Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will follow a Sunday schedule on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, while the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) will not operate.

On Monday, May 31, buses will replace train service on the Red Line between Dallas Zoo and Westmoreland stations for demolition work for the Interstate 35E reconstruction project. The rail shutdown will be in effect for four consecutive weekends from May 22 through June 12. Buses will run every 20 minutes between affected stations.

The Inland Port GoLink Zone will operate on a Sunday schedule (5:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. & 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) on Monday, May 31. There is no service in any of the other GoLink Zones.

DART’s Paratransit services will run a Saturday schedule and the Paratransit Scheduling Center will be closed. Customers may call Thursday, May 27, to book their trips through Monday, May 31, and Friday, May 28, to book their trips through Tuesday, June 1. Customers can also schedule, view, and cancel trips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.DART.org/Paratransit.

DART’s Customer Information Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 214-979-1111 for trip-planning needs while the administrative offices and the Customer Care Center, which handles complaints, commendations, suggestions and Lost and Found, will be closed.

Route and schedule information for DART and the Dallas Streetcar is available at DART.org. TRE schedule information can be found at trinityrailwayexpress.org.

Source: dart.org

The Transportation Security Administration has extended the face mask requirement for all transportation networks, including public transportation, through September 13, 2021.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will continue to require a CDC approved face mask to be worn over the mouth and nose by passengers and operators at all times while on DART vehicles or properties including buses, trains, and paratransit vehicles, Trinity Railway Express trains, at DART stations, on platforms, in buildings and on-board the Dallas Streetcar.

Refusing to wear a mask, unless exempted or excluded under the CDC guidelines, is a violation of federal law and failure to comply will result in denial of boarding or removal, and passengers may be subject to federal penalties.

Face masks and hand sanitizer dispensers are installed on all buses, light rail vehicles and Dallas streetcars and will continue to be available to all passengers.

If a DART passenger is concerned with someone not wearing a mask, they can contact DART Customer Service at (214) 979-1111, or use the “DART Say Something” app, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play for free.

Staying Safe While Riding DART
DART remains committed to doing everything possible to keep both our patrons and employees safe through this pandemic. DART remains in close contact with local, state, and national health authorities, including the Texas Department of State Health Services and the CDC. DART encourages passengers who feel sick or are experiencing symptoms to stay home and avoid public places.

Cleaning and Protection
DART continues to undertake aggressive agency-wide cleaning and safety protocols on buses, light rail, paratransit vehicles, and properties. In addition to thorough nightly cleanings, DART buses and trains are also cleaned on a rotating basis with hydrogen peroxide-based cleaning solutions to sanitize and disinfect each vehicle.

Social Distancing
DART recommends maintaining a six-foot distance between both fellow riders and your DART operator, leaving an open seat between yourself and other riders when available, avoiding large groups, and staying home if you feel sick or are experiencing symptoms.

To enforce social distancing practices and protect customer and employee well-being, all transit center waiting areas have been temporarily closed. DART riders can still use the outdoor areas for boarding buses and light rail vehicles.

You can find more information about how DART is working to keep our passengers safe at www.dart.org/health.

Source: dart.org

Governor Greg Abbott today informed the U.S. Department of Labor that Texas will opt out of further federal unemployment compensation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, effective June 26, 2021. This includes the $300 weekly unemployment supplement from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

“The Texas economy is booming and employers are hiring in communities throughout the state,” said Governor Abbott. “According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits. That assessment does not include the voluminous jobs that typically are not listed, like construction and restaurant jobs. In fact, there are nearly 60 percent more jobs open (and listed) in Texas today than there was in February 2020, the month before the Pandemic hit Texas.”

The current job openings are good-paying jobs. According to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), nearly 45 percent of posted jobs offer wages greater than $15.50 per hour.  Approximately 76 percent pay more than $11.50 per hour. Only 2 percent of posted jobs pay around the minimum wage.

At this stage of opening the state 100 percent, the focus must be on helping unemployed Texans connect with the more than a million job openings, rather than paying unemployment benefits to remain off the employment rolls.

Another reason why today’s action is needed is the high level of fraudulent unemployment claims being filed. Fraudulent unemployment claims rob taxpayer money and do nothing to help the unemployed. TWC estimates that nearly 18 percent of all claims for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are confirmed or suspected to be fraudulent, which totals more than 800,000 claims, worth as much as $10.4 billion if all claims had been paid.

Federal law requires the effective date of this change to be at least 30 days after notification is provided to the Secretary of Labor. As a result, the effective date will be June 26, 2021.

Source: gov.texas.gov

Texas Governor Greg Abbott caught heat from Democratic lawmakers when he announced on March 2 this year he would fully reopen the state by the next week. Mississippi lawmakers declared a similar reopening plan about the same time.

The idea was to get more people acclimated back to normal life, including businesses at full capacity and sports arenas full of fans again. For Texas, the governor wanted businesses back at 100 percent and placed filled up again, from school halls to dance halls.

President Joe Biden called such reopening plans “Neanderthals thinking.”

“I hope everybody has realized by now these masks make a difference. We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way we are able to get the vaccine in people’s arms,” Biden said in the White House on March 3.

“The last thing we need is the Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters. … It’s critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow the science.”

Texas blazed its own path and reopened for business, and the Texas Rangers had a ballpark full of cheering fans for its home opener last month.

On Sunday, just a couple of hours after a major PGA event in Dallas and the NCAA FCS college football national championship in Frisco, Abbott reported that the state had no COVID-related deaths the previous 24 hours and that the seven-day positivity rate was the lowest it’s been since records have been taken—which was March 2020.

Biden expressed disappointment in those states that had plans to fully reopen, saying the goal was for every American adult to receive vaccinations before starting big gatherings, with a target date of July 4 for families to get together and celebrate.

“We’ve been able to move that all the way up to the end of May have enough for every American, to get every adult American to get a shot,” Biden said in March.

Biden was 0-for-2 against Texas when, after the Rangers baseball organization said it planned to open at full capacity following Abbott’s executive order, the president called that decision a “mistake.” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels shrugged off that comment and said he still hoped for a full venue on opening day, which he got.

Source: www.newsweek.com

The Biden Administration is facing a lawsuit from Texas after rescinding a Medicaid waiver extension put in place by the Trump Administration. The lawsuit claims the waiver’s removal makes it difficult for the state to plan long-term as it doesn’t know if funding will be in place for healthcare programs, and says the notification came too late for the Texas Legislature to respond with its own funding solutions.

Why does Texas need a Medicaid waiver?

Texas is one of 12 states that has not adopted federal Medicaid expansion. The Medicaid 115 waiver that was granted on Jan. 15 allowed the state to tap into federal and state funding to run its Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program, which has been in place since 2011. That program allows Texas to expand its existing Medicaid-managed care programs that serve low-income families and children as well as the elderly and those with disabilities.

According to the lawsuit, Texas offers Medicaid coverage to about 4.3 million people.

The Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program also allowed the state to “finance a new safety net care pool to assist hospitals and other providers with uncompensated care costs and to promote health system transformation in preparation for new coverage demands,” according to the original application in 2011. Since then Texas has received three waiver extensions and increased the services affected under those waivers.

The Texas Hospital Association says the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program is worth more than $11 billion a year. The waiver would have extended the program to Sept. 30, 2030.

Why was Texas’ Medicaid waiver rescinded?

In April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services removed the extension, saying the federal government had “materially erred” in granting the request for a sped-up approval process that didn’t include public comment. It said the state hadn’t given a good enough reason for skipping the normal public notice process.

In the lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says COVID-19 disrupted normal healthcare operations and made it difficult to measure key metrics the program was studying. It also put a financial strain on healthcare providers.

Texas’ response: Friday’s lawsuit

Paxton announced the state’s lawsuit Friday, saying, “The Biden Administration cannot simply breach a contract and topple Texas’s Medicaid system without warning.”

Paxton said there had been more than a month of negotiations before the waiver was approved in January. Paxton also claimed the motive behind the removal was to push Texas toward federal Medicaid expansion.

KXAN has reached out to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for a comment on the lawsuit and will update this story when it responds.

The lawsuit is requesting the court invalidate the April letter rescinding the extension and let the waiver remain in place. Without an extension, the Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program ends Sept. 30, 2022.

Source: www.kxan.com