Linea Abierta Programming: WEEK OF APRIL 8, 2024

MONDAY, APRIL 8
PROGRAM #10336 12:00 PM PT

Gridlock on Farm Bill. The new Farm Bill is facing headwinds in Congress. Republicans who oppose increased spending in climate-related conservation farming practices and anti-hunger, food-assistance programs, are pushing to switch funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (“the largest investment in conservation on farming in a century”) for agriculture climate-mitigation projects to instead spend them in crop subsidies. What are the plans to tackle extreme weather events affecting farmers? Is there any conversation on essential farmworkers? What’s the future of the Farm Bill in an election year?

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TUESDAY, APRIL 9
PROGRAM #10337 11:00 AM PT

Extra Edition: From Emergency Medi-Cal to Full-Scope Medi-Cal. (Program Repeat). Under a new California law, comprehensive Medi-Cal is now available to all people, including the undocumented. People currently on emergency Medi-Cal benefits will automatically transition into full-scope Medi-Cal. What do Medi-Cal enrollees need to know and do? This archival program was originally aired on April 4, 2024.

Guests: Jesús Velasco, Membership Enrollment Manager, Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero, Los Angeles, CA; María Romero-Mora, Office of Communication and Community Engagement, California Department of Health Care Services-DHCS, Sacramento, CA.

Immigrants on Medi-Cal Hit by Disenrollment. A disproportionate number of Latinos have been kicked off Medi-Cal, as California resumes annual eligibility checks that were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the hundreds of thousands of affected beneficiaries are people who had recently gained coverage through Medi-Cal expansion to undocumented residents. After health advocates pressed for a pause, a lawmaker introduced a bill that would slow disenrollments and extend flexible pandemic-era policies.

Guest: Jasmine Aguilera, Senior Reporter, El Timpano, In Collaboration with KFF Health News, Oakland, CA.

PROGRAM #10338 12:00 PM PT

Immigration Edition. As the election season unfolds, political candidates are more and more filling their campaign rhetoric with claims of a “migrant crime wave” and a “border bloodbath.” Social media and brochures are flooded with news and messages about “illegal immigrants” who are committing violent crimes and “killing our country.” In another common claim, politicians are blaming health insurance programs expanded to immigrants in some states for “creating perverse incentives for illegal immigration.” Why are immigrants the target of these campaigns? What’s behind those claims? Who is generating them? How are those claims impacting public opinion and the electorate?

Guests: Gerardo Guzmán, Program Host and Reporter, Atlanta, GA; Michael A. Rodriguez, Executive Director, California Alliance of Academics and Communities for Public Health Equity and Faculty Associate, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Los Angeles, CA; Santiago Pérez, Associate Professor of Economics, ​UC Davis, Davis, CA.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10
PROGRAM #10339 12:00 PM PT

School Funding and College Aid. A proposed state budget in Colorado boosts funding for K-12 schools and higher education, capping tuition hikes at state universities. In more news, as college enrollment begins, many students are still wondering whether they’ll have the needed financial aid to pay for college, after delays and confusion have plagued the revamped financial aid application known as FAFSA. Finally, the Denver City Council passed a new law banning sugary drinks like soda and juice from restaurants’ kids meal menus. Public schools advocates discuss these and other topics.

Guests: Diana Madriz, Assistant Director of College Access, Denver Scholarship Foundation, Denver, CO; Dr. Henry Roman, Teacher and Former President, Denver Classroom Teachers Association-DCTA, Denver, CO; Flor Alvidrez, Councilwoman, City of Denver District 7, Denver, CO.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 11
PROGRAM #10340 11:00 AM PT

Extra Edition: Proposition 1, and Drug and Overdose Treatment. California voters recently approved Proposition 1, an initiative that seeks to overhaul mental health care, spend on housing and drug treatment programs, and get homeless people off the streets. Analysts explain the ballot measure and the details of the new plan. In other news: Fresno may become the first city in California to require establishments that sell and serve alcoholic drinks to provide Naloxone, a medication to fight overdoses, in their first aid kits. Finally, California will now offer fentanyl test strips, a tool to prevent overdoses, to many social organizations.

Guests: Araceli Martínez, Reporter, Los Angeles, CA; Laura Ríos, Chief of Staff for Fresno City Councilwoman and Councill President Annalisa Perea, Fresno, CA; Samuel Orozco, Director de Noticias, Radio Bilingüe, Fresno, CA. This includes excerpts from recent statements by Dr. Magdalena Cerda, Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Population Health, Grossman School of Medicine at New York University-NYU, New York, NY; and Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, Founding Director, Center for Reducing Health Disparities, UC Davis, Davis, CA.

PROGRAM #10341 12:00 PM PT

National Poetry Month. A group of outstanding poets joins this edition on occasion of National Poetry Month to celebrate poetry, play with words and engage listeners in reflecting on their experience and create letters. What’s the value, power and contribution of poetry to the wellbeing of the community?

Guests: Aída Salazar, Award-winning Author and Arts Activist, Oakland, CA, today in our studios in Fresno, CA; Liliana Herrera, Liliana Herrera, Author, Singer-Songwriter and Cultural Worker, San Francisco, CA; Rafael Jesús González, Berkeley Poet Laureate Emeritus, Berkeley, CA.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 12
PROGRAM #10342 12:00 PM PT

Mexico Edition. This week, the three Mexican presidential candidates Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz and Jorge Alvarez Maynez faced off for the first of three 2024 presidential debates. For the first time in history, Mexico’s presidential debates were broadcast with simultaneous interpretation in the Mayan, Nahuatl and Tsotsil languages. Mayan and Nahuatl are the two most spoken national indigenous languages in Mexico. This program includes highlights of the debate and reactions from political analysts or campaign representatives.