ReportWire

Tag: Lizzie Fletcher

  • SNAP Program Lingers in Uncertainty – Houston Press

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s Note: Federal Judge John McConnell ruled Thursday afternoon that the Trump administration must fully fund November SNAP benefits immediately to prevent further harm to 42 million Americans.

    A federal judge ruled recently that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has to provide, at the very least, partial benefits to food stamp recipients in November, but single moms like Hillary Randall who are dependent on government assistance say the only notification they’ve received is that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is monitoring the situation.

    Randall told the Houston Press last month that she spent her October deposit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on packaged meats that she stocked in her freezer. Randall, a widow who is employed and taking classes at San Jacinto College, cares for four children and her ill father. 

    She and about 3.5 million Texans will be relying heavily on food banks and churches so they don’t go hungry during the government shutdown, which is now the longest in history. 

    Following the judge’s ruling, the Trump administration said on November 3 that it will provide only half of the normal food stamp benefits for the month by tapping into the program’s contingency fund. The payments are likely to be delayed. 

    Randall is due to have her EBT card loaded on November 12 but when she checks her balance, she gets a message that says, “Check back later for more information.” A USDA official said in court last week that some SNAP recipients may not see their partial benefits for weeks or months, depending on how long the shutdown lasts and how quickly individual states can reconfigure their electronic payment systems. 

    Government Shutdown

    Trump’s Republican Party is blaming Democrats for the shutdown, which not only halted SNAP distribution but also created a catastrophic situation for air travelers across the country. Delays averaging three hours were reported at Houston airports on Monday, and while the situation appears to have improved, flights are being canceled and frustration is mounting. 

    Texas-based Southwest and American Airlines called for a “clean” short-term spending bill to end the shutdown and restore pay for federal workers like air traffic controllers and TSA agents. 

    With Thanksgiving looming, could a compromise be in sight? 

    Republicans say that Democrats could end the shutdown immediately by voting on a resolution to fund federal agencies. The Dems appear to be holding out in an effort to extend healthcare premium exemptions under the Affordable Care Act that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    Several agencies and lawmakers sent letters to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins asking her to release about $5 billion in contingency funds. After the ruling in federal court, the USDA said it would obligate $4.65 billion in reserves to cover half of the current allotments for eligible households in November.

    The remaining $600 million in the fund will be used for state administrative expenses and nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico and American Samoa, CNN reported. 

    United Food and Commercial Workers International president Milton Jones pointed out in a letter that cutting SNAP benefits doesn’t just harm low-income families; it hurts the workers and the economy. 

    “Rising costs at the grocery store already threaten household budgets, especially for low-income families,” Jones said. “An interruption in food assistance will only make matters worse, and workers in meatpacking, food processing, and grocery could see a reduction in hours and wages if SNAP dollars aren’t available to be spent in their stores or on their products.”

    One Fair Wage, a national organization of service workers and restaurant employees, launched an emergency fund on Tuesday to provide direct cash assistance for groceries and basic needs to workers affected by the SNAP cuts.   

    Houston Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher joined fellow Democrats in asking that contingency funds be released and that the USDA “use its statutory transfer authority or any other legal authority at its disposal to supplement these dollars and fully fund November benefits.”

    Texas ranks second in the country for the highest number of SNAP recipients, with 3.5 million Texans, including 1.7 million children, receiving benefits. In Houston, more than half of the recipients are children under the age of 18 and another 11 percent are seniors over the age of 65, according to Fletcher’s office. 

    “If the Trump administration fails to act, 35,219 households in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District risk not being able to put food on the table [in November],” Fletcher said. 

    Texas House Democrats delivered a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to declare a state of emergency and authorize temporary SNAP benefits. 

    “It’s un-Texan and un-American to turn a blind eye to our neighbors’ suffering,” said Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston. “Governor Abbott has the clear authority to use state funds to bridge the gap in federal funding and keep Texans fed — he should do it without delay. Texas House Democrats are taking action to protect our neighbors from this unprecedented and manufactured crisis.” 

    Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, followed suit, pleading with the governor to find a temporary solution ahead of the holiday season. 

    Houston and Harris County officials have also weighed in on the shutdown. Democrat Commissioner Rodney Ellis said this week that no family should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from, “especially in a place as prosperous as Harris County.”

    “But the White House is holding food assistance hostage, treating SNAP benefits like a political bargaining chip,” Ellis said in a statement. “Nearly 70,000 of our neighbors — children, seniors, caregivers, and students — now face the possibility of going without the groceries they depend on to survive.”

    Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, also a Democrat, pointed out that research indicates that food insecurity is linked to erosion in public safety, referencing a Clemson University study that shows a 1 percent increase in food insecurity corresponded with a 12 percent increase in violent crime. 

    “Anyone who truly cares about public safety should be alarmed by this self-imposed funding crisis manufactured in Washington,” Teare said at a November 3 press conference. “My hope is that fellow Houstonians will rise to the occasion to make sure we’re looking out for the most vulnerable among us, especially as we begin the transition into the holiday season.”  

    Resources for the Hungry

    The Houston school district announced this week that it expanded opportunities for free breakfast and after-school supper service. Every student will be offered breakfast upon arrival at school and the supper program was expanded from 132 campuses to 231. 

    “Breakfast is one of the most important parts of a child’s day,” said HISD Deputy Chief of Nutrition Services Betti Wiggins in a press release. “By creating more flexibility around breakfast service, we’re making sure students can start their mornings with a healthy meal and a positive mindset.”

    Families may also visit any of the district’s eight Sunrise Centers across Houston, which provide weekly food distributions, along with clothing and other items. 

    The Houston Food Bank continues to offer “supersite” distribution events for federal employees and SNAP recipients but participants must register before showing up. The goal of the events is to distribute groceries first to those who have gone the longest without benefits, said Houston Food Bank president and CEO Brian Greene at an October 28 media event. 

    The following food distribution events are planned: 

    • November 8 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Assistance Ministries, 15555 Kuykendahl Road
    • November 11 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bethel’s Heavenly Hands, 12525 Fondren Road
    • November 13 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Community of Faith Church, 1024 Pinemont Drive
    • November 15 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Assistance Ministries, 15555 Kuykendahl Road
    • November 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bethel’s Heavenly Hands, 12525 Fondren Road
    • November 20 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Community of Faith Church, 1024 Pinemont Drive
    • November 22 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Assistance Ministries, 15555 Kuykendahl Road

    [ad_2]

    April Towery

    Source link

  • Harris County Wants $7 Billion Solar Program Restored – Houston Press

    [ad_1]

    Since Donald Trump took office in January, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has sued the federal government four times, saying Tuesday that it’s the only way to get the attention of an administration that has repeatedly, illegally, broken promises to low-income Texans. 

    Menefee announced this week that he filed the latest lawsuit in federal court demanding that the $7 billion Solar for All program be reinstated. The grant would have offered $59 million to Harris County, the largest Solar for All award in the nation. Earlier this year, the county attorney filed two lawsuits against the federal government related to healthcare funding and one to challenge federal workforce layoffs. 

    “In the two that were about money, we’re 2 and 0,” Menefee told the Houston Press on Tuesday. “Over the refugee health funds, the funding was restored. Over the public health funds in the wake of COVID-19, the funding was restored. In the federal layoffs case we got a temporary injunction that blocked the federal government from continuing the layoffs. That went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which eliminated the injunction.” 

    “In many instances, with the Trump administration, the left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing,” he added. “They’ll eliminate funding; they will get rid of programs; they will temporarily freeze programs. It is 100 percent illegal, and they’re not truly made aware of that until they’re hauled in front of a judge and they have to answer for what they’ve done.” 

    Menefee’s latest action is an effort to salvage about $250 million that was awarded to the nonpartisan Texas Solar for All Coalition, designed to lower electricity bills, create clean energy jobs, and expand access to affordable solar power across disadvantaged communities. 

    Grant recipients would have had their energy bills slashed by about $500 per year, and the funding would have covered solar and battery installation for thousands of residents in neighborhoods that experience blackouts and high heat, said Menefee, who is running for U.S. Congressional District 18 in November. 

    The Solar for All program was approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. The federal government rescinded the grant — illegally, according to Menefee — in August of this year, saying the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority and funding for the program. 

    Menefee said Congress created the program and promised funding to local governments and families across the country. They can’t just walk it back, he said. 

    “This isn’t just another policy disagreement,” he said. “It’s a clear-cut case of federal overreach, an illegal attempt to cancel a program that Congress already appropriated the funds for. They never supported this program, so they made up a justification for killing it.”

    U.S. Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, said at a Monday press conference that work had already started in the communities that were awarded Solar for All grants when the funds were rescinded. 

    “In Houston, Port Arthur and Waco, training programs were already underway to certify Texans in solar installation and energy efficiency,” Fletcher said. “The coalition had already begun building resilience hubs, community centers, and homes equipped with solar and battery backup to keep the lights on during hurricanes or potential grid failures. For communities like ours along the Gulf Coast, these hubs mean the difference between safety and suffering in the next storm.” 

    The Solar For All program would have offered measurable savings for families that have trouble paying the bills, “especially in times like these when prices are going up because of other terrible policies implemented by the Trump administration,” the congresswoman added.  

    When the cuts were announced, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called programs like Solar for All “a grift and a boondoggle,” citing a need for environmental regulation. About 90 percent of the EPA workforce has been furloughed during the government shutdown that began October 1, so it’s unclear whether a response to Harris County’s lawsuit will be forthcoming. 

    Menefee told the Press on Tuesday that the lawsuit and media events aren’t part of a symbolic pep rally; the goal is to get the funds reinstated. 

    “We want a ruling that the EPA’s decision violates the law,” he said. “We’re taking action to ensure that the courts hold the federal government accountable. The elimination of this program is illegal .My hope is that the court requires the EPA to reinstate the program.” 

    Hundreds of applications were submitted for the competitive program, and several county leaders worked to ensure that Harris County got a cut. The grant would have assisted more than 28,000 families across Texas and about 10,000 in Harris County. 

    Harris County families and neighborhoods had not yet been identified as funding recipients, Menefee said, but the program was widely publicized. 

    “Folks very much knew that Harris County had been awarded this grant and we were going to, with federal dollars, make a deep investment in lowering people’s bills,” he said. “There were not specific individuals who were expecting they were going to get the money but certainly the community at large expected this money to come.” 

    Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Adrian Garcia attended the press conference this week and detailed the rigorous grant application process for the solar program. 

    “Generating more electricity is not part of a political agenda, power is not partisan, and fuel for our first responders should not be controversial,” Garcia said. “We need to produce more energy to sustain the growth across Texas, and I hope the courts will see it this way too.”

    Hidalgo said the grant wasn’t just going to help Harris County families; it was going to boost infrastructure for natural disasters. 

    “There’s a saying in emergency management that there are two kinds of generators: the kind that start and fail and the kind that never start,” she said. “We were working based on that premise and developing hubs that would have their own ability to produce solar energy, their own microgrid, so if the grid failed, they could still have power.”

    Menefee said he hopes Harris County will get a response from the government within 60 days. 

    “This is about more than one grant,” Menefee said. “It’s about good government. The federal government made a promise to local communities. We did our part, and now Washington has to hold up its end of the deal.” 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

    [ad_2]

    April Towery

    Source link

  • Houstonians Are Feeling Effects as Government Shutdown Hits Two-Week Mark – Houston Press

    [ad_1]

    Patrice Williams has relied on Obamacare health insurance subsidies since 2021, and she’s getting nervous that her payments could more than double if the U.S. Congress doesn’t reach a funding agreement by the end of the year. 

    Potentially rising healthcare costs, upcoming holiday travel plans, and stalled environmental cleanup projects are on the minds of Houstonians who say they don’t just want the federal government shutdown to end; they want assurance that the services they rely on will remain in place. 

    The shutdown was announced October 1 when the U.S. Congress failed to reach a funding agreement that would keep governmental agencies like the Veterans Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, military bases, and national parks operating at full capacity. 

    The impasse occurred because most Congressional Democrats want to extend enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. When the credits were approved during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were intended to be temporary, and some Republicans are pushing back that they can’t continue to fund billions in affordable healthcare while the federal government is in debt to the tune of trillions. 

    A “continuing resolution” that would have kept the government open for seven weeks passed the U.S. House late last month, but Senate Republicans need 60 votes to pass a spending bill through the upper chamber. Only 48 Senate votes were cast in favor of the continuing resolution prior to the September 30 deadline. 

    A likely scenario to end the shutdown would be that some Democrats switch their votes, and if that happens, there may be a negotiation scenario in which the Republicans agree to reconsider tax credits at the end of the year, Rice University economist John Diamond has said. 

    As the shutdown hit the two-week mark, Houstonians grew increasingly worried. 

    Kevin Strickland, right, talks to Houston Progressive Caucus founder Karthik Soora at a Houston Progressive Caucus event on Sunday. Credit: April Towery

    Williams said she’s on a fixed income and doesn’t “have a lot of wiggle room” when it comes to budgeting. Kevin Strickland, who spoke to a reporter at a Houston Progressive Caucus gathering on Sunday, expressed a similar sentiment.

    “I’m self-employed, so I’m screwed,” he said. “I have [Affordable Care Act] insurance. My premium will triple. I’m not eligible for Medicare for several more years.”

    Dr. Audrey Nath, a pediatric neurologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said she’s worried about the shutdown’s impact on affordable healthcare, particularly because it comes on the heels of $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed in July. 

    “Close to $1 trillion was cut from Medicaid in order to perpetuate corporate tax cuts,” Nath said. “What I and many other physicians, healthcare workers, and Medicaid recipients talked about as this bill was getting passed was that this takes a very real human toll. Two out of five women who have babies are on Medicaid. We have elderly people in Medicaid-funded nursing homes. Where are they going to go?” 

    Dr. Audrey Nath said she’s concerned about Houstonians losing affordable healthcare. Credit: April Towery

    Homeless shelters don’t have medical equipment, added Nath, who is running for a nonpartisan seat on the Houston ISD school board in November. 

    “We just need a functioning healthcare system,” she said. “I spoke to a friend of mine who is a specialist at a rural hospital in Texas. He said they’ve got maybe 14 days of liquid cash on hand to stay afloat if they were to stop getting payments. When you have massive cuts like that, people are going to lose coverage. Rural hospitals will close. If you are a wealthy person with private insurance, if the hospital is gone and you have a heart attack in a little town, it doesn’t matter who you are. We are all affected by this.” 

    “I think it was strategic and tactical to paint Medicaid as this niche thing for poor people or able-bodied men who don’t feel like getting a job,” she added. “In reality, the proportion of Medicaid recipients who aren’t working or in school or caretaking is really quite low. Now, for the government to be shut down, and for there to be even whispers that it’s freeloaders who want healthcare, it’s disgusting. It’s so far from what the reality is.” 

    Corisha Rogers said President Donald Trump’s policies are not serving working-class Americans, “especially with the rising costs of healthcare.”

    “Millions of people will be affected in terms of healthcare,” she said. 

    The shutdown is also taking a toll on airports, where “essential” employees like air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents, are going to work without the promise of a check. 

    They should be able to receive back pay in a lump sum once the government reopens, but past shutdowns have prompted “sickouts,” where employees don’t show up, usually because they’re seeking part-time work so they can pay their bills. Trump has also indicated that furloughed employees will be laid off during the shutdown. 

    “And it will be Democrat-oriented, because we figure, you know, they started this thing,” the President said last week. “It’ll be a lot.”

    Flight Aware, software that tracks American airport activity, showed four canceled flights and 87 delays at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday. During the same time frame, there were no canceled flights and 70 delays at William P. Hobby Airport. A spokesperson for the Houston Airport System, which manages IAH, Hobby, and Houston Spaceport, referred questions about the shutdown to the Federal Aviation Administration. 

    Frequent business travelers have said they’ve spotted a third-party security team doing checks rather than TSA, and the delays are expected to get worse as the shutdown continues. 

    During the 35-day shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019, flights across the country were delayed and canceled. This time around, residents are growing concerned about holiday travel. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is typically the busiest day of the year for American airports. 

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a press conference last week that air traffic controllers have already started calling in sick. 

    “They’re not thinking about the airspace. They’re thinking about, am I going to get a paycheck?” he said. 

    Williams said she’s not purchasing plane tickets anytime soon but she has a daughter and grandchildren in Louisiana that she hopes will come to Houston for Christmas. 

    “Lord willing, this mess will be over long before Christmas,” she said. 

    Houstonians can voice their frustration with the shutdown and the Trump administration this weekend. More than 2,500 “No Kings” protests are scheduled across the country on Saturday, October 18, including one from noon to 2 p.m. at Discovery Green and one from 2 to 6 p.m. at Houston City Hall. The No Kings movement aims to “send a clear and unmistakable message: we are a nation of equals, and our country will not be ruled by fear or force,” according to organizers. 

    Officials with Air Alliance Houston said at an October 11 event that they’re worried about stalled Environmental Protection Agency projects, which already take a long time to start, much less complete. 

    “There is a lot of heartburn and heartache in our communities,” said Air Alliance Communications Director Brenda Franco. “We’re seeing the effects that this current administration is having on communities that have been neglected.”

    Air Alliance Houston sued the federal government in June, claiming that the Trump administration illegally terminated environmental justice grant programs despite a Congressional directive to fund them. 

    “Here in Houston — one of the most polluted cities in the country — our grant would have helped people who live day-to-day with air pollution to have a meaningful say in the environmental decisions that affect their lives,” said Air Alliance Houston Executive Director Jennifer Hadayia at the time the grant was rescinded. “Now, communities like ours will not receive the critical support needed to make change, support that we legally and contractually received.”

    Although the shutdown doesn’t have a direct effect on the pending lawsuit over grant funding, it does mean more delays for already-approved cleanup projects like the one at San Jacinto River Toxic Waste Pits in East Harris County.  The EPA reported that about 90 percent of its workforce will be furloughed during the shutdown.  

    Both political parties are blaming each other for the shutdown, with some Republicans suggesting that the Democrats are attempting to offer discounted healthcare to undocumented persons. 

    “They have made a decision that they would rather give taxpayer funded benefits to illegal aliens, than to keep the doors open for the American people,” said Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the day after the shutdown. 

    U.S.  Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, said on the Houston Matters radio show earlier this month that government employees could go back to work immediately if Republicans would compromise. 

    YouTube video

    “There are a couple of critical things that Republicans aren’t doing,” she said. “One, protecting the healthcare of Americans across the country whose bills, insurance premiums and expenses are about to go through the roof. We all know it’s coming, so it’s really important that we address that now. And, two, make sure that the Trump administration spends the money as we’ve directed, which has not happened all year. That’s really the stalemate.” 

    While Trump is referring to the stalemate as a “Democrat shutdown,” Fletcher pointed out that Republicans control the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House.

    “They have the ability to bring a bill to the floor at any time to have averted this situation and to end it,” she said. “The Democrats have laid out priorities. The biggest thing we have said is that we’ve got to deal with the fact that the actions that this Congress and this White House have taken this year have caused a healthcare crisis.” 

    And for Patrice Williams and other Houstonians, the clock is ticking.

    “I thank God that I’m healthy right now, but that could change instantly,” she said. “I’m praying to God they do the right thing.”

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

    [ad_2]

    April Towery

    Source link