Day 20: Services Under Siege And Democrats On The Frontline
How underfunding, Republican overreach, and resistance define the Texas political landscape.
We are living in the dumbest timeline in human history. After the orange one enacted his tariffs over the weekend, the stock market tanked on Monday. Then, Trump finally spoke with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Both promised Trump they would do the same things they’ve already been doing, so Trump canceled the tariffs and said he won.
Not only that, but Trump promised to crack down on the Iron River, something leftists have been pushing for years. The leftist President of Mexico outsmarted our Idiot in Chief. Yet, he bragged about a win.
While all this was happening, most of us thought, “Only a complete dummy would believe Trump actually did something.” Well…
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s coup reminds us all why National Democrats aren’t the same as Texas Democrats.
For a long time, I’ve tried to stress the difference between Texas Democrats and those from elsewhere. Texas Democrats are the most ideologically progressive Democrats in America, yet they are constantly lumped with the establishment Democrats in DC.
People pay attention to national politics, and the leftist mediasphere in Texas is virtually non-existent. So, leftists in Texas generally don’t vote, even though Texas Democrats want everything that they want. But…
Texas Democrats have been fighting fascism long before it made its way to DC.
Texas Democrats would break quorum to stop the worst Republican legislation.
Texas Democrats’ platform aligns closer to the DSA platform than the California Democrats’ platform.
Texas Democrats take Republican power-grabbing very seriously.
As Elon Musk raided the United States Treasury Department over the weekend, the DNC was caught doing the conga line.
Texas Democrats would never.
Whoever becomes the next Chair of the Texas Democratic Party must emphasize in their messaging that Texas Democrats are not the same as the establishment duds in DC (except for Henry Cuellar and Lizzie Fletcher). We must somehow get the attention of the state’s non-voters to what’s happening in Texas, not DC.
Texas Democrats have been fighting fascism in Texas for years. Non-Texas Democrats in DC are enabling it.
If you’re looking for a good explanation of what’s happening in Washinton, DC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had an excellent explainer last night on Instagram, which you can see here.
Food for thought: It only took Hitler 53 days to dismantle democracy.
The Texas House Democratic Caucus held a presser on vouchers yesterday.
Their new slogan is fantastic. “Students over billionaires.”
Democrats have developed the right messaging and strategy for the voucher scheme, even getting Republican voters on their side. Technically, Greg Abbott has the votes in the Legislature to get vouchers passed this session. However, as it’s looking right now, SB2 (the Senate version of vouchers) is an absolute garbage bill.
The House rejected the Senate’s voucher program in the last session, and perhaps they will do so again this year.
Day 20 - Senate Finance Committee, Budget Hearings - Day Five.
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Finance met to discuss Article II of the Health and Human Services budget. Only agencies testified at yesterday’s hearings, and today (Day 21) will be for public testimony only. I won’t cover the public testimony tomorrow because it’s all the same. Families and mental health providers are asking for more investments in Medicaid, group homes, autism care, and care for people with intellectual disabilities. We already know that these services are underfunded and understaffed, which was discussed in the hearings with the agencies yesterday.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission provides millions of Texans with essential health and human services. Its mission is to improve Texans’ health, safety, and well-being through programs that promote independence and protect vulnerable populations. This includes Medicaid and CHIP, mental health services, disability and long-term care services, SNAP, TANF, and other health and human services programs.
HHSC has a significant backlog of cases addressing abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It has 15,000 open complaints, 6,000 of which concern abuse and neglect. Most of these cases have been backlogged for more than 30 days. Because it is underfunded, its response times and ability to close cases on schedule are reduced. Twelve hundred cases are over a year old, mainly for Home and Community Services (HCS) providers.
Although the Legislature seems to be leaning toward ending remote work in Texas, the HHSC testified that allowing employees to work from home saved the state $170 million by reducing leased office space and canceling a planned new building.
Here are some other tidbits from the HHSC testimony:
Because of funding shortfalls, SNAP (food stamps) applications take over 30 days to process.
Expanding Medicaid in Texas would reduce healthcare costs by 38%.
The Legislature needs to designate HHSC as the lead agency to implement the summer EBT program (food for needy kids in the summer), but they haven’t done that yet.
Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).
This is the agency that investigates child abuse and neglect in homes, residential settings, and daycares, as well as protects adults over 65 or with disabilities from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. They’ve constantly been underfunded and have functioned in crisis mode for decades.
In the last session, there was a statewide increase in staff pay of 10%, which seemed to help this agency particularly, as it went from a 30% staff turnover rate to only 20% this last year. The number of children without placement dropped from an 86.5 daily average to 57.2. So, while the slight pay raise last session helped, it didn’t solve all the problems.
DFPS’s case management system is 30 years old, which is insane. We know how fast technology moves in 2025, yet this agency is working with a system implemented in 1995. They need more funding, not just for staff but also for technology.
Texas State Health Services.
While the Texas Health and Human Services Commission focuses on social services, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) focuses on public health and safety, including disease prevention, emergency response, and healthcare regulation. Since their names are very similar, I wanted to clarify that.
Like every other agency, this agency is also understaffed and underfunded, but it wasn’t the testimony about the lack of resources that alarmed me. Nope, it was the number of stillborn babies with congenital syphilis.
There’s been a rise in congenital syphilis cases since 2017, with 930 affected babies in 2023, including 52 stillbirths. DSHS has been trying to increase awareness, enhance treatment access, and support physicians to prevent newborn transmission, but they can only do as much as their funding allows.
DSHS is supposed to address public health issues such as STDs, tuberculosis (TB), and rabies. However, Texas’ continuous population growth and underfunding have strained these services. Plus, due to low salaries compared to federal and private-sector opportunities, highly skilled staff turnover has been exceptionally high, particularly in meat safety and radiation safety programs.
Here are the YouTube links to some other agency testimony from yesterday:
Today.
The House gavels in today for a short session. We should expect the far right to act up; otherwise, nothing exciting will happen. We still don’t have committee assignments in the House yet, but I’m watching out for those.
As I mentioned, today, in the budget hearing in the Senate Committee on Finance, they are hearing public testimony relating to Health and Human Services, but tomorrow (Day 22), they’ll start the hearings on higher education.
Coming soon:
Monday 2/10: Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs (invited testimony only)
Wednesday 2/12: Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Besides the budget, SB1, the hearing on 2/12, is the first hearing of the session that the Senate will hold hearings on bills. These bills:
Despite the budget crisis for health and human services, political theater continues to dominate state and national discourse.
The far-right flexes its control in Texas while the national Democratic establishment remains disconnected from the urgent battles being fought here. Texas Democrats have long been engaged in a fight against fascism and far-right extremism, often without the support of their national counterparts.
It’s also clear that strategic messaging, like the new “Students over Billionaires” slogan, can make a difference, as evidenced by the growing bipartisan opposition to school vouchers. If Texas Democrats can sharpen their focus on issues affecting working families while distinguishing themselves from the stagnant establishment in DC, they may finally energize the state’s vast pool of non-voters.
In the days ahead, public testimony and budget decisions will reveal how committed the state government is to addressing these crises or whether it will continue prioritizing corporate giveaways and culture wars over the lives of everyday Texans. It’s up to all of us to stay engaged, hold lawmakers accountable, and keep pushing for real solutions. After all, if history has taught us anything, it’s that democracy can crumble quickly when no one is paying attention.
March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.
June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.
Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.
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