family, you know, per family that gets food stamps
on a dime.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
But the you know, some are thinking, you know, I know,
California has sent emergency funding to food banks several hundred
million dollars.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
That way we could do the same thing that has
not happened.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
We will say though Social Safety Nets slash, Big Trip
cast Fan HGB has sent some funds.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
They've sent five million dollars to food banks.
Speaker 6 (14:38):
They have sent it to that, they have sent it
to feeding Taxos. Now that also that was already in
the works because of Thanksgiving. I mean AGB does do
this during Thanksgiving. And you know we have also Paul
Cobblers written about the impact to retailers.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
You know, people don't.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Just go in and use exactly the amount they have
on their lone Star card. They also shop for other things.
This can impact our grocery stores.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
So, yeah, just a couple of facts about SNAP which
I'm going to read, but I will credit Terry for
providing to us here. About eleven percent of Texans are
on SNAP. I already mentioned three point five million people
in the state. One point seven million of those are children.
You know, there are areas of the state where that
is considerably you know higher though the Star County, in
(15:32):
the Rio Grande Valley, forty one percent of the population
is on SNAP.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You know, rural areas.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
South Texas County is twenty five a quarter of the poplpulation.
So there are areas in the state that are really
going to see the you know, are going to suffer
because of this. And then one other data point that
you pointed out, forty two percent of Texans Texas SNAP
recipients work, you know, this is not just sort.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Of and another percentage of them are children, right, right,
Husky child labor laws right, and SNAP has regulations that
if you have a child fourteen and under, you are.
Speaker 6 (16:05):
Exempt from you know, rules that you need to be working.
And forty two percent of those folks are working. So
it's not that this is like, I think what some
older Texans would remember as sort of a welfare check
that's pretty much gone away. SNAP is the biggest, it's
(16:26):
one of the biggest nutrition programs. It it helps keep
a family stable, It keeps a family healthy and away
from the emergency rooms.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
It pays dividends in many other ways.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Okay, okay, Gaby, I want to shift focus now to
the airports, which you've been writing a little bit about
in recent days. Tell us how the folks at DFW, Bush, Austin,
various other places are feeling the impact of this shutdown.
Speaker 8 (16:55):
Yeah, I think for any listeners who have traveled in
the past few days, I'm sure I've been experiencing. There
were enormously long lines at tsat at IH in Houston
yesterday and over the weekend, three hour long waits to
get through. There was a ground stop yesterday in Austin,
and then DFW has just been pretty much every day
in the top three in USA airport rankings for delays,
(17:18):
and a lot of this is due to staffing shortages
because air traffic controllers TSA are not getting paid but
are expected to work. They're increasingly calling and sick, and
when you have you know, when they don't hit a
certain threshold, they have to necessarily issue delays because they
have smaller crews working. And this has now gotten to
a point where just today Secretary Duffy from the Department
of Transportation said that if this goes into next week,
(17:39):
they might have to shut down certain parts of airspace.
So this is something that members of Congress certainly feel
right because they travel more.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
Than more than just about any point.
Speaker 8 (17:47):
So people often say that something that affects travel is
like more likely to move politicians and almost any other issue.
But yeah, I mean I certainly think that's an area
and if you you know, I've seen a ton of
people complaining this online about the lines and delays and everything,
and so I think this is this is certainly another
pressure point on Congress right now.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Can you sort of explain, like obviously it's clear from
you know, the way President Trump is dougumbout food stamps
or this sort of fear of shutting down airspace, like
the Republicans certainly are trying to hold on to some
of these bargaining chips. What like, what do the Democrats
have in terms of bargaining chips other than just sort
(18:29):
of weathering the pain of people being mad about this shutdown.
Speaker 8 (18:33):
Yeah, I mean that's kind of why we're here, because
one of the democrats only bargaining chips was the fact
that you need sixty votes in the Senate for a
government funding bill and Republicans have fifty three members. And
so that was I think sort of the pressure for
Democrats to not, you know, vote for this funding bill
that only funded the government through November twenty first, that
they were not included on negotiations and to say, well,
this is our one point, we separately want an extension
(18:55):
on these ACI tax credit subsidies in healthcare, and this
is sort of our leverage point to do it. And
I think at various points Republicans have thought, oh, they're
only doing it through whatever date and then you know,
the pain points will kick in and it'll become too much.
That first it was they're just getting through the No
King's rally, and then it kept going, and then it was, oh.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Well on November first.
Speaker 8 (19:14):
You know, once things get more painful, like we're talking
about with snap with airports, then they'll cave. Now the
Republicans have been saying, oh, once the elections are through today,
then they'll cave. So I think it's and I think Democrats,
you know, want different things. I think some say at
some points has got to end, and you know, we'll
come to some sort of spending deal or we'll get
a vote on the subsidies. A lot of the House
(19:34):
Democrats are more I think, dug in and say no,
we don't just want like a process. We want an outcome,
you know, not just oh we'll have a vote. We
want the vote to pass. And so I think there's
definitely been movement starting last week and into this week
that this might end.
Speaker 7 (19:50):
But you know.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
I certainly the Republicans, I think, did not think that
Democrats were going to last this long.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Well, let's you mentioned the healthcare subsidies, which is essentially
what Democrats are asking for in this shutdown breakdown kind
of what's happening there and why that might have a
particular impact on Texans.
Speaker 7 (20:07):
Yeah, and so this is this is going to be
huge deal.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
It's Terry's aren't about as I've written about in Texas
because Texas is one of ten states that never expanded Medicaid,
and so that means that people who are making above
one hundred percent of the federal poverty level are not
eligible for Medicaid.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
What they are eligible for is these pretty.
Speaker 8 (20:23):
Generous tax credits for their premiums if they get healthcare
through the Affordable Care Act through the marketplace. And so
Texas has more enrollies in the ACA than all but
one state, than all but Florida, another state that didn't
expand Medicaid. And those subsidies which create a sliding scale
for people to only pay a certain percent of their
income towards their premium and the government pays for the
rest that's expiring at the end of the year, and
(20:45):
so the size of these subsidies are going to shrink,
and as a result, people's premiums, the amount they'll pay
towards the premiums will rise, and then also the cost
of the underlying premiums expected to rise because insures already
pricing in the expiration of these subsidies. And so this
is going to be a huge sort of shock to
the to the health insurance system in Texas and something
that Democrats have sort of seized on as something they
(21:08):
want addressed in exchange for negotiating on government funding.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
And I mean, it's really interesting.
Speaker 6 (21:14):
We've got two health programs right fighting, you know, a
fight to keep two health programs going, the ACA and SNAP.
I've been talking to older Texans who are over the
age of fifty but too young for Medicare, and they're
getting hit, they're getting clobbered. They were all receiving their
(21:35):
premium prices.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
I'm talking to.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
A woman in the Beaumont area who is going to
see her increase. You know, she's fifty five, has a job,
but no insurance coverage through her employer, and it's going
from five hundred and eighty dollars to over one thousand
a month.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I mean right, and a lot of a lot of
people I assume who work jobs that don't have health
insurance may also so if those are low wage jobs,
qualify for SNAP.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
They're seeing just sort of all of these pinches all
at once.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, compounding problems. Yeah, absolutely of each other for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
And as Gabby you reported last week, right, the average
ACA premiums in Texas going up thirty five percent this year.
Speaker 8 (22:18):
Yeah, and that's just the underlying premium, right, So the
amount people are actually going to pay towards it is
going to.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Rise higher than that.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
I think there was like an a point early in
the Trump administration where like much of what they were
targeted this era of the Trump administration, which what they
were targeting was Medicaid, you know, programs we haven't expanded,
Like the pinch was sort of less apparent for Texas first,
and now you know these Texas just by virtual of
being such a large state, but also you know some
(22:44):
of what makes us Texas, We have a lot of
people on these programs and just have like a huge
like the human toll of some of these pinches is
pretty significant numbers wise, and some of that.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
I mean, well, the focus has been on the ACA,
I mean contained in the big beautiful bill. Correct me
if I'm wrong again, Gabby, You're the best fact checker
there is on this. You know, we're seeing cuts to Medicaid, right,
so we're going to see a decrease if that passes,
and so that's going to squeeze textans even more in
(23:16):
a state that has not expanded Medicaid.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, go ahead, Gabby.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Oh yeah, I was just going to say, I think,
you know, Texas sort of avoided the most intents of
the because it never expanded. And so what's called the
expansion population of people you know making over one hundred
percent of the federal poverty level are now going to
have work requirements in other states, not in Texas, right,
because those.
Speaker 7 (23:36):
People don't Medicaid in the first place.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
But this is the exact population that you know, people
are worried are on ACA and are going to drop
ACA because their premiums are getting unaffordable.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
So it seems to me like we're in this situation
where the you know, the Democrats who who care about
these ACA premiums and want the government to do something
about it, are shutting down the government down, non essential services,
shutting down social welfare programs that you know, many Republicans
(24:09):
feel as though we're spending too much money on anyways,
and the response from the Republican administration is sort of,
don't threaten me with a good time, like.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
What, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I mean, I am having a hard time seeing how
this is putting enough pressure on the Trump administration to
actually bend to Democrats will in this regard.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
What am I.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Missing, if anything, on this? And I mean, are the
Democrats you're talking to, particularly once from Texas being confronted
by this situation? I mean, how do they respond to
that skepticism when folks raise it?
Speaker 8 (24:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of the Democrats
have been desperate for Trump personally to get involved because
there's been some reporting out of the White House that
the Trump team sort of understands that this ACA Premium
tax credit thing might be an issue for them in
the midterms, whereas a lot of the you know, Republican members,
a lot of them from Texas especially, you know, would
would rather see these these subsidies sort of expire and
(25:10):
rovert back. They worry that there's there's too much federal
spending on that issue, and so Trump, you know, has
been traveling a ton.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
He was in Asia. He came back, I think on Halloween.
Speaker 8 (25:21):
But has been mostly content to let Republicans in the
House and Senate negotiate this. And yeah, I mean I
think part of the calculus too. I mean there's a
few different political dynamics. I think the Democrats. A lot
of the polling has shown that, you know, Democrats are
you know, seen as better on the shutdown than Republicans,
even though like you said, Democrats are the ones that
you know, didn't vote for the funding bill.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
You know, I think it's sort of political.
Speaker 8 (25:46):
The traditional political wisdom is like nobody cares about a
twenty twenty five shut down when they go to vote
in October November twenty twenty six. So I think the
timing here certainly like means that both parties have incentive
to dig in. But yeah, I mean this is not
a true additional administration.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
You know.
Speaker 8 (26:03):
Russ Vote, the head of the Office of Management Budget
was you know, I think, totally fine with the shutdown
and has been you know, threatening to lay off more
federal employees. He did lay off some additional federal employees.
And so, yeah, at a certain point, if you're saying
which party is going to experience more pain from this,
Who takes the blame for things like snap being shut off? Ultimately,
(26:24):
when is it intolerable to either party that the pain
that's being inflicted on people from the shutdown. I think
we're kind of getting to that point this week, and
it looks like ultimately, you know, find some sort of
short term spending deal and we might do this all
again in a few weeks.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
So remind me how long the twenty eighteen like, because
you were saying, this is the second long longest shutdown.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
We tied, We tied today thirty five days?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Did it to become the longest?
Speaker 8 (26:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Yeah, what's that Chinese curse? You live through interesting times? Yeah,
you live through record setting times? Yeah yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Okay, So you you seem to be a little bit optimistic, Gabby,
that we might be getting to the point because of
like we just talked about all the pain that is
being felt this week in particular, that we might be
getting closer to to some resolution here. I mean, is
there anything is there anything public that that suggests that too,
(27:28):
or is that more of a hunch.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
I think it's more of a hunch.
Speaker 8 (27:31):
I mean a lot of the again, a lot of
the Republican senators have been projecting confidence that this is
going to get resolved this week.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
They've been wrong in the last few weeks before. But
I think some of the some of the more.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
Moderate Democratic senators have said, you know, maybe it's time
to look for an off ramp or find an agreement
that we can live with. I think part of the
problem is, you know, the notion that Republicans will completely
cave on subsidies. It's like classic situation where if you
put a one year extension for example of they say
subsidies on the House floor to it would pass. It
(28:01):
would involve the House actually coming to work, but it
would pass. You know, with all the Democrats and maybe
fifteen or so Republicans who have expressed interest, including Monica
Della Cruz in Texas.
Speaker 7 (28:10):
You know, people who are sort.
Speaker 8 (28:11):
Of I don't know if i'd call it a front liner,
but someone who's going to have a competitive race, whose
district you know, has a ton of ACA and role is.
But it would pass against the you know, objection of
the vast majority of Republicans. And so if you're the Speaker,
Mike Johnson, you don't want to create that situation, and
so I think for Democrats there's probably an internal debate
about is having a vote on this issue enough in
(28:32):
the Senate at least, or what exactly do we negotiate here,
But it's it's one of those situations where there's not
a ton of incentive for House Republicans for leadership to
bring it up against the wishes of most of their members,
even if you know, some people acknowledge that it could
be a political problem.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Well yeah, and possibly the one thing this must be
part of the democratic calculus. Possibly the one thing that
could get Republicans to be okay with having a vote
on this in the House floor would be Donald Trump
asking for it, right, And of course, you know, he
did say to CBS News this week right that he
there were things he wanted to fix about Obamacare, right,
(29:12):
although lacking specifics or how that would actually work. So
I don't know, you know, it seems like a bit
of a pipe dream, but maybe there's an opening democrats.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
See.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
I mean, the other thing is just I think there
are a lot of Democrats. We are a long way
from the November twenty twenty sixth elections. We are a
shorter way away from the twenty twenty six primaries, right,
and there are a lot of Democratic primary voters who
want to see their members of Congress showing resistance to
(29:44):
Trump in whatever way possible.
Speaker 8 (29:47):
Absolutely, yeah, And I think that's why a lot of
Republicans expected this to be over after the No King's Rally.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
But not so to see what happens with Mom Donnie first.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I did.
Speaker 8 (29:59):
An older journalist said to me, he thinks that it'll
get resolved tonight so that they can kick Democrats and
swing states can kick mom Donnie off the headlines. Interesting
as that was just that was the one person speculation.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, that sounds like magical thinking to me.
Speaker 8 (30:13):
Yeah, it was a little it was a little tinfoil hat,
but New York at the.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Center of the universe. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Well, well it is my sincere hope that this gets
resolved before Tripfest, So Gabby that you can get on
an airplane and fly down here and participate, as well
as the many members of Congress and other people coming
from out of town. As Eleanor gave a shout out earlier,
Trip Cast will also be live at the festival with
former House Speaker Dade Feelin. So I encourage folks to
(30:42):
visit festival dot Texastribune dot org to buy their tickets.
It is less than two weeks away, almost just a
little bit over a week away.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Yeah, and I will Also while you're on our website,
I believe Terry and the health teams put together a
guide on how to give and receive help during this
snap shutdown. So if you want information on you know,
whether you need help with food assistants or would like
to contribute to food assistants, check that out.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
All right, And that just about does it for today.
Thank you Gabby, Thank you Terry for lending your expertise here.
Thank you to our producers Robin Chris, thanks Eleanor, and
we will talk to you all next week.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.