BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 22, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW // BG PODCAST - Episode 119: A Discussion with Derrick Chubbs, President and CEO, Central Texas Food Bank
On today’s episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. speaks with Derrick Chubbs, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Central Texas Food Bank.
The two discuss COVID-19’s impact the Food Bank’s operations, pivots to serve an ever increasing need, and needs going into 2021.
Last Week’s Show: Episode 118 - 2020 Review & What's Next with George Elliman, CEO & Publisher, TRIBEZA
NEW // CITY HALL MOVES
Amy Everhart is now Chief of Staff for Council Member Paige Ellis (District 8). A seasoned veteran of Austin politics, Amy served most recently as campaign manager for Council Member Jimmy Flannigan (District 6). She has previously served as Director of Public Affairs for the Austin Board of REALTORS® and Mayor Steve Adler. Bingham Group wishes her well in this new role! Learn more about Amy here (LinkedIn).
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Abbott plots DPS takeover of APD (Austin Monitor)
Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Twitter Monday that he had received draft language to seize Austin’s Police Department and put it under the control of the Texas Department of Public Safety “just in time for Christmas.”
The Austin Police Association, which has been particularly unhappy with City Council’s work to reimagine public safety, tweeted, “Looking forward to working with the 87th Texas Leg. on addressing problems caused by Austin City Council. Defunding the police budget, canceling cadet classes, refusing to start a new academy class, & reducing specialized/investigative units is not the answer.”
Former state Reps. Terry Keel and Ron Wilson sent the proposed legislation to Abbott, noting it had been “reviewed extensively” by the Texas Legislative Council’s legal division.
As written, the legislation would require Austin to enter into a contract with DPS and transfer all of APD’s “personnel, property and liabilities that relate to the municipality’s provision of law enforcement services, including all employees, equipment, facilities, contracts and other assets.”
Mayor Steve Adler told the Austin Monitor via email, “We need serious conversations about how we keep Austin, an already safe city, even safer. But I don’t get the naked, political rhetoric. Austin has 16 more homicides this year and this kind of increase, happening in most all cities across the country, is of concern. But Houston had 31 homicides in the two-week period that ended Dec. 4 …. His draft bill would allow him to target cities that are insufficiently funding public safety (Sec. 411.542). The Texas Tribune reports Austin is spending 15% more per capita on police than Dallas, 14% more than Houston and 43% more than San Antonio. And the governor wants to target Austin?… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin-Travis County area crosses threshold for highest coronavirus restrictions (Austin American-Statesman)
The Austin-Travis County area on Monday crossed the threshold that health officials have said would trigger the highest level of pandemic-restrictions.
On Monday, Austin-Travis County health authorities said the the rolling seven-day average of hospitalizations for the area had reached 50.1. It's the highest that the figure has been since July 25, when the average was 53.1.
That average is one of several key indicators that health officials look at when considering changes to coronavirus-related guidelines, in addition to the number of patients in intense care units, ventilator use, positivity rate and seven-day moving average of new cases.
If that number goes above 50, county health authorities have said they will consider Stage 5 restrictions, the toughest restrictions recommended under Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines.
Health officials did not say Monday evening whether Stage 5 restrictions will be put in place.
In the five-county Austin metropolitan area, hospitals reported 56 new admissions of patients with COVID-19 on Monday.
Of the 333 people who were in Austin-area hospitals on Monday with the coronavirus, 84 were in intensive care and 50 were on ventilators, officials said.
Austin-Travis area health officials on Monday also said 537 more people in the area recently tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the area's total case count to 46,029.
Officials also reported six more coronavirus-related deaths, and the county's death toll is now 522. COVID-19 is now the third-leading cause of death in Travis County this year.
Last week, Austin Public Health officials warned that the recent spike in hospitalizations could lead to Stage 5 restrictions.
“Throughout this pandemic, Austin-Travis County kept our COVID-19 numbers comparatively low not by accident or luck, but through community engagement and action,” local health authorities said in a written statement Friday. “Once again, the actions we take in the coming days and weeks can either move us in the right direction or in the direction of a deadly surge like those we have seen across Texas.”
Under Stage 5, health officials would recommend a curfew, urge restaurants and businesses to return to delivery and takeout only and call for the elimination of extracurricular school activities.
Austin and Travis County have been under Stage 4 restrictions since Nov. 19…(LINK TO STORY)
Approaching Christmas, Austin health leaders push caution as they outline continued vaccine distribution plans (Community Impact)
With the holidays around the corner, leaders from Austin Public Health continue urging residents to take precautions as more front-line workers gain access to COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna. While APH representatives said at Dec. 21 news conference that vaccines do represent hope, they are unlikely to curb the high virus transmission rates Travis County is seeing in the short term.
“I don't anticipate that the 30,000 or so vaccines that we received are going to significantly impact the surge itself. What it has the potential to do is help us on the staffing side,” said Dr. Mark Escott, the Austin-Travis County interim health authority. “As we have hospital staff, our paramedics and first responders increasingly immunized against COVID-19, our hope is that we're going to see less impact in terms of absenteeism associated with COVID-19. But the vaccine that we have at this stage is not going to be nearly enough to have any substantial impact on the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced Dec. 18—following the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization of biotechnology company Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine—that the state would receive 460,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine this week, as well as 159,900 additional doses of Pfizer’s vaccine. Of those doses, 25,425 are being distributed by Austin-area hospitals and pharmacies. At this time, the vaccine is still being distributed to the first phase of recipients—health care workers with high exposure to the virus, followed by the staff and residents of long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. With “somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 health care workers in Travis County,” according to Escott, the county has not yet received enough doses to cover those high-priority workers.
APH representatives have said they are following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the DSHS regarding who will subsequently receive the vaccine but have yet to announce specifically which populations will be next in line.
“It's really about balancing the risk of severe disease versus the risk of exposure in how we perform the allocation from here,” Escott said… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Capitol will reopen to the public on Jan. 4 (Dallas Morning News)
The Texas Capitol will open its doors to the public once again starting on Jan. 4, state officials said in a news release. The Capitol has been closed to the public since March in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but lawmakers and their staff have been allowed to continue working there. During its closure to the public, the Capitol had several outbreaks of COVID-19 among troopers for the Department of Public Safety and legislative staff. Still, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and outgoing Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announced on Monday that the Capitol would open in two weeks.
That would be one week ahead of the start of the 2021 legislative session when 181 lawmakers and their staffs will report to the building for their biennial session. In a joint news release, the state officials said they were putting health and safety protocols in place to keep a safe environment for all visitors, lawmakers and staff.
The release did not elaborate on those protocols. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are still working on the rules they will abide by in their respective chambers. Those rules will be voted on once the lawmakers gavel in for the session on Jan. 12. Many other Capitol buildings nationwide also remain closed for now due to COVID-19 precautions… (LINK TO STORY)
Texans who are over 65 or have certain medical conditions are next in line for COVID-19 vaccine (Texas Tribune)
Texans who are 65 years old and older, and those who are at least 16 with certain chronic medical conditions will be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced Monday.
“The focus on people who are age 65 and older or who have comorbidities will protect the most vulnerable populations,” said Imelda Garcia, chair of the state Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel and DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious diseases. “This approach ensures that Texans at the most severe risk from COVID-19 can be protected across races and ethnicities and regardless of where they work.”
The vaccine, which arrived in Texas on Dec. 14, has been available so far only to front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. There are nearly 1.9 million Texans in that group, so it will likely take a few weeks before the state transitions to the next phase, state health officials said.
The state expects to receive 1.4 million vaccine doses by the end of the month. Eligible facilities under the current phase include hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and Texas Department of Criminal Justices facilities… (LINK TO STORY)
Gov. Greg Abbott to receive COVID-19 vaccine today (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott is set to receive the coronavirus vaccine Tuesday in Austin.
Abbott will get vaccinated at 1:30 p.m. at Ascension Seton Medical Center, according to his office. The event will be televised.
Abbott said Thursday he planned to take vaccine "at the appropriate time."
"I wanted to make sure that the health care workers ... will be the first to receive it, but yes, I will be receiving the vaccine at the appropriate time," Abbott said during a news conference.
Abbott will be the latest elected official to receive the vaccination amid concerns about balancing model behavior with the perception that the powerful are cutting the line. President-elect Joe Biden got the vaccine live on television Monday afternoon, telling the public "there's nothing to worry about."
The Texas Department of State Health Services said in a tweet that Abbott getting vaccinated is "an important step in encouraging Texans that the vaccine is safe and effective."
Texas health groups also applauded Abbott for demonstrating confidence in the vaccine.
“TMA thanks Governor Abbott for rolling up his sleeve to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. People need to see we can make Texas strong against the coronavirus if we all take these preventive measures to protect ourselves and others. The governor is leading by example by getting the shot," the Texas Medical Association said in a statement.
Vaccines began arriving in Texas last week, and Abbott's office has said state providers should be getting over a million vaccines by the end of the month. While the first doses are being prioritized for health care workers, Abbott has suggested there could be "widespread distribution" before March.
Abbott has stressed that the vaccine will not be required for Texans, and on Monday, he specifically said it will not be mandatory for the state's school children… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Relief bill's passage sets off scramble to declare victory, assign blame (The Hill)
The passage of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package after more than seven months of negotiations and recriminations has President Trump and congressional leaders racing to declare victory and blame political opponents for the long delay.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are both touting the bill as a win, despite neither getting their top priorities in the final measure, and pointing the finger at the other side for not striking a deal earlier.
The legislation passed by Congress late Monday night is in many ways similar to the $1.1 trillion HEALS Act that the White House and Senate Republicans introduced in July, though it doesn’t include the liability protections for businesses that McConnell (R-Ky.) had made a top priority… (LINK TO STORY)
Despite COVID, thousands of lawmakers plan to gather in state capitols next month (NPR)
It happens at the beginning of every year: elected officials, legislative staff, lobbyists, journalists and the public gather in large numbers in state capitol buildings around the country for a relentless few weeks — or months — of lawmaking.
In 2020, official business had wrapped in many states by mid-March when lockdowns began. In others, the spread of COVID-19 sent lawmakers home early.
Since then, lawmakers have gotten together in some states, though not to the degree the country will witness in 2021 when legislative sessions could include hundreds of people under one roof for weeks on end.
So 2021 is a test. How do the nation's thousands of state legislators, desperate to perform their duties, safely assemble during a pandemic? That question is especially critical considering that there have already been some deaths among legislators, along with more than 150 infections, according to one tally.
We asked several of our public radio station reporters who work in capital cities around the country what to expect where they are… (LINK TO STORY)