BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 30, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
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.
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.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Covid-19 is magnifying food insecurity – and the digital divide – in these Travis County ZIP codes (Austin Monitor)
Children in 11 Central Texas ZIP codes are at high risk of food insecurity because of Covid-19, a new study finds. And the situation is further compounded by a lack of access to high-speed internet as they try to continue their education online.
The study from the statewide nonprofit Children at Risk says the neighborhoods, which include Del Valle, Montopolis and stretches of East Austin, already had limited access to food before the pandemic. Historically, about a quarter of Texas children are at risk of food scarcity, but the group says that gap has likely widened as a result of coronavirus shutdowns.
The analysis relies on census data showing more than half of children in these neighborhoods already rely on free meals provided by schools. While those meals are being offered on a pickup basis, the data show many families in these ZIP codes may not have a car. That lack of transportation makes it difficult to get access to food donations at food banks as well. And, the study notes, some people may fear seeking out assistance because a family member is undocumented… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
University of Texas still planning on reopening in fall, UT president says (KVUE)
In light of Gov. Abbott's order to gradually and strategically reopen Texas, University of Texas President Greg Fenves said in a letter to the UT community that the university's goal remains to reopen in fall 2020.
Fenves added that some courses and activities could be "held in person and others online as dictated by health and safety concerns."
The UT president said they expect to announce their decision for the fall semester by the end of June… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Domain, other Simon malls to reopen Friday, CNBC reports (Austin Business Journal)
On the heels of Gov. Greg Abbott announcing plans to reopen parts of the Texas economy, the country's largest mall owner plans to reopen 49 shopping centers across the nation May 1-4, including five in Austin, according to CNBC.
On May 1, Simon Property Group expects to reopen its portion of The Domain, outlet malls in Round Rock and San Marcos and Lakeline Mall, in Northwest Austin off U.S. Highway 183, and Barton Creek Square, in Southwest Austin off Capital of Texas Highway, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC.
Simon owns much of the southern retail portion of The Domain, while Domain Northside is owned by Northwood Investors, which purchased it from Endeavor Real Estate Group in 2019. A website for Domain Northside was recently updated indicating many restaurants remain open there for takeout or delivery orders and many stores are offering retail-to-go.
Under Abbott's orders, all retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls can reopen starting May 1 if they follow certain guidelines. They must operate at 25% capacity until at least May 18. If the spread of COVID-19 is contained by then, the state will reopen more businesses and increase the capacity of existing open businesses to 50%… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Sending Restaurant And Retail Employees Back To Work Without Child Care (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)
Texas Restaurant Association president: Phased opening approach is responsible way forward (Community Impact)
It has been a bleak six weeks for the restaurant business in Texas since stay-at-home orders began going into place around the state.
According to a survey by the National Restaurant Association released April 20, 61% of restaurant employees in Texas have been laid off or furloughed since February—representing more than 688,000 employees.
A separate study from the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs found that half of restaurant owners in Texas say it will take their businesses nine months or longer to recover from the crisis, and 3% say they don't expect to ever recover.
Yet, according to Texas Restaurant Association President and CEO Emily Williams Knight, only 6% of Texas restaurants received a federal loan designed to keep small businesses afloat in the first round of funding for the Payroll Protection Program, and 30% of Texas restaurants are in danger of closing for good.
Williams Knight said Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to open restaurants and other businesses in phases—beginning May 1 with dining areas allowed to open at 25% of their capacity—is the start of a path to recovery for struggling restaurants across the state… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Abbott says Texas is allowed to keep alcohol to-go sales after May 1, possibly 'forever' (San Antonio Express-News)
On Twitter Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott suggested to-go alcohol sales should be made available in Texas past the coronavirus pandemic. Texas restaurants will be allowed to open for dine-in Friday under a 25 percent occupancy limit, and they'll also be able to still offer alcohol to-go with the purchase of food. The state may be able to keep the option permanently, Abbott said in a tweet.
"Alcohol-to-go sales can continue after May 1," the governor tweeted Tuesday night. "From what I hear from Texans, we may just let his keep going on forever." Some of what the governor may be hearing — or seeing — is the online chatter between residents enjoying the ability to pick up drinks to enjoy at home throughout the pandemic. The new freedom has been the source of memes, jealousy from other states and was incorporated on El Arroyo's famed marquee signage in Austin. Long drive-thru lines at places like Taco Cabana, where frozen margaritas are $2, have also been common… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Texas AG helped donor fight virus lockout (New York Times)
When a small county in the Colorado mountains banished everyone but locals to blunt the spread of the coronavirus, an unlikely outsider raised a fuss: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who called it an affront to Texans who own property there and pressed health officials to soften the rules. “The banishment of nonresident Texas homeowners is entirely unconstitutional and unacceptable,” Paxton said in a news release April 9, when his office sent a letter asking authorities in Gunnison County to reverse course. An Associated Press review of county and campaign finance records shows Paxton’s actions stood to benefit an exclusive group of Texans, including a Dallas donor and college classmate who helped Paxton launch his run for attorney general and had spent five days trying to get a waiver to remain in his $4 million lakeside home.
Robert McCarter’s neighbors in the wealthy Colorado enclave of Crested Butte are also Paxton campaign contributors, including a Texas oilman who has given Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, more than $252,000. Less than three hours after Paxton announced the letter, Gunnison County granted McCarter an exemption to stay, according to documents obtained by AP. The county says the timing was coincidental. The depth of Paxton’s connections in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, which were not previously known publicly, raise questions about Texas’ top law enforcement officer using his office to lean on a secluded Colorado county as it scrambled to keep COVID-19 at bay. Paxton has at least nine donors in Texas who own property in Gunnison County, and who collectively have given him and his wife nearly $2 million in political contributions. He sent the letter even as his own state was requiring people arriving from New Orleans and New York to self-quarantine for 14 days… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
GOP faces pressure to get tougher with Trump (The Hill)
Republicans in the Senate are under growing pressure to take the administration to task for its response to the coronavirus. GOP senators, with a few exceptions, have been reluctant to criticize the administration, but they are starting to re-evaluate that kid-glove treatment amid public frustration over the lack of virus testing kits and protective equipment and reports of taxpayer dollars going to questionable causes. Some GOP strategists say it would be smart for Republican senators to use oversight to distance themselves from some of the administration’s problems and to burnish their reputations with independents.
Republicans have a 53-47 seat majority, but the Senate is increasingly seen as in play this fall given the health and economic crises the nation is suffering. “This may be an unprecedented circumstance in terms of public health and the budget, but it’s not unprecedented politically for the party in Congress to look at the incumbent president in the election and say ‘How can we protect ourselves from the drag of the White House?’ ” said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier this month tapped Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to coordinate Senate Republican oversight of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that President Trump signed into law March 27. Crapo, who helped draft a $500 billion appropriation to the Treasury Department to set up a joint Treasury-Federal Reserve program to backstop loans, has urged administration officials to begin collecting information to share with Congress… (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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