BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 6, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 101 - Criminal Justice Reform with José Garza, Democratic Nominee for Travis County DA (SHOW LINK)
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
2020 has pointed Austin in the direction of justice, Adler says in State of the City Address (KUT)
Addressing a city that has ground to a halt amid a pandemic, save for frontline workers who can’t stay home and protestors in the streets demanding cuts to the police budget, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said this time of turmoil is a chance to rebuild a more equitable city.
“History will remember 2020 as the moment that pointed us in the direction of justice,” he said, delivering his annual State of the City Address not from City Hall as he typically does, but seated in his home office.
He referenced the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Mike Ramos in Austin, as well as the disproportionate health consequences of the coronavirus on Latino residents.
“This was the year that forced us to see injustice unlike any time before, like someone grabbing and holding our face between their hands and not letting us turn away, forcing us to look at the unfairness around us and our part in perpetuating it,” he said... (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin says group doesn't have signatures to put homelessness ordinances on the ballot in November (KUT)
The Austin City clerk says a group seeking to reinstate Austin's bans on sitting, camping or lying down in public doesn't have the requisite 20,000 signatures to force a referendum on Election Day.
The group Save Austin Now, led by Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak, submitted its petition with 24,201 signatures late last month. After a review, the city estimated the likelihood that 20,000 of those signatures were valid is statistically near-impossible. In a memo announcing the review, City Clerk Jannette Goodall said the odds that the petition has enough valid signatures at "less than 3 in one billion."
The clerk's decision effectively scuttles Save Austin Now's goal of holding a referendum in November over the city's controversial revamp of laws related to homelessness.
In a joint statement, Mackowiak and Save Austin Now co-founder Cleo Petricek disputed the clerk's count, going as far as alleging the clerk of "throwing out hundreds of signed petitions."
"We are exploring several options available to us, including possible legal action," the statement read. "This fight is not over."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council seeks $5 million for park facilities and trails (Austin Monitor)
As it heads into next week’s budget hearings, City Council is searching for ways to add millions in programs and services to a proposed budget that is already nudging up against the 3.5 percent property tax increase cap Council committed to last month. Council members have identified four areas of need for the Parks and Recreation Department totaling $5.2 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
Council members Paige Ellis, Leslie Pool and Natasha Harper-Madison proposed the budget items, including $1.4 million for maintenance of the city’s 274 miles of trails, $1.5 million to hire park rangers, $1.5 million for expanded child care and virtual learning services at community recreation centers, and $800,000-$900,000 for repairs and maintenance at recreation facilities and athletic fields.
The backlog in trail and recreation facility maintenance existed prior to Covid-19, but the pandemic has led to a dramatic spike in daily trail system use and created an urgent need for safe, affordable child care options and remote learning facilities. According to Tom Visco, advocacy manager at Austin Parks Foundation, these funds are a way for the city to respond to the sharp increase in use and demand.
“The city has a lot of pressing needs this year,” Visco told the Austin Monitor on Wednesday. “This is a way to maintain the level of service that Austinites expect in our parks and on our trails. These asks wouldn’t take us above where we were at before Covid; they are going to help us keep the system in a serviceable place as the system experiences a lot more users.”
At the same time, City Manager Spencer Cronk and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo warned Council that its commitment to a 3.5 percent property tax increase – the smallest percent increase in over a decade – is sure to make funding a bigger challenge than ever before… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Five lawmakers sue Gov. Greg Abbott over $295 million contact tracing deal (Texas Tribune)
Five of the Texas Legislature’s most conservative members are suing Gov. Greg Abbott and state health officials, claiming Texas leaders overstepped their bounds when they awarded a major contract for tracking Texas’ coronavirus outbreak to a little-known technology firm.
For months, lawmakers have criticized the $295 million deal with Frisco-based MTX Group, arguing it was inked too quickly, without an opportunity for the Legislature to properly vet it. Critics say the company, which beat out several better known competitors, doesn’t have the experience to handle the monumental task of tracking down those who have come into contact with people carrying the novel coronavirus — a process experts say is essential for mitigating the spread of the disease.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Republican state Reps. Mike Lang, Kyle Biedermann, Bill Zedler, Steve Toth and state Sen. Bob Hall asked a Travis County judge to void the controversial contract, arguing that both the selection process and length of the contract were improper… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
San Antonio in hunt to land U.S. Space Command (San Antonio Express News)
San Antonio is in the hunt to be the new home of U.S. Space Command. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Wednesday the city has survived the initial cut as the Air Force seeks a headquarters for the command, which is now in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Governors from 26 states nominated cities to host the command, which is part of U.S. Space Force. Nirenberg, who said he learned of the development last weekend, didn’t know how many cities were originally in the contest or how many had made the cut, but he said Houston and Fort Worth also had been nominated by Gov. Greg Abbott.
He said San Antonio was a natural fit for the command because of its quality of life, highly skilled work force that includes military personnel transitioning to civilian life, large veterans community, and specialists who work in space-related fields. “We have the largest presence of cyber and intelligence capabilities outside of the national capital region,” Nirenberg said. “And we have a public-private military and civilian infrastructure that’s required, including medical and military support networks, housing, transportation and veteran services, as well as electric, water, gas and telecommunications that are all critically important. And not to mention the proximity to our key allies in North America and the presence of significant private space flight technology that’s underway.” Space Force was established in December and is the space warfare branch of the armed forces. One of eight uniformed services, it was created with the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and will be stood up over the next 18 months… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
State of Texas now taking applications to manufacture and sell hemp products (San Antonio Current)
The state of Texas has launched a program overseeing the manufacture, retail sales and distribution of consumable hemp products, paving the way for more legal production of CBD products in the state.
On Monday, the Texas Department of State Health Services began accepting online applications for consumable hemp production and retail licenses under its newly launched Consumable Hemp Program."The program establishes a consistent regulatory framework for consumable hemp products that are manufactured or sold in Texas," said Stephen Pahl, DSHS associate commissioner for consumer protection. "We worked with stakeholders to develop rules that provide clarity for license and registration holders."
The Texas Legislature last summer passed a law legalizing the production, manufacture and sale of hemp in the state. However, critics have argued that the lack of legal framework up until now has been confusing for consumers and people who sell hemp edibles tinctures, lotions and other products.
In conjunction with the new rules, Texas this week began enforcing a retail ban on smokeable hemp products. Even so, it's likely users of those products will simply purchase loose flower to smoke, which isn't banned under the rules… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Skepticism grows over Friday deadline for coronavirus deal (The Hill)
The White House and congressional Democrats are racing the clock as they try to agree to a framework for a coronavirus relief package by Friday.
The self-imposed deadline sets up a 48-hour scramble for the key negotiators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Senate Republicans, who are now on the sidelines watching, didn’t offer a lot of optimism on Wednesday.
“Not very good,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), asked about the chances of getting a deal by Friday, adding that he thinks they could hammer something out “in a week or so.”
“There’s a wide gulf between White House negotiators and Democrats,” he added.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) put the chances of an agreement at “50-50.” And Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) characterized himself as “skeptical” the White House and Democrats will be able to meet their own timeline.
“There’s a little progress ... but it’s not very encouraging,” Perdue said. “If you’re going to get a deal that is this comprehensive, you would already have some agreement, and we just don’t see any agreement on any of the topics yet.”
Negotiators face competing headwinds: The number of coronavirus cases is climbing and the economy remains rocky, which are incentives for cobbling together another agreement.
But Republicans are deeply divided on coronavirus relief, undermining their own negotiating leverage. And the growing pull of the November elections typically scuttles any bipartisan negotiations in Washington as lawmakers increasingly turn their attention to the campaign… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Microsoft hasn't drawn Trump's censure. Owning TikTok could change that. (Politico)
Microsoft has successfully avoided angering President Donald Trump for years. Now the software giant’s bid to buy TikTok is plunging it deep into some of the tech industry’s most volatile Washington fights.
The company has kept a less contentious profile than peers like Amazon and Google — a position that likely helped open the door to its potential acquisition of the video-sharing app. That deal would give Microsoft a social media platform poised to challenge the likes of Facebook and Snapchat.
But nabbing TikTok would also throw Microsoft into the middle of three major battles raging between the tech industry and the administration: the policing of social media, the power of Big Tech and ever-more combative U.S.-China relations.
“They’re putting a big bet on the table politically,” said Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank that Microsoft helps fund.
Microsoft has done its best to tilt the odds in its favor. CEO Satya Nadella has built a rapport with Trump since the president took office, for example sitting alongside the president at a roundtable on tech early in Trump’s term. The company has also cultivated relationships with those close to the president, including hosting First Lady Melania Trump last year at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters… (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.
PLEASE RESHARE and FOLLOW:
Twitter #binghamgp
Instagram #binghamgp