The Texas Report 7/28

The Texas Report 7/28

What’s Happening:

• U.S. Capitol Police to open Texas field office due to rising threats against member of Congress (More here)

• Federal Broadband rules may cause rural Texas to lose out on billions (More here)

• Half Million Texans lose Medicaid coverage primarily for procedural reasons. (More here)

U.S. Capitol Police to open Texas field office due to rising threats against members of Congress

The Capitol Police are looking at opening new field offices in Milwaukee, Boston, and Texas to combat increased threats against members of Congress.

Chief J. Thomas Manger revealed the plans on Wednesday at a joint oversight hearing of the Capitol Police Board, telling lawmakers that agents who protect congressional leadership are working more cases and overtime.

Chief Manger said that the new field locations would increase the department’s footprint across the country and enable it to pursue more member threat cases. The department has received money to open the offices but didn’t give an exact timeline on when that would happen.

Senator Ted Cruz expressed concern about the increased violence and added, “I fear we’re going to wake up one day, and somebody is going to be killed.” He added that a Senate staffer had been repeatedly stabbed in broad daylight here in Washington, D.C., near the Capitol.

According to the police department, the new offices will “ensure our department resources are adequately dispersed to safeguard Members of Congress and to investigate threats when in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.”

The department is on pace for approximately 8,000 to 9,000 threat cases this year, according to Manger. There were 7,501 cases in 2022, 9,625 in 2021, 8,613 in 2020, and 6,955 in 2019.

Federal Broadband rules may cause rural Texas to lose out on billions

The Federal Government recently awarded Texas $3.3 billion to expand broadband infrastructure across the state. This, along with $1.5 billion from the state dollars, is being touted by politicians and telecommunication companies as a significant opportunity to bring high-speed internet service to the rural and underserved communities across Texas.

Despite the general enthusiasm for the new investment, some rural providers worry their communities will be shut off from the historic investment.

Federal rules require each company applying for a grant to provide letters of credit from major banks that cover at least 25% of the proposed project.

There is no guarantee of grant acceptance, and many rural providers bank locally, meaning they’d have to find the closest qualified bank, become a customer, and then put in enough money to match 25% of the potential multi-million dollar grant.

These requirements were set by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the president on telecommunication policy issues and will handle the disbursement of funds. The requirements are to protect federal investment as previous funding programs like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund are estimated to have $2.8 billion in defaults.

• Many of the potentially impacted providers are calling on the state Broadband Development Office (BDO) to provide support and help facilitate the implementation of these various provisions.

• The BDO, is leading its first extensive Texas grant program (BOOT). Which is in the middle of the challenge process where the state is attempting to have providers with overlapping grant applications negotiate amongst themselves to see who can draw down public funds.

• There are one hundred eighty-five applications from twenty-three applicants requesting just under $170 million.

One hundred thirty-four of those applications have been tagged with overlap (meaning more than one application applied for the same area). The overlap money requested is $123M, meaning if $60M in applications are eliminated with resolution, then BDO has $110M of applications for a $120M budget.

The BDO may not be able to give away all of its money for its initial program or have little choice on which providers (whether quality or not) to award. This is concerning for some because:

• Some companies may receive millions in public funding without the best track record.

• Lower than expected applications may be due to a perceived complex application process or inaccurate maps that make it unclear who deserves funding.

These challenges are critical because the state is applying for billions in federal funding, which is supposed to provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to connect all Texans to high-speed broadband.

Providers will have to navigate complicated national regulations, and the relatively new (and short-staffed) Broadband Development Office is tasked with properly disbursing the most significant telecommunications investment in Texas history. All the while, considerations need to be made on how to fund and maintain these newly created networks.

Half Million Texans lose Medicaid coverage primarily for procedural reasons.

First reported by the Quorum Report and Texas Tribune, over 500,000 Texans have been cut off from Medicaid Services for essentially not responding to messages from the state and other “procedural” reasons.

Health and Human Services Commission employees wrote to Executive Commissioner Cecile Young to express concerns about some in leadership. Due to nearly 80% of those losing coverage to the procedural problems.

The group calling themselves Concerned Texans and Dedicated Employees (of HHSC), wrote to Commissioner Young to say, “We feel it is our responsibility to bring several critical matters to your attention regarding the current operations within the organization.”

“These issues are escalating rapidly, and the agency is facing significant risks, including the potential termination of Medicaid coverage for countless individuals and the potential loss o billions of dollars in federal funding earmarked to support Medicaid coverage throughout the public health emergency,” the group wrote.

The group explains that in April 2023, they received official notice that agency leadership was initiating a rollback of all 2020 CMS policies. After processing nearly 6 million Medicaid recipients, the agency received numerous calls that thousands had been erroneously denied coverage. Including several thousand pregnant women who require critical services during pregnancy or post-pregnancy care coverage.