The longest authorities shutdown in U.S. historical past had an outsized impression on already susceptible residents in Bexar County.
Now that it’s over, native leaders say the panic over delayed meals help and at-risk well being care subsidies ought to paint a transparent image of what’s coming down the pipeline for a neighborhood constantly ranked among the many most impoverished giant cities.
Republicans’ signature financial coverage since taking management of the White Home in November, signed into legislation by President Donald Trump in July, makes large cuts to Medicaid, environmental packages and meals advantages to assist pay for tax cuts, elevated protection spending and border safety.
“To provide you an thought of the necessity in our neighborhood, in Bexar County, $50 million price of SNAP advantages comes into our neighborhood each single month,” Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones stated on a Texas Tribune Competition panel Friday morning.
“It was unprecedented for these advantages to not be forward-paid to these people that would wish it in the course of the shutdown,” Jones stated, ” … [and] what it did is give us a extremely good thought of, sadly, what the implementation of that pretty, Massive Stunning Invoice goes to appear to be.”
Meals insecurity in Bexar County
San Antonio famously skilled traces across the block at its meals financial institution when residents had been out of labor in the course of the COVID-19 shutdown — a state of affairs Jones stated might quickly repeat if leaders aren’t cautious.
On Friday, Jones and Bexar County Choose Peter Sakai had been joined by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio), who had simply returned from Thursday’s authorities funding vote in Washington.
Castro was among the many overwhelming majority of Democrats dissatisfied to see some members of his occasion break with Republicans on a short lived spending measure that ended the shutdown by punting Congress’s subsequent funding deadline to January — however didn’t make good on the aim of securing well being care tax credit set to run out on the finish of the 12 months.
He stated that meant all the ache People felt over federal employee furloughs, flight delays and finally, a dip within the financial system, was for naught.
“There was one main factor that Democrats requested for … which is we must always have prolonged these [Affordable Care Act] tax credit, as a result of the No. 1 factor that bankrupts individuals is well being care debt,” Castro stated. “I want the deal [to reopen the government] had been for the one factor that we had been preventing for on behalf of People.”
Congress is predicted to revisit the well being care subsidies in December earlier than they expire.
However each Jones and Bexar County Choose Peter Sakai have been warning for months that any federal cuts to social security internet packages will doubtless depart native governments to select up the prices — making the budgets the town and county authorized in September a mere guess at what neighborhood wants will appear to be within the coming months.
Jones has the Metropolis Council doing wartime drills to plan their subsequent transfer if Metro Well being’s funds is slashed, or different federal grants accounting for greater than $150 million within the metropolis funds evaporate.
“On the metropolis stage, now we have just a little little bit of a [budget] hole in fiscal 12 months 2026, however the hole that we’re all very involved about is fiscal 12 months 2027,” Jones stated. “We’ve got a plan to shut it. However as you all know, that funds ain’t closing, that hole ain’t closed.”
Equally, Sakai is convening native stakeholders for summits on meals insecurity and well being care, geared toward making ready for federal cuts.
“I simply had a dialog with Congressman Castro this morning as we had been briefing within the inexperienced room, and one of many questions I requested him was, ‘Okay, the federal authorities’s again on, is there any silver lining? Is there any optimism?’” Sakai stated on Friday’s panel.
“What now we have … even with the persevering with decision, is a reduce to meals stamps. We’ve got a reduce on the finish of the 12 months on the Inexpensive Care Act subsidies. We’ve obtained cuts to Medicaid,” he continued. “We’ve got individuals going hungry. … I hope the individuals in energy in Washington, D.C. behind these federal insurance policies perceive the impact it’s having on our neighborhood, on working households, particularly probably the most susceptible.”
Voter sentiment
Jones stated she was particularly apprehensive concerning the impression on reproductive well being care, which has already taken a funding hit from the lack of a Title X Household Planning Program, and can be additional imperiled by Medicaid cuts.
A number of the federal coverage modifications authorized over the summer time nonetheless hinge on Congress reaching a real spending settlement, as an alternative of conserving present spending ranges frozen by stop-gap measures.
However in the course of the shutdown, Jones stated, it turned clear that states are discovering a technique to proceed with deliberate cuts anyway, in response to leaders on the San Antonio Meals Financial institution.
“One of many issues that they’re sadly getting wind of is the potential implementation of the Massive, Stunning Invoice sooner slightly than later, based mostly on a few of the leeway that the states must implement that,” Jones stated.
Talking on a separate panel the day past, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio), prompt nationwide Republicans had been certainly beginning to really feel the warmth from financial woes.
The GOP total had a foul election night time on Nov. 4, during which some teams that had been shifting towards the Republican Get together, particularly Hispanic voters, swung laborious the opposite approach.
Now Trump’s White Home is contemplating “stimulus checks” he stated can be paid for by income from his tariff insurance policies.
“The truth that President Trump is taking a look at distributing these $2,000 checks out to people, as a result of lots of people are hurting, I feel that simply goes to point out that could possibly be an space that abruptly, Hispanic People go, ‘Wait a second. Possibly my authorities hasn’t forgotten about me,’” Gonzales stated.
