BG Reads | News You Need to Know (November 22, 2019)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> Episode 62: Cree Crawford, Founder and President, Ionization Labs (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Realtors call Austin's growth unsustainable as home sales, prices jump (Austin Business Journal)
A new land development code can't come soon enough for Austin's Realtors, who expressed a new level of concern this week about demand for housing outpacing supply.
Single-family home sales in the Austin-Round Rock metro area increased nearly 17%, to 2,721 sales, in October compared to the same month in 2018, according to a Nov. 21 report from the Austin Board of Realtors. In the city of Austin, home sales rose 14.5% year-over-year to 835.
New listings in the region increased about 8% to 3,067 listings, but active listings decreased 12% to 6,381 listings — with monthly housing inventory dropping 0.5 months year-over-year to 2.3 months of inventory. Most experts agree balanced housing markets typically have about six months of inventory.
In Austin, new listings decreased 5% to 840 listings this October and active listings decreased 25% to 1,229 listings. Monthly housing inventory decreased 0.6 months year-over-year to only 1.5 months of inventory.
The median price for a single-family home in the city increased nearly 9% to $405,000, which ABOR said was the highest median price for any October on record. On the supply side, ABOR said the inventory of single-family homes in Austin reached an all-time low for October.
"Austin can no longer sustain its current rate of growth," Kevin Scanlan, ABOR's 2019 president, said in a statement. "With an average of 100 people moving here every day, the demand for housing is growing much faster than the number of homes available."… (LINK TO STORY)
Music, arts communities asked to provide feedback on spending recommendations for $12 million creative space bond (Community Impact)
Austin’s Music Commission and Art Commission are wrapping up a more than yearlong process of figuring out how to guide the expenditure of the $12 million creative space bond Austin voters passed in November 2018, and the city’s music and arts communities have until Dec. 5 to weigh in. Feedback can be provided here.
The $12 million in bond funds was part of $128 million bond proposition voters passed with 73.6% support in 2018. The proposition was one of seven successful bond proposals wrapped into the city’s $925 million bond package. The $12 million aims to address the rapid loss of creative space owed to skyrocketing real estate costs throughout the city. Since December, the city’s music and art commissions have been meeting to create and recommend criteria on how the taxpayer-funded money would be spent.
The commissions created a joint working group, consulted with a similar outfit in San Francisco to learn what kind of criteria they developed to spend their money most effectively and worked with city staff. Commissioners said the process was arduous, and there was not always complete agreement, but after roughly a year of work the commission has developed a draft recommendation. Now, they are asking the city’s arts and music communities to weigh in on the draft before the commissions take a final vote and send the recommendation to City Council for final approval. (LINK TO STORY)
County hopes to block new waste facility in Northeast Austin (Austin Monitor)
County leaders are unanimous in their hope that the Austin Community Landfill closes as soon as possible. They are united in their opposition to the landfill operator, Waste Management, adding a transfer station to the existing facility.
It’s not clear whether the county can decide whether WM can add the new facility if the company gets the OK from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. But the county leaders hope their voice can convince the state agency.
“This is a TCEQ decision,” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said during a Tuesday meeting of the Commissioners Court. “But Travis County and the city of Austin have considerable influence on that decision.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott orders state agencies to reduce licensing regulations, cut fees (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to review and overhaul their licensing requirements, with an eye toward providing Texans “the opportunity to earn a living free from unnecessary state intrusion.”
In an Oct. 8 letter to the heads of state agencies, signed by the Republican governor himself, Abbott directed agencies to trim licensing regulations, reduce fees and educational requirements for certain professions, and, “where appropriate,” remove licensing barriers for individuals with criminal records. He set a Dec. 1 deadline for agencies to tell his office which steps they plan to take. There are hundreds of professional licenses in Texas — from tow truck operators to physicians to laser hair removal technicians.
“Reforming Texas’s occupational-licensing rules must be a priority for all state leaders,” Abbott wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Texas Tribune. “Sensible licensing rules, when necessary, can protect the public from legitimate harm, but overbroad rules stymie innovation, raise consumer prices, and limit economic opportunity. Overly burdensome licensing rules also discourage individuals from pursuing professions or prevent the unemployed — or former inmates who have paid their debt to society — from building a better life.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Ex-Texas Tribune staffers plan news organization for women (Austin American-Statesman)
Two high-ranking members of the Texas Tribune leadership team will soon depart for a new venture. Editor-in-chief Emily Ramshaw and chief audience officer Amanda Zamora said this week they intend to launch a new national, nonprofit news organization for women.
“The only thing I care about as much as informing and engaging with Texans on politics and policy is informing and engaging with women on politics and policy,” Ramshaw said. “That’s what I’m devoting my next chapter to. All women deserve the facts, tools and information they need to be equal participants in democracy and civic life.” Ramshaw joined the Tribune when it debuted a decade ago, arriving from the Dallas Morning News. She called her time at the nonprofit statewide news site “the gift of a lifetime.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Despite plans to study other business issues, Texas Senate not pressing ban of mandatory paid sick leave (Construction Citizen)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is asking Texas State Senators to study a variety of issues ahead of the next legislative session. It is common practice for the Senate’s presiding officer to issue what are called “interim charges” to committees. These “charges” are basically a list of subjects that lawmakers may wish to act on in the next legislative session. But in this case, Patrick has omitted an issue that’s caused consternation for the business community including the construction industry: Government-mandated paid sick leave.
As Construction Citizen readers who have followed this are aware, cities like Austin and Dallas passed ordinances in the last couple years requiring private companies to provide paid sick leave to employees. As adopted by the city council, Austin’s rules would require businesses to give employees one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked up to 64 hours. Employees could use the time on themselves or to take care of a family member. Any unused time could be carried over to the next year. Employers found to be in violation could face fines up to $500. Those ordinances face court challenges from groups like the Texas Association of Business as well as the Texas Public Policy Foundation… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Trump EPA Eases Safety Requirements Enacted After West Explosion (KUT)
Days before President Barack Obama left office in 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule aimed at preventing tragedies like the 2013 explosion and fire in the tiny Central Texas town of West that killed a dozen first responders.
Among other requirements, what came to be known as the "Chemical Disaster Rule" would have made it easier for the public to access hazard-planning documents and required increased coordination with first responders. It also required companies to provide increased emergency planning information to local officials and to hold more frequent meetings and trainings… (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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