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Fighting continues over Trump's health bill Committee vote set for Thursday By Alan Fram ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Photos by Danny Zaragoza
GOODBYE ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR, TILL NEXT YEAR The Zapata County Fair finished off this year with an array of entertainment. Musical acts such as Intocable, Elida Reyna y Avante, La Leyenda, Los Traileros del Norte, Kevin Fowler, Siggno and Jaime y Los Chamacos were among the excitement this past weekend. On Saturday at 3 p.m., the fair also showcased its yearly parade; contests and the coronation of the queens followed after. Traditional fair rides and games for all ages played a big role in amusing the public as well. See more photos from the fair on Page A5.
WASHINGTON — Undaunted by fellow Republicans' defiance, GOP leaders and the White House redoubled their efforts Tuesday to muscle legislation overhauling America's health care system through Congress following a sobering report about millions being shoved off insurance coverage. President Donald Trump, whose strong Election Day showing in GOP regions makes him the party's ultimate Capitol Hill vote wrangler, discussed the legislation by phone with Congress' two top Republicans. He also dispatched Vice President Mike Pence and health secretary Tom Price to hear GOP senators' concerns. With a crucial House committee voted slated for Thursday, Trump's spokesman acknowledged they were open to making changes to win support. "This has never been a take it or leave it," said Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The GOP bill is the party's response to seven years of promising to repeal President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul. It would undo that law's individual mandate, which requires most people to have coverage, by ending the tax penalty on those who don't. It would also provide age-based tax credits instead of the subsidies geared to income in Obama's statute, end that law's expansion of Medicaid and curb its future spending, and let insurers boost rates for seniors. On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office said the Republican legislation would reduce the ranks of the insured by 24 million in a decade, largely by cutting Medicaid recipients and people buying individual policies. That would be more than the 20 million who've gained coverage under Obama's overhaul — and attach a big number to a problem haunting GOP governors and members of Congress whose states have benefited from "Obamacare." Health continues on A12
TEXAS SENATE
State Sen. Zaffirini votes against ‘bathroom bill’ By Julia Wallace LA R ED O MORNI NG T IME S
Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini was the only member of the Senate Committee on State Affairs to vote against the highly contentious, so-called “bathroom bill,” which is now headed for a vote in the full Senate. The “bathroom bill,” Senate Bill 6, would mandate that transgender people use public restrooms in accordance with the sex on their birth certificate, rather than their gender identity.
Zaffirini
Zaffirini said she does not believe this bill will make Texans safer. “Generally, SB 6 would cre-
ate a public safety hazard for transgender men and women without enhancing the safety of other Texans,” she said. The legislation is modeled off a law passed in North Carolina last March, which famously led the NBA and NCAA to move games out of the state, and cost the state thousands of jobs and about $500 million, according to Politifact. Supporters say the bill keeps women and children safe by legally barring men from their restrooms. Texas’ bill has garnered
steady attention from both sides of the aisle. On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on State Affairs heard about 13 hours of public testimony from about 230 people, according to the Texas Tribune. “Transgender witnesses of all ages were persuasive as they explained how they suffered for hours by avoiding using restrooms associated with the gender markers on their birth certificates and how they shunned food and drink so they wouldn’t have to do so. These practices endangered their physical and mental
health,” Zaffirini said in an email to LMT. The senator said she also heard from mental health experts and religious leaders, who relayed the statistic that the suicide attempt rate among transgender people is 40 percent. “Descriptions about the beatings, humiliations, bullying and insults endured by transgender men, women, and children were difficult to endure. It broke my heart to realize the extent to which so many have suffered, and I did Bill continues on A11