00:00You were right to mention SNAP benefits, and that brings up the question, again, on a state level, are there things that can be done to provide that which the federal government will no longer pay for once this bill goes into effect?
00:13Well, that's what the Trump administration is banking on. So with regard to SNAP, they're going to stick these states with 25 percent of the bill, and some states will be able to afford it and some won't. It depends.
00:26In California, we're running a budget deficit, as I'm sure your viewers are aware, and so it makes it very difficult, whether that's for health care or for food.
00:39But what I do know is how many of my constituents rely on SNAP just to get by.
00:44I live in a very expensive state and a very expensive part of an expensive state, and you've got people who are working who are doing the best they can,
00:53but if they need the SNAP benefit just to be able to feed their kids or if you're a senior and you need that just to get by or a veteran and you need that to have enough to eat,
01:04I mean, for God's sake, why would we cut just the basic necessity of food, particularly for kids?
01:10When you invest in kids, there's really no better investment you can make than ensuring that that child has a positive learning environment and a decent quality of nutrition and enough to just make the basics work.
01:26When you invest in kids, the economic multiple of that is usually six or seven to one.
01:31And I've seen studies even higher than that in terms of the long term positive economic outcome for that child, their positive societal outcome.
01:39They pay more in taxes, their rates of being involved with the criminal justice system go way down.
01:45So I just don't know how we could be any more dumb.
01:49And, you know, this the administration could do any anything dumber than cutting funding that help kids with better outcomes.
01:58It makes no sense.
01:59If California has to step up and provide some of these benefits at the state level, will that involve raising taxes on Californians?
02:09Well, for the administration, that's a feature, not a bug, right?
02:12I mean, the money has to come from somewhere.
02:15And in California, you know, for a number of years, we're running surpluses.
02:18Our state revenue is very dependent on income taxes compared to some other states.
02:24So it's very volatile.
02:25So, you know, the answer would be up to our friends in Sacramento to see, you know, where we're at.
02:32But many other states are simply not going to have any other choice but to increase the level of taxes at the state level in order to fill the gap or dramatically cut the services.
02:43In either event, it's a loser for the residents at, you know, for every state in the union.
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