BG Reads + BG Podcast | News You Need to Know (April 8, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG PODCAST EPISODE 82: Metro Discussion with Mayor Larry Wallace, City of Manor (LINK TO SHOW)
*NEW*WEBINAR TONIGHT (6PM) ATX COVID-19 Community Updates: Public Health & Safety
Austin Justice Coalition hosts its second 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.
Tonight’s guests:
Stephanie Hayden, Director, Austin Public Health
Mark E. Escott, MD, MPH, FACEP, NRP, Medical Director, City of Austin/ Travis County
Joya Hayes, Director, Human Resources
[AUSTIN METRO]
Great Depression-Era Job Losses Expected In Austin Due To Coronavirus Pandemic (KUT)
The City of Austin is expecting Great Depression-era job losses as the coronavirus continues to shut down the economy. Current forecasts predict a quarter of a million people in Austin could be without jobs in the next couple months, an unemployment rate of about 25%.
Jon Hockenyos, the president of the Austin economic consulting firm TXP, Inc., told city council members Tuesday that this is just the beginning – it’s likely going to take two years for the Austin economy to get back to normal.
“I’m hoping that is a slightly pessimistic scenario, but I think it is a realistic scenario,” Hockenyos said... (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis County preparing new shelter-in-place order; hospitals only at 50% capacity (Austin American-Statesman)
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt says she’s preparing a new shelter-in-place order that would extend the mandate for all residents to remain in their homes unless performing essential activities.
The original order, signed by Eckhardt, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell, was announced March 24 and expires April 13.
Eckhardt expects the new order, based on updated information, to be active next week and include safety standards for essential businesses.
The new order, she told commissioners on Tuesday, will take into account Gov. Greg Abbott’s order as well as latest University of Texas coronavirus model projections and other public health information. It’s unclear when the new order will expire… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
County Commissioners Court looks toward economic recovery solutions (Austin Monitor)
To assist businesses impacted by the economic downturn, the county’s Economic Development Department is working on a recovery response program to support small businesses and fill in financial gaps.
The department is beginning by creating a public-facing dashboard that identifies federal and local aid programs that are available. Once the list is compiled, the county will present it in a cohesive library and provide assistance to businesses in identifying eligibility and guidance in the application process. The county will use the records in the dashboard to determine if there are areas where small businesses are not covered and work to craft new programs to fill those gaps.
Ramirez said the goal of these efforts is to provide liquidity for these local businesses.
County commissioners voted unanimously to further bolster support for future funding initiatives by directing staff to pursue a small business loan program under Chapter 381, the county’s economic incentive program. Additionally, the court voted unanimously to send a letter requesting federal funding under the federal CARES Act. No specific amount was specified… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas already in recession, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar says (Houston Chronicle)
With oil prices deflated and most Texans sheltered at home, the state’s economy has all but certainly plunged into a recession, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Tuesday. “You don’t have the data but it’s pretty evident that much of the world is shut down,” Hegar, the state’s top tax collector, said in a live interview with the Texas Tribune. “You just don’t know how bad it’s going to be.” The comptroller had been warning of a slowdown for days now, but his remarks Tuesday seemed to be his first public admission that the state is now in the throes of it. Texas is combating the coronavirus pandemic and reeling from a global price war in the oil sector that has slashed profits.
Hegar said officials won’t have their first real glimpse into the slowdown until June, but early indicators show significant declines. Unemployment claims have skyrocketed in the last two weeks, hotel occupancy rates have dropped to historic lows, and most local businesses are no longer collecting sales tax — the single biggest source of state tax revenue. Hegar said he has started talking to agencies about cutting their spending, and plans to use the rainy day fund to help get the state through until legislators reconvene next spring. Under state law, the comptroller can borrow from the fund to maintain cash flow. The fund now has about $10 billion dollars, with $2 billion of that already allocated for damages from Hurricane Harvey and other state projects. Hegar predicted it would end the fiscal year, in August, with about $8.5 billion... (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Food banks rely on donations from grocery stores. But as Texans rush stores, grocers have less to give. (Texas Tribune)
Across the state, demand for assistance from food banks is off the charts as thousands of Texans who are suddenly out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic are visiting their local nonprofits in search of pantry staples to feed their families.
At the same time, food banks are facing brand new challenges that make it more difficult than ever to keep their shelves stocked.
Volunteers are scarce as Texans are being encouraged to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. And on the supply side, food is harder to come by since grocery stores have less surplus to donate because their own shelves are still depleted from panic buying… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas County commissioners vote to limit judge Clay Jenkins’ emergency powers (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas County commissioners voted Tuesday afternoon to limit some of Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ power. Commissioners voted on an amendment to require Jenkins to notify commissioners before placing any more restrictions on essential businesses without first notifying them and giving them a chance to call a meeting. The amendment also requires him to get a majority vote before extending his shelter-in-place order past April 30.
The unanimous vote came after several tense exchanges between Jenkins and several commissioners. Jenkins abstained from supporting a part of the amendment that required him to get approval from commissioners to extend the shelter-in-place order. The restrictions were watered down over the course of a four-hour meeting. Jenkins suggested before the vote that the restrictions as originally proposed were “dangerous” and would prevent him from acting quickly during the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. “We’re just not going to be able to get things done if we stop and have a two- or three-hour meeting every day on things like whether or not people should solicit at your home or not,” Jenkins said before the vote. District 3 commissioner John Wiley Price, who represents large parts of southern Dallas, said there’s been a “throat choke” on his community the past few weeks and that he was “incensed” by decisions Jenkins has made unilaterally. “If you can confer with 250 people every day or every other day, then you can confer with us,” Price said to Jenkins… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Wisconsin may be the start of the 2020 election wars (AXIOS)
Wisconsin voters braving lines in face masks — after a last-minute Supreme Court ruling against extending the absentee deadline — could foreshadow a nationwide legal struggle over how to conduct elections during the coronavirus outbreak, election experts say.
Why it matters: "It's a harbinger of what's to come in the next skirmishes in the voting wars" from now through November, Richard Hasen, a professor and national election law expert at the University of California, Irvine, told Axios… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word (LA Times)
Although President Trump has directed states and hospitals to secure what supplies they can, the federal government is quietly seizing orders, leaving medical providers across the country in the dark about where the material is going and how they can get what they need to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Hospital and clinic officials in seven states described the seizures in interviews over the past week. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is not publicly reporting the acquisitions, despite the outlay of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, nor has the administration detailed how it decides which supplies to seize and where to reroute them.
Officials who’ve had materials seized also say they’ve received no guidance from the government about how or if they will get access to the supplies they ordered. That has stoked concerns about how public funds are being spent and whether the Trump administration is fairly distributing scarce medical supplies. “In order to have confidence in the distribution system, to know that it is being done in an equitable manner, you have to have transparency,” said Dr. John Hick, an emergency physician at Hennepin Healthcare in Minnesota who has helped develop national emergency preparedness standards through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The medical leaders on the front lines of the fight to control the coronavirus and keep patients alive say they are grasping for explanations. “We can’t get any answers,” said a California hospital official who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from the White House… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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