Politics and views in the United States.

More legislatures convene special sessions for mid-decade redistricting. States prepare emergency food assistance funds and lawmakers consider bills to prevent invasion by other states' National Guard troops.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, we're following our democracy in historic times.

What we are seeing today is the worst kind of political backtrack and attempt to grab power by erasing the voter's voice.

Campaigning for governor, Virginia's Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears has condemned Democrats for convening a special legislative session to change the state's constitution and let them redraw congressional maps.

A mid-decade redistricting arms race started with Texas Republicans acting at the request of President but has now spread to at least six states.

Indiana's Republican governor is calling the legislature into a special session starting November 3rd.

That's one day before California voters decide whether to change their congressional lines, which could benefit Democrats in next year's midterms.

Similar efforts are underway in Illinois, where Democratic congressional leaders are meeting with legislators.

New York, Missouri, and North Carolina may follow suit.

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson says he's negotiating across the aisle on a proposal to pay all federal workers while the government is shut down.

Republicans have backed a measure to pay those who are working without pay.

Democrats say they want even furloughed staff getting paychecks to keep the White House from getting to decide which employees are crucial enough to get paid.

Johnson says his plan may bridge the gap.

Meanwhile, states are preparing for a lapse in federal food assistance.

The Department of Agriculture says SNAP benefits will not go out on November 1st, meaning more than 40 million low-income people could go hungry.

Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz says the state has an emergency assistance fund, but if the shutdown continues, that could quickly dry up.

We go ahead and give it.

We have to be very cautious about, once we spend it, there's no reimbursement coming back from the federal government, because our responsibility to balance the budget and be accountable for that.

States may also struggle to fund low-income heating assistance, and unless the deadlocked Congress can act, consumers who get health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges may face sticker shock with open enrollment starting and pandemic-era subsidies expiring.

Separately, an estimated nine million people each year go without prescriptions because of their cost, while seniors and others on fixed incomes report rationing their medicines.

Drug company Pfizer is partnering with the White House to create TrumpRx, a lower-cost direct-to-consumer service, though it doesn't debut until 2026.

Businessman and TV celebrity Mark Cuban is praising what it will do.

Our brand drugs are more expensive because PBMs are involved.

With TrumpRx and the MFN program, that allows manufacturers to work around the PBMs and work directly to patients.

A direct-to-consumer prescription company Cuban started will work with TrumpRx, but experts are skeptical if the partnership can beat existing discounts from private or public insurance or bring prices down enough to help people without insurance.

States like Washington and New York are taking action to protect themselves from Trump's National Guard deployments.

Though the administration claims the troops reduce crime and help ICE with mass arrests, critics say they're also being used to stop peaceful political protests.

New York State Senator Andrew Gennardez says lawmakers are considering a bill to protect the state's sovereignty.

If a Republican state sends their troops and invades New York at the president's request, we would have recourse in our own state courts to bring suit against that state to stop them.

Gennardez says the Pase Comitatus Act also prohibits using any federal armed forces for law enforcement in New York or any other state.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service

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