BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 7, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> Episode 68: BG Media Group 2019 Wrap Up Feat. The BG Podcast and Kicks & Comics (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Trial for lawsuit over Austin’s land development code set for February (KXAN)
The trial for a lawsuit over Austin’s land development code and property owners’ right to protest it has been set for Feb. 18, 2020.
The trial at the Travis County courthouse is expected to last two days, according to the legal notice setting the trial date.
Austin’s land development code shapes what kind of building can be done in the city and where it can happen. The code has not had a major overhaul in three decades, and those who support an overhaul argue it’s necessary for the city to be able to respond to growth. Austin’s mayor Steve Adler scrapped the previous attempt at changing the land development code, called CodeNEXT, last year after more than five years of work, citing the divisive nature of the process… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas Fed: Austin’s economy slowing, but still growing (Austin American-Statesman)
Evidence continues to mount that the Austin economy is cooling, with the latest monthly measure of the region’s growth rate slipping to its lowest level in nearly a decade.
The Austin business-cycle index, a barometer of local economic output devised by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, increased at an annualized 6% in November -- the slowest pace since May 2010 and slightly below its long-term average of 6.1%.
The index has been on a downward slide since early 2019, when it logged annualized monthly growth rates above 7%.
The reason isn’t a mystery. The Austin area is in some sense falling victim to its own success, Dallas Fed economists and others have said, because the local labor market has become so stretched that employers are having trouble hiring enough workers to keep up with the region’s continuously rising demand for goods and services.
“This is a matter of not as much available labor (in Austin) as we had in the past,” said Judy Teng, a Dallas Fed research analyst… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin enters 2020 with record-breaking retail lease prices (Austin Business Journal)
Austin reached another milestone in 2019: record-high retail lease rates.
Some new retail spaces on South Congress Avenue are demanding rents topping $100 a square foot, according to brokers — rivaling major markets on the coasts. For comparison, The Domain is seeing lease rates at around $80 a square foot.
“Those are rents we haven’t seen in Austin prior to last year,” said Phil Morris, assistant vice president at Resolut RE, formerly Retail Solutions. He said rents are being driven up by a number of new mixed-use projects such as Music Lane and Hummingbird on heavily trafficked South Congress.
Storefronts along the nationally known thoroughfare double as a billboard for retailers.
“(Those tenants) get value through having a location on South Congress that transcends just the dollars that they earn from people walking in the store,” said Matt Epple, executive vice president at retail brokerage firm Weitzman. “There is a tremendous amount of brand awareness that goes along with it for them, and a lot of their rent is going toward the awareness created by being on South Congress in Austin, Texas.” …(LINK TO STORY)
Parking pilot to free up on-street parking, create parking solutions for construction site personnel (Austin Monitor)
The Austin Transportation Department is pursuing a multiyear parking pilot to reduce the impact of parking during construction at downtown sites.
In a Jan. 2 memo, Transportation Director Robert Spillar said the Downtown Construction Workers Parking Pilot is partially based on a similar program that surveyed construction workers and employers about their commute and parking habits for a few months during construction at 405 Colorado St.
For the upcoming pilot, the department will identify large construction projects and survey workers and employers over the entire duration of construction, between two and three years. At the same time, general contractors for those sites will enter into an agreement with the city to create and carry out a Construction Personnel Parking Mitigation Plan. While continuing to focus on commutes and parking behaviors, the surveys will also be used to determine if the program is effective enough for permanent adoption… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Julián Castro endorses Elizabeth Warren days after ending presidential campaign (Texas Tribune)
Julián Castro endorsed Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president Monday, four days after ending his own bid for the White House.
"There's one candidate I see who's unafraid to fight like hell to make sure America's promise will be there for everyone," Castro said in a video, "who will make sure that no matter where you live in America or where your family came from in the world, you have a path to opportunity, too. That's why I'm proud to endorse Elizabeth Warren for president."
Castro, the former U.S. housing secretary and San Antonio mayor, will join Warren for a joint rally Tuesday in Brooklyn, according to his campaign. Then he will head to Iowa this weekend to appear with Warren at a town hall Sunday in Marshalltown, her campaign said… (LINK TO STORY)
Federal Lawsuit Over 5G 'Land Grab' Has Texas Roots (Texas Public Radio)
San Antonio is readying itself for 5G networks from big telecoms like AT&T and T-Mobile.
Simultaneously, cities across Texas and the country are battling state and federal governments over what they call a corporate giveaway.
The next generation of cellular networks is really fast. The technology makes data networks more than four times faster, and theoretically up to 200 times faster. But 5G also requires new technology that requires a lot more cellular nodes. The technology doesn’t transmit through walls well and needs significantly denser transmitter networks to overcome the shortfall.
The business friendly Texas legislature, looking to facilitate the quick rollout of the tech, limited many local government powers to regulate who puts the new small cell nodes where, as well as capping the amount that can be charged to access city owned rights-of-way. The lege passed the bill in 2017, and reaffirmed the bill with another that further cut fees for phone providers who also provide cable… (LINK TO STORY)
See also:
[NATION]
Uber, Lyft, Postmates Refuse To Comply With California Gig Economy Law (KUT)
A new law that went into effect in California on Wednesday is supposed to make it harder for companies to hire workers as contractors — but gig companies like Uber, Lyft and the food delivery platform Postmates are refusing to reclassify their fleet of drivers as employees.
Supporters of Assembly Bill 5 say companies have been exploiting contract workers for years because they aren't considered employees who get benefits like health coverage and workers' compensation.
The law touches many industries, from trucking to tech to certain medical professions. AB5 does include carveouts for professions such as dentists and attorneys… (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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