BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 11, 2019)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> BG Podcast Episode 65: Commercial Real Estate Market from Banking Perspective with Allan Rayson, Regions Bank (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
City Council Postpones Plan To Buy Another Hotel To House Homeless Austinites (KUT)
The Austin City Council delayed a $7.8-million plan to buy and renovate a Montopolis-area hotel and retrofit it to house Austinites transitioning out of homelessness. Council members are expected to take up the proposal at a meeting in January.
The 71-room hotel off Riverside Drive near U.S. Highway 183 would be run by Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, which would also fund services and operations. At their meeting Tuesday, council members expressed concern over the nonprofit's ability to raise money for the project, as well as a similar one at Oltorf Street and I-35.
The two projects would provide what's called bridge housing, meaning residents would not be required to participate in case management or substance abuse or mental health treatment – though services would be provided on-site. ECHO would be responsible for raising money to run the sites and contract for services, while the city would pay for the properties... (LINK TO STORY)
Austin board instructs administrators to learn from their school closure mistakes (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin school board members are urging district administrators to avoid further missteps as the district prepares to shutter four schools as early as next school year and move students to other campuses.
Trustees at a school board meeting Monday night told administrators to learn from the mistakes they made during the rollout of the plan to close Brooke, Metz, Pease and Sims elementary schools. The district’s announcement in September to close 12 schools, which later was whittled to four, prompted outrage among parents, politicians and community members, who said the plan lacked transparency and unfairly targeted historically marginalized communities.
Last week, board members received a critical summary, authored by the district’s chief equity officer, of the problems with the closure plan; the report, which said the closures perpetuate long-standing policies of racial and economic segregation, was made public Monday.
Some campuses will close as early as May.
School board members instructed administrators to better communicate timely information with students’ families surrounding the closures and moves to other campuses… (LINK TO STORY)
Council looks at legal options after appeals court throws out housing voucher challenge (Austin Monitor)
Members of City Council have criticized a recent decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out the city’s lawsuit against state Attorney General Ken Paxton over a state law passed in 2015 that prevents cities from requiring landlords to accept federal housing vouchers.
The law was passed in response to a 2014 law passed in Austin that prevented landlords from discriminating against renters based on the source of income they used to pay their rent.
Council voted in 2017 to sue Paxton and the Texas Workforce Commission and challenge the law, with a district court finding in the city’s favor. That decision was nullified last Wednesday when the appeals court found the city didn’t demonstrate that Paxton and the state would move to enforce the state law that was passed to preempt Austin’s law… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
To relief of Texas business leaders, Congress reaches deal on new North American trade agreement (Texas Tribune)
Congress reached an agreement with the Trump administration Tuesday on a new North American free trade deal, leading lawmakers and business leaders in Texas to breathe a sigh of relief.
Hours after Democrats brought forth articles of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, announced the deal alongside more than a dozen Democrats, among them Texas freshman U.S. Reps. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso; Colin Allred, D-Dallas; and Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, called the deal a “21st Century trade agreement that not only encourages more trade but adds protection for the environment and workers.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Almost 700,000 Californians moved out of state last year. Most of them came to Texas. (Dallas Morning News)
The tidal wave of Californians headed to Texas shows no sight of slowing, with almost 700,000 leaving the Golden State last year. More than 86,000 of those California expats came to Texas, according to a new report by Yardi Systems. “Texas takes second place on the podium among the most popular states for moving to in 2018, with almost 564,000 newcomers,” according to the new report by Yardi System’s StorageCafe. About 15% of the people who moved to Texas last year hailed from California.
Florida had the largest number of interstate moves in 2018 with most of the transplants coming from New York. Florida continues to be a haven for retiring baby boomers. Most of Texas’ newcomers are moving for jobs. Texas’ employment base has grown by almost 300,000 jobs in the last year. Dallas-Fort Worth is the top job growth market in the country, accounting for a third of Texas’ employment gains. Almost 140,000 people moved to the D-FW area last year, with the most relocations to Dallas and Tarrant counties… (LINK TO STORY)
Acevedo Slams Texas GOP For Opposing 'Boyfriend Loophole' Law After Officer Dies On Domestic Call (KUT)
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo called out prominent Texas Republicans on Monday for opposing gun restriction legislation to close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" after one of his officers was killed over the weekend responding to a domestic violence call.
Arturo Solis, who according to The Houston Chronicle had a previous misdemeanor domestic violence charge against a former girlfriend, should have never had access to a gun in the first place, Acevedo said in a press conference video. Sgt. Christopher Brewster was responding to the 911 call that reported Solis had assaulted his girlfriend and was armed with two guns. Solis fatally shot Brewster as soon as he got out of his car, authorities said… (LINK TO STORY)
Gov. Abbott endorses Houston Rep. Sarah Davis, after opposing her in 2018 (Houston Chronicle)
Less than two years after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spent over $223,000 in a failed effort to defeat State Rep. Sarah Davis in a GOP primary, the Republican governor is now supporting her re-election. On Tuesday, after no Republicans filed to challenge Davis as she seeks re-election next year, Abbott released a statement to the media declaring he is endorsing Davis this time. “She is an effective leader for improving flood control and disaster preparedness,” Abbott said. “Representative Sarah Davis has proven her ability to deliver results that matter for her district and should be re-elected to the Texas House."
That is a striking divergence from his comments almost two years ago when he said Davis was “absolutely hostile” to his policies and should quit the Republican Party to run as a Democrat. Abbott endorsed Davis’s primary opponent Susanna Dokupil, contributed over $223,000 to her campaign and appeared in ads for her. It didn’t work. Davis defeated Dokupil by 12 percentage points in the primary and in November 2018 defeated Democrat Allison Lami Sawyer by 6 percentage points to win her fifth two-year term representing the 134th District, which includes West University Place, Bellaire and Southside Place. Davis responded at the time that it was a “sad and pathetic failure of leadership” for Abbott to be working against fellow Republicans… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Bombshell Afghanistan report bolsters calls for end to 'forever wars' (The Hill)
Calls for an end to so-called forever wars are being bolstered this week by a bombshell report detailing how U.S. officials lied when they claimed progress in the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
Lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have responded to the revelations with demands for hearings and calls to withdraw from America’s longest war.
That the war in Afghanistan is not going as well as officials claim is not surprising, with the running joke among defense watchers being that the war has turned so many corners it is going in circles… (LINK TO STORY)
The Bingham Group, LLC is an Austin-based full service lobbying firm representing and advising clients on municipal, legislative, and regulatory matters throughout Texas.
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