To combat food insecurity during the pandemic, the new president is increasing assistance for families receiving help to make up for free and reduced-cost school lunches. He also wants to increase food stamp benefits.
COVID-19 Recession in Texas
The coronavirus pandemic has steered the Texas economy into a recession as the state’s unemployment rate remains high and many businesses struggle to survive. Several sources of government and nonprofit aid have either expired or dried up. Economists say the ongoing public health crisis will slow the recovery for individual Texans, business owners and entire industries. For the latest news on this topic, sign up for our weekly economy newsletter and follow energy and economy reporter Mitchell Ferman on Twitter.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott pushes Legislature to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, unsuccessfully pushed for similar federal legislation. Abbott’s support comes as Texas intensive care units are filling up with coronavirus patients.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Balancing Texas’ budget is always complicated. The pandemic and recession will make it even harder in 2021.
Lawmakers could face a multibillion-dollar budget deficit due to the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying recession. That will only compound the difficulties of balancing the budget.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Hungry and homeless Texans are waiting anxiously for Congress to act. The day after Christmas, pandemic jobless aid expires.
President Donald Trump has suggested he will veto COVID-19 aid legislation, creating uncertainty about when assistance may reach Americans. Meanwhile, Texans are living in cars and the state is sitting on unspent relief money.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas extends rental assistance program designed to avoid evictions until March 15
The move comes after Congress passed a stimulus bill Monday extending the federal moratorium on evictions through the end of January. The moratorium order was set to expire at the end of the year.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Those $600 relief checks could soon be on their way to many Americans
The relief bill, passed Monday night, will reinstate supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 per week and extend eviction protections through the end of January. The legislation also allocates another $284 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas unemployment rate rises to 8.1% in November
The latest unemployment rate will be a crucial data point for the Texas Legislature, which will convene in January.
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Coronavirus in Texas
An eviction moratorium expires at the end of the month, but thousands of Texans are still not able to afford rent
Communities of color are especially struggling to keep their homes. While more than half of white Texans are highly confident in being able to pay rent, only 21% of Black Texans and 14% of Hispanic Texans say the same.
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Coronavirus in Texas
More than 315,000 gig workers and independent contractors in Texas will lose unemployment relief without action from Congress
Although normally ineligible, gig workers and independent contractors qualified for unemployment aid during the pandemic. The assistance is set to expire at the end of December.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas food banks may be less equipped to help hungry households in the new year
More than 2.5 million households in Texas didn’t always have enough food to eat in November, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About two-thirds of those households were either Hispanic or Black.