BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 10, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
TODAY // HIRES
Will Dane joins Bingham Group today as a Consultant. His decade-plus career includes most recently serving as Senior Government Relations Manager for mobility start-up Turo. In this capacity he managed state legislative and policy initiatives in: Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas, Maine, and Pennsylvania. At Bingham Group, he will spearhead our multi-state practice, as well as assisting our municipal and state practices. Learn more about Will, here.
TODAY // WEBINAR (4PM) ATX COVID-19 Community Updates: Housing & Housing Rights
Austin Justice Coalition hosts its 3rd COVID-19 Tele-Townhall featuring elected officials and city leaders. Bingham Group is proud to sponsor this effort, and will run the recording over our networks for those who can’t join tonight. More information and sign-up here.
GUESTS
Austin Council Member Greg Casar (District 4)
Mandy De Mayo, Administrator, Neighborhood Housing & Community Development
John Henneberger, Author, Texas Housers
Chris Harris, Organizer, #HomesNotHandcuffs
Awais Azhar, Steering Committee, Planning Our Communities
Shoshana Krieger, Projector Director, BASTA
BG PODCAST EPISODE 82: Metro Discussion with Mayor Larry Wallace, City of Manor (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Unprecedented local relief fund will send millions of tax dollars directly to vulnerable Austinites impacted by the coronavirus (Community Impact)
For Austin’s most vulnerable residents who will not receive assistance from the federal government’s coronavirus economic stimulus package, help is on the way.
With a unanimous vote, Austin City Council passed its own Relief in a State of Emergency, or RISE, package, which will send $15 million from the city’s budget reserves directly to social service organizations that will help those Austinites heavily impacted by the coronavirus but may have fallen through the cracks of the federal government’s relief efforts. City staff estimates the organizations will receive the funds in two-to-three weeks.
The resolution and its accompanying budget amendment, headed by Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza and Council Member Greg Casar, respectively, directs about $7.5 million to organizations that will provide direct financial relief to vulnerable Austinites, in the form of one-time payments or pre-paid debit cards. The remaining half of the money will go to organizations aimed at helping residents secure fundamental services such as food, diapers, rental assistance and medicine.
Garza called the move “a really big deal” and sends the message to undocumented residents and those at the bottom of the income ladder that the city does not want them to have to decide between no food on the table or putting themselves and their families at risk by trying to go to work… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City will appeal judgment against land development code rewrite (Austin American-Statesman)
The Austin City Council gave a de facto go ahead Thursday for the city to appeal a recent court ruling that has all but halted efforts to overhaul the city’s land development code.
On March 18, State District Court Judge Jan Soifer ruled Austinites have the right to formally protest the zoning changes that would happen to their property under the years-long effort to update the city’s rules on what can be built and where.
State law provides property owners the ability to protest changes to building rules on their own property and adjacent properties with 200 feet. When validated, those protests require a super-majority of nine Austin City Council members to override them.
The city had argued individual protest rights do not apply in the case of the land development code overhaul. However, Soifer disagreed in a ruling that invalidated the City Council’s two preliminary votes to approve the rewrite.
The ruling was a massive victory for opponents of the overhaul. It delivered an outsized amount of influence to the four City Council members who have generally opposed the overhaul… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Nature Conservancy exec to lead Austin Chamber of Commerce (Austin Business Journal)
One of Austin's top business groups has picked its next leader.
The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce announced April 9 that it had named Laura Huffman its next president and CEO. She starts April 20.
Huffman is currently Texas state director for the Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit that pushes for natural resource protection.
"It's an honor to be asked to lead this organization at this critical time," Huffman said in a statement. "We'll do all we can to lift up our people, restore the jobs, rebuild the businesses and reinvigorate the communities that make Central Texas special."
Before joining the Nature Conservancy, she was an assistant city manager for Austin municipal government. For a 2008 profile on her shortly after she joined the conservancy, go here.
"Her talent, experience and innovative spirit will be essential to helping us navigate these uncertain economic times and lead our community toward recovery and a prosperous future," Craig Enoch, chairman of the chamber's board and managing member at law firm Enoch Kever PLLC, said in a statement.
Huffman will replace Mike Rollins, who announced last fall he would retire in 2020 after nearly 20 years leading the organization… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
More Texans filed for unemployment in the last 4 weeks than all of 2019 (Texas Tribune)
More than 760,000 Texans have applied for unemployment insurance over the last four weeks, exceeding the roughly 700,000 people who filed for unemployment relief in Texas in all of 2019.
Just last week, a historic 313,832 Texans submitted unemployment insurance claims, which was a 13.6% jump from the previous week's short-lived record. Analysts expect many more people to lose work in the coming weeks as more than 1 million Texans are expected to be jobless.
The numbers are early — but incomplete — indicators of how dramatically and suddenly the state's economy collapsed under social distancing orders officials issued to curb the still growing public health crisis spurred by the novel coronavirus… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Where Texas, long a standout in US economy, could land after pandemic (Austin Business Journal)
What are some of the potential opportunities that are created by this retraction and pandemic that could prove to benefit the Texas economy in the future?
Texas has developed a significant presence in the biosciences. … We've had a lot of growth in our biotech companies, and one of the things this could do is lead to a lot of investment in new products, new equipment, new services that can help deal with this type of thing (in the future.)
It will bring a pandemic to top of mind, much like we saw a lot of money flow into…security after 9/11. We're going to see that same type of investment on the health side. And I think Texas has positioned itself in the last few years … to capitalize on that… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
A Colorado ski area wants nonresidents out. The Texas attorney general cries foul. (Houston Chronicle)
The Texas attorney general’s office is calling a Colorado mountain resort area’s call for all non-residents to leave the county -- including those who own ski homes in the area -- unconstitutional. “While the order contains other laudable measures aimed at protecting public health, its patent discrimination against non-resident homeowners -- including Texans who own homes in Gunnison County -- runs afoul of the United States Constitution,” the office wrote in a letter to the director of county’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Resort areas have struggled with the coronavirus as those with second homes flee cities to ride out the pandemic in a less populated setting. Gunnison County, which includes ski resort towns Crested Butte and Powderhorn, argued that people flocking to the area were straining the rural county's infrastructure. "The Public Health Director also finds that non-residents, regardless of whether they own a residence in Gunnison County, are imposing unnecessary burdens on health care, public services, first responders, food supplies and other essential services," its order said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Hair stylists and barbers take financial hit during Texas’ stay-at-home order (Dallas Morning News)
Texans might be looking a bit scraggly by the end of April. Hair salons and barber shops remain closed until April 30 under Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order that shuttered “nonessential” businesses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That means haircuts, manicures and facials will have to wait until at least May, if not longer. With beauty salons and barber shops across the state closing their doors, hair stylists and barbers have been left in a tight spot financially.
Texas has nearly 270,000 licensed cosmetologists and 19,000 licensed barbers, including more than 28,000 cosmetologists and 2,700 barbers in Dallas County. Cosmetologist and barber licenses are issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Tela Mange, public information officer for TDLR, said all personal care services performed by licensees should be stopped under Abbott’s executive order. Violators are subject to fines or up to 180 days in jail and a quarantine order. The agency has received numerous complaints about shops and individuals continuing to operate, according to Mange. Wearing gloves and a mask isn’t sufficient protection, she said, because personal care services can’t be performed from the recommended six-foot distance… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Pelosi rejects remote voting amid coronavirus scare – again (The Hill)
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday again rejected the notion that the House might adopt a system of remote voting to protect the health of lawmakers during the coronavirus crisis.
"As we all become more savvy in terms of technology, one would say we could transfer that to remote voting," she said on a press call. "But it's not that easy."
A number of Capitol Hill lawmakers have urged leaders in both parties to establish an arrangement where members could cast votes from afar, as national health officials continue to press the public to avoid unnecessary travel and gatherings… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Starship Technologies is sending its autonomous robots to more cities as demand for contactless delivery rises (Tech Crunch)
Starship Technologies has launched a robot food delivery service in Tempe, Ariz., as part of the autonomous delivery startup’s expansion plans following a $40 million funding round announced last August.
Starship Technologies, which was launched in 2014 by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has been ramping up commercial services in the past year, including a plan to expand to 100 universities by late summer 2021.
Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing traditional restaurants to close and placing more pressure on gig economy workers, Starship Technologies has an opportunity to accelerate that growth.
Tempe isn’t the only new areas added amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Starship added a grocery delivery service in Washington, D.C in late March and expanded to Irvine, Calif. It also expanded its service area in Milton Keynes, U.K., where it has been operating since 2018. The company said it plans to add more cities in the coming weeks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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