BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 22, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> Episode 71: Carrie Simmons, Texas Lobbying Group (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin may get an economic development corp. (Austin Monitor)
City Council appears to be moving cautiously toward creation of a local economic development corporation that would be totally separate from the city but governed by a Council-appointed board of directors. People unfamiliar with such entities may naturally wonder why the city would need such a corporation.
Council heard a presentation about such corporations at Tuesday’s work session. Council Member Kathie Tovo told the Austin Monitor that when she and her colleagues passed the resolution last August, they were specifically thinking about helping the homeless. Sometimes people want to donate money to the city to assist the homeless, she said, but the city is not allowed to take such donations. Sometimes they want to donate to the city because the city has a good process for awarding social services contracts. The corporation “was really intended as a fundraising arm for efforts related to homelessness,” she said.
She added, “The economic development corporation has really been talked about as a broader array of areas of focus.” The South Central Waterfront is one of those areas, Tovo said, noting that the plan calls for a number of community benefits for that area. Planners envisioned that an economic development corporation would help coordinate development as different private developers start to replace old parking lots and buildings, including restaurants like Hooters, Threadgill’s and Zax, with new development… (LINK TO STORY)
Council members say letting go of pot charges right thing to do (Austin American-Statesman)
Four Austin City Council members on Tuesday said ending arrests and citations for low-level marijuana offenses is the right thing to do from a cultural, criminal and fiscal perspective.
The council on Thursday will consider a resolution that would effectively end criminal action against individuals with small amounts of marijuana, while preventing the city from expending additional resources to developing new testing capabilities required to distinguish narcotic marijuana from legal hemp.
The resolution would not apply to felony-level trafficking offenses.
State lawmakers during the last legislative session legalized the production of hemp, which can contain up to 0.3% THC, the intoxicating agent in marijuana. But since only a small number of labs are capable of testing marijuana for THC content, a slew of city and county attorneys offices, including Travis and Williamson counties, washed their hands of prosecuting such cases, saying such testing was too hefty of a financial burden… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Switches To Proactive Approach To Catch Bike Lane Blockers (KUT)
For years, the City of Austin often waited for complaints before ticketing drivers who parked in bike lanes. Now, that policy is changing: The Austin Transportation Department said Tuesday it plans to increase staffing to eventually dedicate two officers per shift to actively enforce the rules.
The city previously dispatched the closest officer after a complaint was received by Austin 311. The ATD said in a tweet that since October 2019, it had issued 70 tickets and towed 17 vehicles.
The department said it is making the change in response to community feedback and to support Vision Zero efforts to reduce traffic deaths and fatalities.
“Parking in a bike-only lane compels cyclists to enter general travel lanes, which greatly increases the chances of a deadly or serious crash,” Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar said in a statement. “Keeping our bike lanes clear makes our streets safer for both cyclists and motorists alike.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Warren reveals more endorsements from former Castro, O’Rourke supporters (Texas Tribune)
The battle for former supporters of Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke is continuing apace as Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren unveils a fresh round of endorsements from Texas lawmakers.
In announcement first shared with The Texas Tribune, Warren’s campaign unveiled the support of four legislators who represent O’Rourke’s native El Paso: Sen. José Rodríguez; Reps. Art Fierro and Mary González; and House Speaker Pro Tem Joe Moody. All four previously supported Castro or O’Rourke, and some, like Moody, were initially O’Rourke supporters who switched over to Castro after O’Rourke ended his campaign in November.
“I’m proud to endorse Elizabeth Warren for President because she has a proven track record as a fighter for working families and a champion for LGBTQ+ equality,” González, who chairs the House LGBT Caucus, said in statement. “I know she’ll make big, structural change to deliver real progress to people in Texas and across the country.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas tops 16 million voters as registration deadline looms (Houston Chronicle)
For the first time in history, Texas has topped 16 million registered voters and is adding voters faster than its population grows heading into the 2020 presidential election. With the voter registration deadline for the March 3 primaries just two weeks away, the state is already on the brink of having 2 million more registered voters than it did just four years ago when President Donald Trump was first elected.
“What you’re seeing is a true transformation of the Texas electorate,” said Antonio Arellano, interim executive director of Jolt, a voter advocacy group focused on registering young Latino voters and getting them involved in politics. He said despite all the barriers Texas has put in place to depress voter registration and voter turnout, groups like his are drawing younger and more diverse voters, which is making the politics of Texas more reflective of its demographics — about 40 percent of the state’s population is Latino, census data shows. Since 2017, the population in Texas has grown by about 5 percent. But the state’s voter registration has grown about 8 percent during that period. The increase is even more dramatic in urban areas such as Harris County, the state’s most populous county. While Harris County’s population has grown an estimated 4 percent since 2014, its voter registration has jumped 14 percent... (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
McConnell makes strategic retreat to keep firm grip on Trump trial (Politico)
Mitch McConnell blinked. At least for a moment.
After last-minute pushback from centrist GOP senators, the Senate majority leader slightly eased off his push Tuesday for a compressed calendar during President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. But McConnell still ran all over Democrats on the Senate floor, winning a series of party line votes on the resolution that will govern the trial.
The developments on the first real day of the trial are sure to please Trump, who is eager for Republicans to dispense with impeachment. And it highlighted the brute force McConnell deploys against the minority party, as well as the need to deftly handle his own rank-and-file senators during just the third presidential impeachment trial in history.
“Listen, you’re not going to get any kind of dissent from me. It’s not easy herding a bunch of a cats, so he’s got a difficult task here in terms of organizing everybody,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has criticized McConnell’s tactics in the past but backed him on the impeachment battle. Johnson even argued for providing less debate time during the trial's opening phases, yet he still sided with McConnell… (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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