BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 28, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
COVID-19 RESOURCE PAGE
Bingham Group is compiling the most important Federal, State, and City COVID-19 related announcements, policy and regulatory changes each week. Click here to find the most up-to-date information.
SPECIAL PODCAST EPISODE - ATX COVID-19 COMMUNITY UPDATES - COVID-19 & The Class of 2020
Guests include: Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University, as well as the President/CEOs of Austin Community College and Concordia University Texas, and Dr. Leonard N. Moore with the The University of Texas at Austin. We will also hear from community members and students in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. LINK TO SHOW
[AUSTIN METRO]
Abbott says his order overrides local disaster rules (Austin Monitor)
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday the first phase of reopening the state for business in response to an apparent lessening of Covid-19 cases that have sent the nation into an economic tailspin. Abbott claimed he had the authority to allow the majority of businesses to operate in a limited capacity, in spite of any local orders to the contrary.
Travis County commissioners and Austin City Council are both meeting today and Covid-19 will be on both agendas.
Under Abbott’s order, most businesses except for barbershops, hair salons, gyms and bars will be authorized to start doing business Friday on a limited basis. Restaurants and other retail establishments will be allowed to operate at 25 percent of capacity. The governor released a report from the task force he created outlining rules and recommendations related to business and the coronavirus.
Several sections of the report, including one addressed to all employers, recommends that they “consider having all employees wear cloth face coverings (over the nose and mouth). If available, employees should consider wearing nonmedical-grade face masks.”
The governor did not mention face masks in his presentation, leaving it to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who said face masks are recommended, but not required. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and Austin Mayor Steve Adler put out an order April 13 requiring everyone over 10 years old to wear a face mask when out in public, with certain exceptions… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Following Racism Investigation And A Fatal Shooting, Advocates Ask Austin To Fire Police Chief (KUT)
The Austin Justice Coalition, Grassroots Leadership and other advocacy groups are asking city leaders to fire Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, Chief of Staff Troy Gay and Assistant City Manager Ray Arellano.
The call to fire the city’s highest-ranking police officer comes after 42-year-old Michael Ramos died when police shot at his vehicle as he drove away from them in Southeast Austin on Friday. But advocates for police reform say concerns over Manley’s leadership have been building for some time.
In a letter sent to Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk, Mayor Steve Adler and council members Monday, the groups said they felt hopeful at the beginning of Manley’s tenure nearly two years ago. The department adopted a new de-escalation policy and the City Council asked police to curb arrests for low-level misdemeanors… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin’s population growth will dramatically drop due to COVID-19, says economist (CultureMap Austin)
The coronavirus-driven economic downturn will deal a significant blow to the Austin area’s population and job growth in 2020 and 2021, according to a local economist.
Angelos Angelou, founder and CEO of Austin-based economic development and site selection firm AngelouEconomics, anticipates the Austin area adding only 35,000 residents this year and 45,000 next year, compared with roughly 55,000 to 65,000 a year in the 2016-19 period.
Angelou says his projection of lower-than-usual population growth stems from the tendency of people to stay put and not risk a move during difficult economic times.
“But, rest assured, if the economy is going to start improving, Austin and Texas are typically significant beneficiaries of a new influx of immigration from other parts of the country because this is probably the best place to find a job when the economy recovers,” Angelou said during an April 21 webinar sponsored by TiE Austin, a nonprofit group that promotes entrepreneurship.
However, fewer jobs will be available in the Austin area in 2020 and 2021 than in the recent past, Angelou predicts.
Angelou forecasts the Austin area will lose 45,000 jobs in 2020 and add just 29,000 jobs in 2021. From 2016 through 2019, the Austin area posted annual job gains ranging from 32,000 to 37,500, he says… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
As businesses prepare to reopen, workers weigh COVID-19 risk against the need for a paycheck
Gov. Greg Abbott’s Monday announcement that retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls will be allowed to reopen Friday means many Texas workers now have a difficult decision to make.
Going back to work means earning a paycheck again, but it also can increase their risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus, which has already infected more than 25,000 Texans and left 663 dead. And refusing to return after a business reopens means forfeiting unemployment benefits… (LINK TO STORY)
Baylor will resume in-person classes, residential life this fall (Austin American-Statesman)
Baylor University will resume in-person classes and allow students to return to dorms this fall, Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone announced late Monday, answering a question that many universities across the country still are grappling with. Livingstone said the return is highly dependent on the continued decline of COVID-19 cases in the greater Waco Area.
“It is important to note, however, that we are not planning for a ‘normal start’ of the fall semester, given the lack of a treatment protocol or vaccine for COVID-19,” Livingstone said. “We are preparing to adapt our instructional and residential life models and on-campus activities, as needed, to protect our campus community while continuing to offer the distinct on-campus college experience for which Baylor is known.” Baylor’s news comes on the heels of a major announcement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Monday afternoon the state-wide stay at home order will expire on May 1, and Texas restaurants and retail stores will be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas needs a big ramp-up in virus testing to avoid a surge in cases as the economy reopens, experts say (Dallas Morning News)
The statewide shutdown has thrashed Texas’ economy. More than 1.5 million Texans have received unemployment benefits. And protesters from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s own party — as well as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — are pressuring him to put Texas back in business. Abbott promises an announcement Monday that will allow for the reopening of a “massive amount of businesses,” in a safe way that is guided by data and doctors. But while, for now, newly reported cases of COVID-19 have slowed somewhat in Texas, more steps are needed to stage a safe reopening.
Experts across the nation, including one of Abbott’s own medical advisers, say avoiding a new surge of coronavirus infections while lifting social distancing orders will require robust testing and rapid contact tracing, areas where Texas has lagged. Under some projections, that could mean testing 40,000 or more Texans a day. So far, the state’s highest daily tally has been just over 20,200, according to the COVID Tracking Project, a clearinghouse that has become a go-to for nationwide statistics on the virus. The state has plans to bring on 1,000 new people to track down those who have had contact with people carrying the virus — more than doubling the current contact-tracing workforce. Some local public health agencies said last week that their contact tracing had been delayed by the wait for test results, which can be over a week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Turner resists push for paid sick leave ordinance in Houston during pandemic (Houston Chronicle)
The coronavirus outbreak is sparking a debate over paid sick leave in Houston, the largest U.S. city without a law requiring businesses to provide paid time off for workers who fall ill. Labor leaders say the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered their argument for a paid leave mandate, arguing such a policy would slow community spread of the disease here. Mayor Sylvester Turner largely has ignored the push, making clear he will not take action on paid sick leave while the health and economic crisis continues to play out. “Right now, the private sector is hurting, just like the public sector is hurting,” Turner said in an interview. “Businesses are taking it on the chin, and that's been across the board: small, medium-sized, large. So, let's get past this crisis, and then we'll have an opportunity to have a robust discussion on the other side.”
As Houston and Harris County residents pass a month of stay-at-home restrictions to prevent local hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with patients, Turner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo are coming under intensifying pressure from business owners on the one hand who say they cannot survive more weeks of forced closures, and health officials on the other who say coronavirus testing remains too scarce to drop the restrictions. Labor advocates and health experts have warned that many employees who lack paid sick leave will skirt federal guidelines and show up to work when they are ill because they cannot afford the lost wages from missing even a few days of work. Without a paid sick leave mandate, they say, “essential” Houston workers remain uncovered if their employers do not offer it and are exempted from a federal coronavirus paid leave package that contains broad loopholes. “There is clear evidence from states and cities across the country that when workers have access to paid sick days, they're more likely to stay home and take care of themselves,” said Vicki Shabo, a senior fellow for paid leave policy at the Washington, D.C., think tank New America… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Absent fed help, state budgets will be the worst in decades (Governing)
Something’s about to happen in Wyoming that hasn't been the case since statehood, back in 1890. Given the drop in oil prices, it’s possible that by June not a single rig will be drilling for oil there. Meanwhile, the drop in electricity demand is slowing or stalling work at coal mines in the nation’s largest production state. Add it all up and Wyoming’s government is facing a severe decline in revenues. “The pessimistic scenarios looking out over a two-year period show about a 25 to 30 percent drop in revenue,” says Wyoming House Speaker Steve Harshman. “That’s not something anybody’s ever seen.” It may be unprecedented, but it may also become common. Around the country, states, cities and counties are seeing revenues fall through the floor, even as the demand for unemployment insurance and other services is rising fast. Already, furloughs and layoffs of government workers number in the thousands and budget shortfalls are being counted in the billions.
Moody’s Analytics, a financial research firm, projects that the shrinking economy could translate into a revenue drop for states of between $158 billion and $203 billion, or 18 to 23 percent. That’s in fiscal 2021, which begins on July 1 for most states. The variation is based on how soon the economy starts to open up. The longer it takes before people feel safe enough to congregate in offices, factories and shops, the worse the economic pain will be. On Saturday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a revised financial plan that calls for cuts of $8.2 billion in aid to localities, along with a 10 percent cut in state spending, absent direct federal help. Through 2024, Cuomo said, revenues will fall short by $61 billion. Revenue in California cities will decline $6.7 billion over the next two years, mainly due to dropoffs in sales and hotel taxes, according to a League of California Cities estimate. Dan White, director of fiscal policy research at Moody’s Analytics, says if the economy remains mostly frozen through the summer, it could take six to seven years for the resulting job losses to be erased, a scenario he calls “unfortunately relatively plausible.” Combine the revenue cuts with the increase in service demand, he says, and “some states are going to see 30 to 40 percent of their budgets that need repairing.”… (LINK TO FULL 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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