BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 17, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
***NEW*** BG PODCAST - Episode 117 - The State of Georgia with Howard Franklin
On today’s episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. speaks with return guest Howard Franklin, Managing Principal of Atlanta-based lobby firm Ohio River South. The main discussion covers the state of play in Georgia ahead of the January 4th runoff for its two US Senate seats. Additionally, the two discuss the intra-party state GOP civil war, and the implications of Georgia’s new battleground status.
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Unions line up to oppose ‘strong mayor’ plan (Austin Monitor)
Fifteen community leaders, including nine representing labor unions, have written to Andrew Allison, the chair of a political action committee behind a suite of proposed charter amendments that would remake Austin city government, asking him to end his campaign to institute a so-called strong mayor form of government. The PAC is called Austinites for Progressive Reform.
Signers of the letter include Carol Guthrie, business manager for AFSCME local 1624; Emily Timm, co-executive director of the Workers Defense Action Fund; Selena Xie, president of the Austin EMS Association; environmentalist Robin Schneider; criminal justice advocates Chris Harris, Kathy Mitchell, Emily Gerrick and Amanda Woog; and representatives of construction and building trade unions, plumbers and pipe-fitters.
The letter, which was sent Tuesday night, says, “(A)fter carefully reviewing your proposal it is clear that the ‘strong mayor’ component of your proposed charter amendment would dismantle the 10-1 system and result in an unrepresentative and unhealthy consolidation of power within the Office of the Mayor at the direct expense of democratically elected members of Austin City Council who represent distinct districts.”
Political consultant Jim Wick, the campaign leader for Austinites for Progressive Reform, told the Austin Monitor Wednesday that the group has gathered about 24,000 signatures to place five charter amendments on the May ballot. He expects the group to present those signatures to the city clerk in early January.
Allison, who sold his social media marketing company, Main Street Hub, to GoDaddy in 2018, told the Monitor that he was surprised by the unions’ letter. “My understanding is that the individuals who signed the letter are asking us to shelve the campaign. This is a campaign that’s been operating in public for six months with a steering committee of community leaders who drafted the reforms … More than 20,000 Austinites want to see these reforms on the ballot.”
Allison described the current system as one that leads to lower-turnout elections with participants being “disproportionately white, wealthy and old.” He said Austinites should have a say in who leads the executive branch of the city. Under the current system, all 10 members of Council, plus the mayor, participate in selecting the city manager.
Under a strong mayor form of government, the mayor would act as city manager, but would not vote on items brought before Council. Under the proposed charter amendment, however, a strong mayor would be able to veto the legislation approved by City Council as a whole. It would take a two-thirds vote or a three-fourths vote of the members of Council to override a mayoral veto. There would also be 11 Council members instead of the current 10… (LINK TO STORY)
As active COVID cases rise, officials warn of possible curfew, urge Austinites to have socially distanced holidays (KUT)
Roughly nine months into the pandemic, Austin is seeing its highest number of active COVID-19 infections ahead of the holidays, and health officials are begging residents to limit contact to battle back the virus' spread.
Austin Public Health attributes the rise in cases largely to gatherings over Thanksgiving. Forecasts suggest that if left unchecked, the spread could lead to a "real disaster" that could cripple Austin's hospital capacity.
"Right now we are at a place where we have more active infections in our community than at any other point in time in this pandemic," Austin Public Health's interim Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday.Austin received 13,650 doses of the new vaccine this week, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Per state guidelines, those initial doses are reserved for health-care workers and people working at or residing in longterm-care facilities.
Eventually, more than 200 providers in the area will be able to deliver vaccinations. That would ultimately mean a return to relative normalcy by summer, Escott said.
But if people don’t take heed of warnings, he said, Austin could see uncontrollable spread – like El Paso has seen in recent weeks.
"When we look at El Paso's situation, and the volume of surge they have, we'd expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,500 additional deaths in the next couple of months," he said. "It's not a theoretical risk. We've seen it happen already in Texas."… (LINK TO STORY)
Greg Casar eyes Mayor Pro Tem role on Austin City Council (KXAN)
In a post on the Austin City Council message board Wednesday afternoon, District 4 Council Member Greg Casar announced his interest in serving as Mayor Pro Tem on the council.
The Mayor Pro Tem role is what people might think of as a “vice-mayor” role, in which the Mayor Pro Tem fills in on mayoral duties—like running meetings—in the mayor’s absence. The 11 members of the council elect the Mayor Pro Tem.
Casar has served on Austin’s council since 2014 (he was the youngest person ever elected to council) and handily won re-election this November. Casar has led the council to make significant changes over the past few years, including pushing for the repeal of the previous ban on public camping and to limit the enforcement of marijuana possession in Austin.
In his post on the message board Wednesday, he focused on the city’s continued efforts to address homelessness and police reform.
“The status quo of decades past has failed us, but the present state of affairs is not acceptable either,” Casar wrote. “We must house people experiencing homelessness and reform policing in a way that makes everyone more safe.”
On the message board post, Casar said he already has support in his quest for the Mayor Pro Tem role from Council Member-elect Vanesa Fuentes, Council Member Ann Kitchen, Council Member Leslie Pool and Council Member Pio Renteria.
Mayor Steve Adler posted on the message board Wednesday saying he would support Casar in that role as well, writing to Casar: “I will be directing my attention, over the remaining two years of my term, on joining with you and all of our colleagues in resolving the homelessness and public safety issues now before us.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Jay Paul Co., a real estate heavyweight in California, pursues first Austin project (Austin Business Journal)
Jay Paul Company is targeting East Austin for its first development in the Texas capital.
The California development firm plans to build two six-story office buildings totaling more than 800,000 square feet — in aggregate, that's larger than any office tower downtown. The project, called Springdale Green, is located in a fast-growing portion of the city that's becoming somewhat of a magnet for development.
Jay Paul Co. has built a reputation as one of the preeminent developers in the Bay Area, with a track record of working with large technology companies such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
“We knew that it was a transitional neighborhood, where there was a considerable amount of new development," said Matt Lituchy, chief investment officer at Jay Paul Co. “We felt that was an area that was desirable for companies to locate to and that was prime for growth.”
AUS Springdale LLC, a Jay Paul Co. affiliate, in February purchased roughly 30 acres near the intersection of Springdale Road and Airport Boulevard, according to Travis Central Appraisal District records. The seller was listed as 1017 Springdale Holdings LLC. The combined properties were most recently assessed for tax purposes at more than $4.5 million, according to TCAD.
The site is just south of the Springdale General, home of Notley and many nonprofits, and north of the creative office campus at 979 Springdale Road, that's home to FloSports, Austin Bouldering Company and Friends and Allies Brewing.
Redevelopment and gentrification are pushing farther into in East Austin, including up and down Springdale Road — where many small businesses have managed to hang on among residential neighborhoods. A major office development could spur fears about displacement, although a neighborhood association has already signaled its support… (LINK TO STORY)
Elon Musk's The Boring Co. grabs industrial space in Pflugerville, documents show (Austin Business Journal)
A month after announcing it was hiring in Austin, Elon Musk's The Boring Co. appears to have grabbed industrial space in Pflugerville.
The Boring Co. — a tunnel construction company — has registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for renovation work at 15709 Impact Way in Pflugerville, according to a Dec. 7 filing. That's an industrial complex off State Highway 130, about 16 miles north of where Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA), Musk's electric vehicle company, is building its $1.1 billion "gigafactory."
In November, Musk's tunneling company posted on its website a handful of job openings in the Texas capital and hinted in a tweet that it may be planning an underground transit system.
Jeremy Morris, director of facilities and precast operations for The Boring Co., did not return requests for comment.
According to filings with Travis Central Appraisal District, Southern Land One Thirty LLC is the owner of 15709 Impact Way, which comprises two buildings on 14 acres. Flooring Services Southwest, a subsidiary of Dallas-based construction materials company FS Builder Resources, announced a warehouse and office complex at 15709 Impact Way in 2017 and completed it in 2019. Leaders with all three companies did not return requests for comment by deadline… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
‘Texas is now in the 9th inning’: Abbott predicts 2021 economic rebound after COVID-19 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Gov. Greg Abbott told the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Wednesday that “Texas is now in the 9th inning of dealing with the challenges of COVID-19” as the vaccine is distributed across the state. “Texans should receive this month about the same number of vaccines as the total number of people who have contracted COVID-19 since it began in the state of Texas,” Abbott said, briefing the chamber virtually by Zoom on COVID-19 updates and legislative priorities. “We are quickly going to be able to address and arrest the spread of COVID-19, especially when you couple in with that the anti-body therapeutic drugs that are now available.”
There have been roughly 1.35 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state as of Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas is expected to receive more than 1.4 million doses of the vaccine for December. Doses began arriving in Texas this week. On Monday four hospitals in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston received the first shipments. An additional 75,075 doses were delivered to 19 sites across the state on Tuesday, including Texas Health Resources’ central pharmacy in Arlington. Its allotment of 5,850 doses was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest in Fort Worth, where vaccinations started for front-line health care workers. Doses allotted to other medical facilities for the first week of distribution are expected to arrive in the coming days.
This includes hospitals in Tarrant County. Brandom Gengelbach, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, asked Abbott when everyday people, such as university students, can expect to start receiving the vaccine. Abbott said the next in line will be elderly populations who are at high risk. He expected that 10% of the state’s population will be vaccinated in each of the first three months of the new year…(LINK TO STORY)
Texas’ tax advantage is all about individuals, not business taxes (Wall Street Journal)
Moves by high-profile companies to Texas from California are likely to improve the personal finances of executives and offer employees more affordable housing—but make little difference to the firms’ tax bills.
Oracle Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co. are the latest big corporations to announce moves to the Lone Star State. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc., is also moving to Texas, and the electric car company is expanding there.
The announcements have highlighted the vastly different tax and regulatory systems in the country’s two most populous states. California relies more on taxing personal income, particularly of high-income households, and operates a growing regulatory structure. Texas leans on more regressive property and sales taxes and boasts a more laissez-faire environment. The biggest difference: High-paid executives who move can see their state income-tax bills go from 13.3% to nothing.
But corporate investors hoping for big tax and other savings may need to temper their enthusiasm. Business-tax considerations are likely to prove secondary at best, tax and economic-development experts say. They are dwarfed by the allure of more-affordable housing, lower cost of living and lighter regulatory burdens.
For companies, much of the difference between California and Texas boils down to ease and cost of hiring—not just now but down the road… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Sweeping COVID-19, spending deal hits speed bumps (The Hill)
Negotiations over a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill are running into eleventh-hour snags, threatening to push Congress into a rare weekend session.
Lawmakers had hoped to clinch a sweeping deal, which would also fund the government through Oct. 1, on Wednesday after the top four congressional leaders signaled that they were closing in on an agreement after months of stalemate.
But instead lawmakers and staff warned that — while they still thought they would get the agreement — the final stages of the talks are moving slowly as they continue to haggle over the details and field requests for changes.
“It’s still a ways off, I think. They’ve still got some things they’re negotiating. ... It’s been a slow roll so far,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, after he left the Capitol following the Senate’s final votes of the day.
Adding to the difficulty, the package being negotiated by leadership includes two separate parts: A roughly $900 billion deal on long-stalled coronavirus relief and a separate $1.4 trillion deal to fund the government.
Because they are hitched together, leadership is unlikely to announce a deal on one part without also simultaneously announcing an agreement on the other. It also means Congress has to pass the sweeping legislation — or another continuing resolution (CR) — by the end of Friday in order to prevent a government shutdown… (LINK TO STORY)
‘We want them infected’: Trump appointee demanded ‘herd immunity’ strategy, emails reveal (Politico)
A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a "herd immunity" approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by a House watchdog and shared with POLITICO. “There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD," then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials.
"Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk….so we use them to develop herd…we want them infected…" Alexander added. "[I]t may be that it will be best if we open up and flood the zone and let the kids and young folk get infected" in order to get "natural immunity…natural exposure," Alexander wrote on July 24 to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Caputo and eight other senior officials. Caputo subsequently asked Alexander to research the idea, according to emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee's select subcommittee on coronavirus.
Alexander also argued that colleges should stay open to allow Covid-19 infections to spread, lamenting in a July 27 email to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield that “we essentially took off the battlefield the most potent weapon we had...younger healthy people, children, teens, young people who we needed to fastly [sic] infect themselves, spread it around, develop immunity, and help stop the spread.” Alexander was a top deputy of Caputo, who was personally installed by President Donald Trump in April to lead the health department's communications efforts. Officials told POLITICO that they believed that when Alexander made recommendations, he had the backing of the White House… (LINK TO STORY)
Supreme Court And big-time college sports meet for potentially big-time decision (NPR)
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it would review a case testing whether the NCAA's limits on compensation for student athletes violate the nation's antitrust laws.
The court will not hear arguments in the case until after the new year, but the outcome, expected by the end of June, could have enormous consequences for college athletics.
The court's unusual expedition into sports law comes amid an increasing national battle between athletes and the schools they play for over player compensation. On one side, the NCAA says it is just trying to protect amateurism, and to maintain a basic competitive equality between schools that play each other. On the other side, players argue that the top athletic teams are operating a system that acts as a classic restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act… (LINK TO STORY)