BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 29, 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.
NEW // WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: The Battle for Mayor Pro Tem
In under two weeks, what seemed like a lock for Council Member Greg Casar (District 4) on the largely symbolic title has shifted, with two new entrants, Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison (District 1) and Alison Alter (District 10). The Council will be sworn in on Wednesday, January 6th. See the Austin Council Message Board
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin hires UT alum as homeless strategy officer (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin has hired a new leader to address the city's homelessness crisis, after going more than a year without anyone in that role.
Dianna Grey, an independent consultant and a 2001 University of Texas graduate, will be the city's second homeless strategy officer, the city said Monday. Grey will coordinate the city's homeless response among multiple departments, tasked with bringing focus to the issue as the unsheltered population in the city grows and after the city failed to spend $31 million it had allocated for homelessness services last year.
Grey is scheduled to start her new job Jan. 4. She will make $136,011 annually, according to the city.
The last time the city hired someone in this role, things didn't go as planned. Lori Pampilo Harris came to Austin in September 2019 as the city's first homeless strategy officer, but after only one month on the job she stepped down and transitioned to a part-time consultant role, citing family obligations. Pampilo Harris last worked for the city in January, a city spokesman said… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin household incomes have increased by 30% in five years, while population growth continues to outpaces state levels (Community Impact)
The U.S. Census Bureau released the latest American Community Survey five-year estimates for 2014-19 on Dec. 10, with data showing the latest estimates for city populations, local income and other demographics. According to the census, data is used by local officials and communities to best plan for future changes.
In the city of Austin and Travis County overall, population growth continues to surpass growth across the state, while the percentage of residents with high school and college degrees also exceeds the rest of the state.
In the city of Austin, estimates show that the population has grown to 950,807, an 10.02% increase in the five years since 2014. That compares to 8.31% growth in Texas over that same period… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin officials: Citations still a last resort for bars who violate pandemic rules (KXAN)
Austin’s top doctor says a big concern heading into New Year’s Eve is the spread of COVID-19 at bars.
But as cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, the city says fining these businesses is still a last resort.
Health officials have pointed to bars as a hotspot for the virus. Specifically, they point to bars that have converted to restaurants. Thousands of restaurants in Texas have done so to accommodate the governor’s orders that allow restaurants to open with restrictions.
According to Austin Code Enforcement data, the latest complaints about over-capacity and mask violations are dominated by bars and restaurants. But in the last few weeks, we couldn’t find any citations given out. If anything, education or a verbal warning was provided.
Last week, Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden said the city had moved to more of an “enforcement perspective.” At that time APH released a list of bars who had been cited by the city’s Fire Marshall for COVID-19 violations, but only after repeated warnings.
Health officials have also maintained the city cannot “enforce its way out” of these issues.
“This is a community effort, and we cannot possibly catch every violation,” said an Austin Public Health spokesperson. “We need individuals and businesses to recognize the importance of masking and social distancing and to comply, because they are part of a shared mission to keep Austin-Travis County healthy and safe.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Legislature COVID-19 Safety Precautions Won’t Be Decided Until After Elected Officials Are Sworn In (Spectrum News)
The Texas House and Senate chambers are typically bustling with lawmakers, legislative aides, media and the general public, watching as elected officials pass bills at a somewhat dizzying pace. But things will look at lot different at the Texas Capitol during the upcoming legislative session. Yet, how it will look and operate is largely yet to be decided, and can’t be until the Legislature convenes in January. With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, how to conduct the state’s business safely is the focus of lawmakers like Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin). She’s part of a bipartisan House working group tasked with developing recommendations on COVID precautions. “The working group is trying to do the homework, if you will, to prepare things with all members having the ability to provide input prior to proposed rules being brought to us after we are sworn in, in January,” said Howard.
But therein lies the problem. The chambers have to operate under the previous Legislature’s operating rules until the newly sworn in Legislature crafts their own. Right now, those rules require reconvening in person. “You can be sworn in without being in Austin. That has happened before when someone has been ill or whatever. And they’ve been sworn in like say by a district judge back in their home, but they’re unable to vote when that happens,” commented Howard. “So in order to conduct our business, we must be present on the House floor to be sworn in and be able to vote if we want to be able to elect a speaker and to adopt our operating rules,” said Howard. In the interim, the House working group Howard’s a part of has reached a consensus that masking will be required on opening day and that lawmakers submit to COVID-19 testing before taking the House floor.
“There was a real effort to focus on opening day because that is the first hurdle that we have to get over,” said Howard. Committee rooms have been outfitted with Plexiglas, distanced seating, and one-way-in, one-way-out parameters. As for the 150-member House floor, lawmakers’ desks are spread out to socially distanced standards. According to Howard, they plan to ensure both media and general public access during the session, but the question remains of exactly how. Howard said there’s been talks of relegating a limited number of reporters to the third floor, overlooking the House chambers, likely with a pool camera to supply other media outlets with video… (LINK TO STORY)
Two cities tried to fix homelessness, only one has yet succeeded (Houston Chronicle)
Nearly a decade ago, two U.S. cities with large homeless populations tried to solve their problem by adopting a strategy that prioritized giving people housing and help over temporary shelter. But Houston and San Diego took fundamentally different approaches to implementing that strategy, known as Housing First. Houston revamped its entire system to get more people into housing quickly, and it cut homelessness by more than half. San Diego attempted a series of one-off projects but was unable to expand on the lessons learned and saw far fewer reductions in homelessness. Despite those outcomes, the cities are again charting different paths in deciding how to use millions in taxpayer money that Congress approved to care for the homeless as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Each city has been allocated more than $26 million in federal emergency funds to protect and house their homeless populations, among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. In keeping with Housing First and amid fears that COVID-19 has led to more homelessness, Houston is focusing much of its aid on permanent housing and homeless prevention.
San Diego, with its chronic shortage of affordable housing, is prioritizing temporary shelters. Housing First was a revolutionary idea when it was introduced in the 1990s because it didn’t require homeless people to fix their problems before getting permanent housing. Instead, its premise — since confirmed by years of research — was that people are better able to address their individual problems when basic needs, such as food and a place to live, are met. “It was a change in direction from how the initial response to homelessness was thought about and structured,” said Matthew Doherty, the nation’s former homelessness czar. “It puts a lot of responsibility on communities and on organizations to really understand what their clients need and want, and to really center people in the processes for deciding how to help.” Housing First became the guiding principle for homeless programs led by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which created financial incentives for communities that followed that approach… (LINK TO STORY)
'Vaccine Hesitancy' could keep many Texans from getting a COVID shot (KUT)
As the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine continues to expand, some Texans are likely to choose not to get it – or will at least think long and hard before they do – because of fears the vaccine could be dangerous or that it won't work.
Vaccine mistrust was a problem long before a COVID-19 vaccine was approved. Now, public health experts are battling misinformation about the vaccines that are our likeliest way out of the pandemic.
Aubrey Matson, a 19-year-old college student, doesn’t consider herself “anti-vaccine.” But the pandemic hasn’t made her 100% in favor of them, either. She said she's concerned a fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine could be dangerous.
“I do think that it needs to be well-researched before it is put into practice,” she told Texas Standard back in March.
Matson is “vaccine hesitant.” She knows some people opposed to vaccines might take their skepticism too far and promote hard-line views against them. But she also believes that the majority of people who question vaccine safety – many of them parents – have good intentions.
“I don’t think any of them come from any malicious intent; I think it all comes out of the desire to protect their kids,” she said.
And in Texas, protecting kids from being forced to vaccinate has been a thorny subject. Texas is one of 15 states that allow parents to avoid vaccination requirements before enrolling their kids in school.
Most Texans still get vaccinated. But health experts like Dr. Seema Yasmin worry some people will refuse to get a COVID vaccine. That has been the case with vaccines for other diseases like measles… (LINK TO STORY)
More people in Texas are hospitalized for COVID-19 than at any other time during the pandemic (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Monday a pandemic high 11,351 hospitalizations from COVID-19.
This surpasses the previous all-time high of 10,893, which occurred on July 22.
The record comes in the midst of a holiday season public health experts worry could exacerbate the already rapidly spreading virus and following an increase in cases weeks after Thanksgiving.
This hospital data does not account for people who are hospitalized but have not gotten a positive test, and DSHS says some hospitals may be missing from the daily counts. As of Monday, the state is also reporting 49 deaths from COVID-19, a lagging indicator of the extent of transmission rates, and more than 12,800 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. Reported cases may have appeared lower the last few days because some local health departments did not report data to the state over the holiday week… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
U.S. to allow small drones to fly over people and at night (Reuters)
Small drones will be allowed to fly over people and at night in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday, a significant step toward their use for widespread commercial deliveries.
"The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our airspace by addressing safety and security concerns,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. “They get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages.”
The FAA said its long-awaited rules for the drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, will address security concerns by requiring remote identification technology in most cases to enable their identification from the ground.
Previously, small drone operations over people were limited to operations over people who were directly participating in the operation, located under a covered structure, or inside a stationary vehicle - unless operators had obtained a waiver from the FAA.
The rules will take effect 60 days after publication in the federal register in January. Drone manufacturers will have 18 months to begin producing drones with Remote ID, and operators will have an additional year to provide Remote ID.
There are other, more complicated rules that allow for operations at night and over people for larger drones in some cases.
“The new rules make way for the further integration of drones into our airspace by addressing safety and security concerns,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. “They get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Bitcoin looks to gain traction in payments (Wall Street Journal)
Vegas Auto Gallery, a luxury auto dealership in Las Vegas, has become a playground for wealthy bitcoin investors who want to cash in.
The dealership recently sold two high-end sports cars—a 2017 Pagani Huayra Roadster and a 2019 Bugatti Chiron—to a customer who paid more than $6 million in bitcoin, according to owner Nick Dossa, who says about 3% to 5% of the dealership’s revenue comes from bitcoin transactions.
Bitcoin prices have more than tripled in 2020 and are hovering around $26,600, making millionaires out of hoards of investors who piled in to ride the popular momentum trade. Professional investors such as Stanley Druckenmiller and companies like Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. began investing this year. Companies like Robinhood Markets Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. allowed their customers to buy and sell bitcoin.
Despite those inroads, industry watchers say bitcoin must gain traction as a form of payment to become more ubiquitous. Spending it isn’t easy. Few merchants accept it, and many people are still unfamiliar with the cryptocurrency. Its use is generally limited to high-end purchases, like those at Mr. Dossa’s dealership.
Bitcoin, introduced in 2008, was designed to operate as a form of electronic cash, allowing users to exchange value as quickly and cheaply as sending an email. In practice, its adoption was hampered by several factors. In early years, it was difficult for average users to operate the digital wallets that stored their holdings. Many of the companies that tried accepting bitcoin in 2014 and 2015, including Expedia Group Inc. and Dell Inc., later quietly dropped it.
Bitcoin bulls say the tide could begin to turn next year. Two months ago, PayPal Holdings Inc. opened its platform up to bitcoin, allowing its 361 million users world-wide to buy or sell the asset. In early 2021, it will expand the options, allowing users to tap their bitcoin balances for payments to any of the 28 million merchants that use PayPal… (LINK TO STORY)
The Spectacular Rise Of SPACs: The Backwards IPO That's Taking Over Wall Street (NPR)
This year, the hottest trend in Wall Street could be summed up in one strange and unfamiliar word: SPAC.
Shaquille O'Neal's got a SPAC. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan's got a SPAC. Famed investor Bill Ackman launched a $4 billion SPAC. And a 25-year-old became the youngest self-made billionaire thanks to — you guessed it — a SPAC.
So what is a SPAC? A "special purpose acquisition company" is a way for a company to go public without all the paperwork of a traditional IPO, or initial public offering.
In an IPO, a company announces it wants to go public, then discloses a lot of details about its business operations. After that, investors put money into the company in exchange for shares.
A SPAC flips that process around. Investors pool their money together first, with no idea what company they're investing in. The SPAC goes public as a shell company. The required disclosures are easier than for a regular IPO, because a pile of money doesn't have any business operations to describe.
Then, generally, the SPAC goes out and looks for a real company that wants to go public, and they merge together. The company gets the stock ticker and the pile of money, much more quickly than through a normal IPO… (LINK TO STORY)