BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 29, 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.
*NEW* Council Member Casar prioritizing issues and strategies compelling COVID19 related paid sick leave for large companies (500+ employees) currently exempt:
Excerpt “We must accelerate this conversation about workers’ rights. We should be protecting our own employees and those of our contractors; we should be considering how to create such protections in the private workforce by rules, incentives, or programs; we should be training vulnerable workers into telework jobs; we should be supporting workers in accessing the limited pandemic benefits that do exist; and we should be considering how local funds, including CARES funds, can help make sure we prevent needless risk or deaths of these working people.”
*NEW*BG Podcast Episode 84: Tech, Policy, and Labor with René Lara, Legislative Director, AFL-CIO
Today's episode features a discussion with René Lara, Legislative Director with the Texas AFL-CIO. The two discuss the unionization of Kickstarter employees (on February 18), a first for a major tech firm, and implications for the sector particularly consumer facing businesses.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council hears good news, bad news on coronavirus (Austin Monitor)
Two researchers from the University of Texas Covid-19 Modeling Consortium told Council Tuesday that the orders from Mayor Steve Adler and County Judge Sarah Eckhardt to stay home and avoid spreading the virus have delayed and possibly even prevented a health care crisis in the region. Eckhardt and Adler issued the orders on March 17 closing most businesses and ordered all but essential employees to stay home beginning March 24.
The researchers also warned of serious consequences if the rules are relaxed too early.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued orders similar to the Adler-Eckhardt orders on March 30 and also ordered all public schools closed. But on Monday he announced new rules, beginning Friday, intended to restart the Texas economy and override local emergency regulations.
Adler told his colleagues Tuesday, “Our community has done just an incredible job.” He said when the decision was made in March to close businesses and order people to stay home, “we had no idea” if Austin could actually implement the order. In fact Austinites stuck by the social distancing rules at a rate of more than 90 percent, he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
When it comes to planning Austin ISD’s budget during a a pandemic, there are ‘No Safe Assumptions’ (KUT)
The Austin Independent School District has spent $7.6 million in the last six weeks addressing changes related to the coronavirus pandemic, including new technology and software for online learning and increased pay for staff on the front lines.
The district and the school board are now preparing a budget for next school year that accommodates continued changes from school buildings being closed and online learning.
Nicole Conley, AISD's chief business officer, told the board Monday night the district’s priorities in this new budget need to be retaining staff and helping students who are affected the most by at-home learning.
She said there are “no safe assumptions” while planning this budget, but said AISD has gotten through difficult financial positions before.
“There is a silver lining,” Conley said. “We have a track record of strong financial management that will allow us to get through this financial challenge.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
See also:
Episode 38: Nicole Conley, Austin ISD CFO, on AISD’s current fiscal position
Travis County allocates $10M in federal aid to small businesses, considers strategy following governor’s orders to reopen (Travis County)
The Travis County Commissioners Court moved forward with plans to allocate federal stimulus funds for coronavirus recovery, designating $10 million of the county’s $61 million in coronavirus relief funds to go to local small businesses.
Travis County’s $10 million small-business relief grant program will be available to businesses located in unincorporated areas of the county, the city of Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and Travis County municipalities without a comparable program. Businesses with 25 or fewer full-time employees and which net less than $1 million in annual revenue may apply for grants of up to $40,000, to be spent by year’s end, per federal requirements.
According to Diana Ramirez, director of Travis County Economic Development & Strategic Investments, funds may be used for three reasons, including “the continuation of business operations and services during the declared disaster and its aftermath; business model adjustments needed to accommodate ongoing practices of social distancing and sanitizing requirements to deter the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health; and retention of jobs of the employees of the business concerned.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Alamo Drafthouse, others won't reopen on Friday (Austin Business Journal)
Texas has left the decision to reopen starting May 1 up to certain businesses with new orders from the governor.
On April 27, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order that will let Texas' original stay-at-home and business closure measures expire on April 30. That clears the way for malls, restaurants and movie theaters to reopen on or after May 1 — but they have to keep capacity below 25% and institute other measures. The order, which officials are calling Open Texas, will be pushed in phases, allowing more businesses to reopen if there is a not a spike in Covid-19 cases within two-week periods.
While some local businesses have taken to social media to announce their plans to reopen, other businesses are taking a more cautious approach — including Austin's most popular movie theaters.
Austin-based chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema LLC wrote on its Facebook page that it would not reopen this weekend as it works on new safety procedures and training… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Supreme Court extends moratorium on evictions until May 18 (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Supreme Court extended the moratorium on eviction procedures until May 18, offering a few more weeks of relief to renters otherwise expected to cough up payments at the beginning of the month.
Trials, hearings and other procedures are suspended, but landlords could file for an eviction, according to the order.
The federal government has also halted evictions until August 23 for properties that are covered by federally backed mortgages. Local authorities have placed similar and sometimes stronger actions to stop evictions, as unemployment claims escalate and reach historic highs in Texas. In just a five-week span during March and April, 1,301,441 Texans applied for unemployment insurance, more than all of 2019. Previous to the crisis, housing affordability was already becoming a larger problem for thousands of low-income Texans… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins to North Texas: Follow the science and stay home (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on Tuesday made the case to North Texas to stay home despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to begin reopening restaurants, malls and movie theaters. Jenkins said the county has yet to see a two-week decline in new confirmed coronavirus cases, hospitalizations or deaths, a federal guidepost to reopening the economy. There is also not enough testing in Texas to identify new hotspots, he said.
“We’re going to have to survive and thrive underneath these orders, whether we agree with these orders or not,” Jenkins said, after announcing the biggest jump in cases here and the death toll reached 94. Jenkins’ comments came a day after Abbott announced his plans to allow the state’s stay-at-home order to expire April 30 and allow some businesses to open up to 25% capacity. Abbott made clear Monday that his decision trumps any local order in conflict, effectively voiding Jenkins’ requirement that Dallas County residents stay home until May 15. Jenkins said he wouldn’t try to circumvent the governor’s order and put additional restrictions on businesses in Dallas County. However, he was planning a 6 p.m. phone call with business leaders to discuss how they can work together to enforce the 25 percent capacity rule and other suggestions in the governor’s plan… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Forced to reopen Harris County, Hidalgo outlines plan to contain future coronavirus spread (Houston Chronicle)
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Tuesday announced plans to significantly expand novel coronavirus case tracing, and maintain reserve hospital capacity, to prepare for a potential virus surge as businesses reopen. Hidalgo outlined the strategy in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision a day earlier to allow restaurants, malls, movie theaters and other businesses to reopen Friday. Harris County’s government will do its best to adjust, the county judge said. “Frankly, I think containing this virus will be a tall order given the May 1 timeline,” Hidalgo said. “But we’re going to do everything we can, move heaven and earth to make it work."
The county plans to recruit 300 “contact tracers” to investigate where infected people may have spread the virus and to whom. Epidemiologists will train existing county employees, volunteers and some new hires on how to track the path of a COVID-19 patient. Once a possible contact has been identified, that person is told to get tested. Hidalgo estimates a positive patient will have had contact with 20 other people and ramped up testing capabilities — based on municipal drive-thru and mobile testing sites that can administer up to 1,600 daily — allows for each of those contacts to be tested. With a finite supply of nasal swabs, the judge warned that the county can only handle up to 100 positive cases per day. A spike would jeopardize the supply. “If we let our foot off the gas right now, the virus will inevitably come back, and it will come back as much force, if not more force, as before,” Hidalgo said. “For us to be safe, we need to get keep the new cases below 100 new cases a day,” she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
State developing "clarity" on who qualifies for unemployment as businesses prepare to reopen (Texas Tribune)
A Texas Workforce Commission spokesman said late Tuesday the agency is developing parameters for what might allow Texans to continue qualifying for unemployment insurance if they refuse to return to work at a business reopened by Gov. Greg Abbott’s loosened executive order because they fear contracting or spreading the coronavirus.
That statement came a day after The Texas Tribune reported that TWC officials said workers must be “willing and able to work all the days and hours” required of the job they are seeking and those who choose not to return to work at businesses reopened during the pandemic will become ineligible for unemployment aid. In the Tribune story Monday, agency spokesman Cisco Gamez said workers with concerns about their employer’s adherence to health guidelines should contact the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
But on Tuesday night, Gamez said that "on a case by case basis," the agency "may need to review" situations where workers aren’t comfortable returning to reopened businesses while the coronavirus still spreads through the community. He also said the agency is “working to develop clarity” on what “might constitute good cause” for not returning to a job. Without good cause, people aren't eligible for benefits, he said...(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
AP-NORC poll: Rising support for mail voting amid pandemic (Associated Press)
Americans’ support for mail-in voting has jumped amid concerns about the safety of polling places during the coronavirus pandemic, but a wide partisan divide suggests President Donald Trump’s public campaign against vote by mail may be resonating with his Republican backers. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47% to 29%.
In 2018, about half as many Democrats were in favor, and there was little difference in the views of Democrats and Republicans on the question. The survey also found a partisan divide on support for no-excuse absentee voting, the system in place in most states, including almost all the top presidential battlegrounds, even as a majority of Americans say they favor that practice. The increased partisanship in the debate over how America votes comes just as that question has been thrust into the forefront of American politics. As health officials warn about the risk of spreading the coronavirus at polling places, some in the Republican Party have tried to limit the expansion of mail voting, with Trump and others openly fretting that it may enable too many people to cast their ballots for the GOP to win in November… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Hillary Clinton becomes latest Democrat to endorse Biden (Associated Press)
Hillary Clinton, the first woman to become a major party’s presidential nominee, endorsed Joe Biden’s White House bid on Tuesday, continuing Democrats’ efforts to coalesce around the former vice president as he takes on President Donald Trump. Clinton made her announcement during a Biden campaign town hall to discuss the coronavirus and its effect on women. Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton assailed the Republican president’s handling of the pandemic and hailed Biden’s experience and temperament in comparison.
“Just think of what a difference it would make right now if we had a president who not only listened to the science … but brought us together,” said Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential race to Trump. “Think of what it would mean if we had a real president,” Clinton continued, rather than a man who “plays one on TV.” Biden, as a former vice president and six-term senator, “has been preparing for this moment his entire life,” Clinton said. “This is a moment when we need a leader, a president like Joe Biden.” With her historic candidacy, Clinton remains a powerful — and complex — figure in American life. Her 2016 campaign inspired many women, and her loss to Trump resonates to this day. The female candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary often faced skepticism that a woman could win the White House… (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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