Four million Texans now take advantage of tax credits that help offset the cost of health insurance, making it one of the fastest growing states for enrollment through the Affordable Care Act. That puts them at the center of the fight over federal spending that led to a government shutdown earlier this week, with Democrats insisting that any deal must include an extension of the tax… Read more »

As Congress negotiates a short-term deal to keep the government funded and avoid a shutdown on Oct. 1, homeowners might not be thinking about their flood insurance.  But most flood insurance policies in Texas are written by the federal government. If Congress doesn’t act to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program by Sept. 30, it will lapse, leaving thousands of Texans… Read more »

A bipartisan group of House members have relaunched the Flood Resilience Caucus to bolster preparedness and improve coordination. Lawmakers said the relaunch was in response to the deadly Texas floods in July and will focus on strengthening critical infrastructure and creating long-term policy solutions to protect coastal communities… Read more »

In June, President Donald Trump told a gathering at the Oval Office that he wanted to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and hand its responsibilities to the states — possibly as early as this December, once the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ends. That was just before FEMA played a critical role in the response to the Texas Hill Country floods, which cost more than… Read more »

Democrats took to social media to to criticize the state's new congressional map after it passed the Texas Senate early Saturday morning, setting the path for Republicans to gain up to five additional seats in the U.S. House. Shortly before 1 a.m., the upper chamber voted 18-11 along party lines to pass the measure and send the redistricting map to the Gov. Greg Abbott. An attempt to… Read more »

Texas has been called the hungriest state in the country, having the highest food insecurity rate nationwide, according to the nonprofit Feeding America. One in six Texans regularly goes hungry, a third of whom are children. That's more than 3% above the national average. Federal and state programs designed to ease hunger and poverty, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,… Read more »

The beauty and personal care industry touches the lives of every American. The average American adult uses nine personal care products a day. Recently, there’s been growing concern about chemicals like formaldehyde, mercury, asbestos, and lead in beauty and personal care products, which may be linked to cancer, infertility, poor infant and maternal health outcomes, asthma, and numerous… Read more »

“Beauty is wonderful, but I think safe beauty is the real glow up,” said Christin Birkhead. She has been a makeup artist for more than two decades and is also the owner of Conceptual Beauty, a company that offers on-site hair and makeup services in Washington D.C. and surrounding areas. Spectrum News caught up with Birkhead, who said she wants to see more safety standards in the beauty… Read more »

Texas Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher joins Sarah Longwell to take on the shameless power grab happening in Texas. Texas Republicans are trying to ram through a mid-decade redistricting plan that could give the GOP 80% of the state’s congressional seats—even though nearly half of Texans vote Democratic. View this interview in The Bulwark. Read more »

The 2025 U.S.-Africa Energy Forum (USAEF) opened in Houston on Wednesday with a direct message to U.S. investors and policymakers: Africa represents one of the most significant energy investment frontiers of the 21st century – and the United States (U.S.) risks losing ground without immediate, coordinated action. Against a backdrop of… Read more »