Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025:
What potential mass layoffs at the IRS could mean for your tax filing
Much has been said already about the cuts made to the federal government by the Department of Government Efficiency in the new Trump administration. Amid news that around 15,000 Internal Revenue Service workers could be laid off, some have been wondering what this could mean as the deadline to file taxes looms ever closer.
Andrew Belnap, an assistant professor of accounting at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, joins us to discuss.
The hard numbers behind Texas’ uninsured children rate
In 2023, around 12% of all kids in Texas were uninsured – about a million people total. The Lone Star State has long been a leader in this category, but according to new reporting, even people eligible for healthcare programs like Medicaid and CHIP are currently not covered.
Kim Krisberg, a reporter at Public Health Watch who’s been following this, joins us today.
Medical debt rule faces hurdle with lawsuit, Trump targeting
Medical debt affects millions of people in the U.S. A federal rule could take medical debt off people’s credit reports, but it faces an uncertain future amid a federal lawsuit and the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the agency behind the rule.
KERA’s Kailey Broussard spoke to Texans about the rule’s outlook, and how it could affect them.
Gmail users, listen up: Changes coming to account verification
If you’re a Gmail user, a big change is coming to the way Google verifies access to your account. Instead of getting a text message with a two-factor authentication code, you’ll soon need to scan a QR code with your device or use a passkey.
Our tech expert Omar Gallaga says these changes will soon affect anyone who uses Gmail. He joins us to break it all down.
Students with dyslexia to move to full special education plans
For years, parents and education advocates have complained about a lack of proper resources in Texas schools for students with dyslexia. But under a bill passed in 2023, that’s about to change. School districts have until this summer to move students receiving special instruction for dyslexia onto full special education plans.
Edward McKinley, who covers politics for the Houston Chronicle’s Austin bureau, joins us to discuss.
A settled debate over the proper names for Texas’ regions?
Say there’s rain in North Texas … well, where does “North Texas” end and the “Panhandle” begin? What about Northeast Texas? Plenty of people call some of those towns “East Texas.” Are they one and the same, or two distinct regions?
Debating and discussing the finer points of various regions of Texas is just about as Texan as bluebonnets and barbecue. It’s at such intersections that David Courtney, also known to many as Texas Monthly’s “The Texanist,” often finds himself. He joins us with his take.
The endgame of the Ukraine-Russia war hinges on Europe, scholar says
Over the past several days, messages from President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have advanced a proposition that has been considered unacceptable in the west since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014: that Ukraine will never get back the territory it has lost to Russia.
Valerie M. Hudson is a university distinguished professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She joins the Standard to discuss a recent op-ed she wrote about the matter:
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Raul Alonzo with the Talk of Texas.
