The federal government shutdown has entered its fourth week with no deal in sight, and the effects are hitting home for millions of Texans who rely on SNAP benefits to buy groceries. If Congress doesn’t strike a funding agreement by the end of the day, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could run out of money to load November benefits — a situation that would impact… Read more »

In the latest episode of This Week in Texas, ABC13 takes you to Conroe, where voters are considering a change to the way their local government works. Our political insiders, Court Koenning and Angel Carroll, weigh in with their thoughts. ABC13 also sits down for a conversation with the Harris County Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez. Plus, we discuss the government shutdown with… Read more »

Congressional Democrats are pressing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restore funding to a program expanding the deployment of solar energy for working families. The move follows Harris County's lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration to restore the program. The EPA announced on Aug. 7 that it would terminate the Solar for All program and take back $7… Read more »

Governor Greg Abbott should keep the Texas National Guard where it belongs — in Texas. On October 6, Governor Abbott took 200 Texas guardsmen from their families and jobs and sent them to Chicago, Illinois. In doing so, the governor facilitated a power grab by President Donald Trump. Abbott’s peers, the governors of Oregon and Illinois, have both objected to the National Guard… Read more »

As several U.S. airports refuse to show a video of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown, Houston airport officials have not yet said whether they’ll play the partisan message at their security checkpoints. The video of Noem criticizing the Democratic Party has sparked pushback from Democratic leaders about whether her use… Read more »

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… Read more »

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee filed a lawsuit Monday contesting the Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $400 million in solar energy grants earmarked for Texas-based organizations. The federal funding, part of a $7 billion Biden-era program known as Solar for All, was meant to help lower-income families access solar panels and battery storage systems. It was… Read more »

The Trump administration is pushing ahead with a plan to deploy hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers to Democratic-led parts of the country as it seeks to ramp up its criminal justice crackdown. A Trump-appointed federal judge has temporarily blocked a deployment to Oregon, which was meant to respond to protests at Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings, while a lawsuit… Read more »

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 »