This is the second posting in a series addressing ongoing efforts to reduce the safety net – a patchwork of funding for health and social services for indigent, elderly and disabled populations – a key part of the Republican agenda. Texas is a high-poverty, low-public benefit state. The state continually ranks at the bottom of fifty state analyses of education spending, healthcare spending, health insurance coverage (lowest rate in the nation currently), and public assistance availability. Medicaid is one of the primary targets of what is being called “welfare” or entitlement reform. The Medicaid program is an entitlement, meaning that anyone meeting the eligibility requirements is guaranteed benefits if they apply. This posting will explore the program in Texas and look at some of the implications of the transformation to block grants, the principal mechanism of Republican reform.