BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 13, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 102 - Episode 102: Austin FC Updates with Club President Andy Loughnane (SHOW LINK)
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[AUSTIN METRO]
Austinites make final push for police budget cuts (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin residents got their final chance to advocate for deep spending cuts to the Police Department on Wednesday, the culmination of a journey that began many years ago but intensified this summer with the nation’s racial and economic injustice reckoning.
But despite a plan that would remove $150 million in funding and services from the police budget over the upcoming fiscal year, many callers commenting at the city’s budget adoption meeting Wednesday were unsatisfied, predicting the planned cuts would do little to end racial injustice or curtail the Police Department’s powers.
Others who commented during the hearing said they were pleased with the proposals, praising council members for unifying to get a lot of work done in a relatively short period of time. Other speakers lobbied against eliminating 100 officer positions, citing statistics that suggest Austin could be headed toward a record number of homicides this year.
The council recessed for the day at 9:40 p.m., having not yet voted on the budget. More than 200 people called in, accounting for the first five hours of the meeting. Council members will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday.
In addition to solidifying the next annual budget, the council was scheduled to consider a proposal on the November ballot for the multibillion-dollar Project Connect transportation plan. That plan would require voter approval for a tax increase up to 8.75 cents per $100 of taxable value to fund. That would be in addition to the 44.6-cent tax rate for city operations… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Precinct chairs ready to elect new county judge (Austin Monitor)
With former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt taking her seat in the Texas Senate, and no name on the November ballot for Travis County judge, the duty of selecting that nominee falls on the 136 Democratic precinct chairs who normally work on efforts such as getting out the vote. Republicans could also select a nominee for the position, but the party has not chosen to do so. That means whomever the precinct chairs pick this coming Sunday in their Zoom meeting will be the presumptive Travis County judge and will take office next January. Aug. 21 is the deadline for naming that person, according to party Chair Katie Naranjo.
While the three candidates – Precinct 1 Commissioner Jeff Travillion, former Travis County Democratic Party Chair Dyana Limon-Mercado and former Travis County Democratic Party Chair Andy Brown – may be fairly well known in Democratic political circles, they are not so well known to the general public. Brown, an attorney, lost a race for county judge to Eckhardt in 2014.
Travillion is African American, Limon-Mercado is Latina and Brown is white. According to data gathered by Travillion’s campaign, there are 28 precinct chairs from Precinct 1 (Northeast Travis County), 27 chairs from Precinct 4 (Southeast Travis County), 35 chairs from Precinct 2, and 46 chairs from Precinct 3 (southern and southwest parts of the county). There are numerous vacancies for those unpaid positions and about two-thirds of the precinct chairs are 50 or older, while only about 20 percent are younger than 40. The vast majority of the chairs are white.
A group of 29 local leaders of color, the majority of them women, released a letter Wednesday titled, “Now Is the Time for a Progressive Woman of Color to Lead Travis County,” endorsing the candidacy of Limon-Mercado. The signees include Lesley Varghese, chief of staff for Mayor Steve Adler; media personality Olga Campos; Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez; and longtime activists Yvonne Massey Davis and Martha Cotera.
The letter concluded, “An election decided by the people must reflect the people. Our current election process leaves it to 136 individuals to decide the outcome on behalf of 1.27 million people. No doubt this puts enormous pressure on those individuals to decide their vote in a manner that takes into account the full and rich diversity of our county. Travis County is 34 percent Latino, 9 percent African American and 8 percent AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders). We are a diverse community and we deserve leaders that have deep appreciation of who we are; unfortunately, we do not see ourselves represented in this process.” They go on to urge the chairs to elect Limon-Mercado… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Jay Hartzell named sole finalist for UT-Austin president (Texas Tribune)
The University of Texas System's Board of Regents unanimously named Jay Hartzell the sole finalist for president of its flagship university on Tuesday.
Hartzell, former dean of the University of Texas at Austin’s business school, was named interim president in April after former university President Greg Fenves stepped down. Fenves served five years at the helm at UT-Austin and is now president of Emory University in Atlanta.
“His work has been outstanding in these critical times that we’re facing," Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said during Tuesday’s virtual meeting. "We’ve heard positive comments from members of the university community and the public about his effectiveness in his role."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Big 12 Is moving ahead with fall football season (NPR)
The Big 12 Conference is moving ahead with its football season, announcing that fall sports will continue – with teams following safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference hopes to hold its title game in December, as it normally would.
"Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the Board's collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in concert with the best interests of their well-being," said Big 12 Board of Directors chair Victor Boschini, who is also the chancellor at Texas Christian University.
The Big 12 includes schools such as the University of Texas at Austin, Oklahoma University and West Virginia University.
The board announced its decision on Wednesday, a day after the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences officially postponed their fall football seasons out of coronavirus safety concerns. Later on Wednesday, the Big East Conference said it was canceling fall competitions.
The other Power Five conferences, the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference, issued statements on Tuesday saying they were monitoring the situation but had no plans to cancel fall football at that time… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas homeownership hits record high (Dallas Morning News)
A summer surge in buying has pushed Texas’ homeownership rate to the highest level on record. As of June, 67.5% of Texans owned their homes, according to a new report from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. In Dallas-Fort Worth, the homeownership rate rose to 64.7% at midyear. Statewide homeownership is even higher than it was before the Great Recession, when thousands of people lost their homes to foreclosure.
D-FW homeownership fell to 59.4% in 2009 at the worst of the housing sector shakeout. The share of owners vs. renters has been slowly climbing since then. “Despite falling sales in April and May, Texas’ second-quarter homeownership rate was the highest since record-keeping began in 1996,” Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center, said in a new report. “Texas now lags the national rate by only half a percent, the smallest in eight years. “Among Texas metros, Austin had the greatest increase in homeownership, rising almost 6 percentage points to 65.3%.” After stumbling during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, home sales in Texas have surged in the last couple of months as record low mortgage rates have brought out buyers. North Texas home sales by real estate agents were up 25% year-over-year in the latest survey to an all-time high… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
$400 in extra unemployment benefits remain uncertain in Texas after Trump's executive order (Texas Tribune)
The amount of unemployment benefits coming to Texans remained up in the air Monday as confusion persisted over President Donald Trump’s weekend executive orders designed to provide economic relief from the pandemic.
On Saturday, Trump ordered that eligible unemployment recipients receive an extra $400 weekly — but only if states administer the funds and provide $100 of that amount. The order prompted bipartisan questions from governors about the administrative burdens and costs for states, along with questions about whether Trump had the constitutional authority to issue such an order.
On Monday, Texas leaders didn't say whether the state would pay the money. The Texas Workforce Commission issued a statement to multiple news outlets that it’s “currently reviewing the presidential memoranda and will provide additional information as soon as it becomes available."
Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, expressed hope that Congress would reach a deal and fully fund the extra benefits, saying he'd spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about the issue… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Pelosi, Mnuchin talk but make no progress on ending stalemate (The Hill)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone Wednesday but appeared to make no progress toward breaking the impasse on a fifth coronavirus relief package.
The call — initiated by Mnuchin, according to a source familiar with the conversation — is the first time they've spoken since talks collapsed last Friday.
But instead of indicating movement toward a detente on Wednesday, both sides underscored how entrenched the negotiations are and blamed each other for the stalemate.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) released a joint statement that said Mnuchin had made an "overture" to meet but also made clear that the White House wasn't moving on either the price tag of the legislation or what should be in it.
"We have again made clear to the Administration that we are willing to resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously. The lives and livelihoods of the American people as well as the life of our democracy are at stake," Pelosi and Schumer added.
Mnuchin quickly fired back that the description offered by the Democratic leaders was "not an accurate reflection" of his conversation with Pelosi.
"She made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least $2 trillion. ... The Democrats have no interest in negotiating," he added.
The dueling statements come nearly a week after talks between Mnuchin, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and congressional Democrats derailed amid notable policy and political differences… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
As a grim fall approaches, Trump team feels increasingly confident (Politico)
A pandemic summer marked by testing delays, supply shortages and continued spread of the coronavirus has set the stage for a disheartening start to the fall across much of the U.S., with the shuttering of schools and cancellation of college football seasons that officials had once hoped would herald a return to normalcy more than six months into the crisis.
But inside the White House, Trump’s top political aides are increasingly assured about their response — feeling like they’re finally getting a handle on how to fight the disease.
As the crippling crisis turns toward a third season, an alternate reality is taking shape inside the White House even in the face of spiking case counts, long lags in test processing and a Covid-19 death toll that regularly tops 1,000 Americans a day. Trump aides are growing confident about what they see as measurable progress: new therapeutic measures, delivery of health recommendations tailored to individual states, extensive support for vaccine development and steps to ensure hospitals have enough protective equipment and ventilators… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New initiative from Big Tech critics: Capping food delivery fees (AXIOS)
A group known for taking on Big Tech is biting into its next target: food delivery apps like Grubhub, UberEats, Postmates and DoorDash. Driving the news: The Economic Liberties Project, in a new campaign it calls "Protect our Restaurants" launching Tuesday, is encouraging restaurants to lobby for local laws that cap the commissions these apps can collect.
Context: Restaurants that can no longer serve most diners during the pandemic have turned to partnerships with food delivery apps. But in many cases, these apps charge the restaurants roughly 30% of every transaction. Before the coronavirus, apps like DoorDash and UberEats provided eateries with a bonus on top of sales from in-person dining and drinks. Now, when the whole business is takeout and delivery, they're being devastated by the fees, Katy Connors, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon, told Axios. "There is value within these companies," she said. "What we need is for them to get on the same page as us." Details: The Economic Liberties Project is providing restaurants with an organizing guide with tips on contacting local legislators and encouraging them to sign a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to investigate GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats and Postmates… (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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