BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 3, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW BG PODCAST - EP. 115: 2020 Fall Closeout with Associate Intern Wendy Rodriguez
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Early spring festivals not likely for 2021, Austin-Travis County health chief says (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin-Travis County officials will likely again cancel large events like the South by Southwest series of festivals in early spring of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the area’s health chief Wednesday.
Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority, said even with plans to distribute coronavirus vaccinations by early next year, it’s likely that hosting large gatherings and festivals in early spring will still be too dangerous.
Escott during a media briefing on Wednesday said we could hope for large gatherings again by April, May or June, but likely not in time for South by Southwest in March.
“I think it’s important to remember that large events were the first thing we turned off and will likely be the last thing we turn back on,” Escott said. “But, the situation — as the vaccine becomes available, as people get the vaccine and as we move more toward herd immunity — that risk for large surges will start to diminish.”
South by Southwest in past years attracted more than 100,000 music and tech fans to downtown Austin every March… (LINK TO STORY)
Adler backtracks after initially saying he did ‘not do anything wrong’ by flying to Mexico during the pandemic (KUT)
After initially saying he didn’t do anything wrong, Austin Mayor Steve Adler now says he realizes he “set a bad example” by traveling to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for vacation last month.
An Austin American-Statesman story revealed Wednesday that Adler attended an in-person wedding for his daughter in early November and then flew with others to Cabo for a weeklong vacation.
At the same time, Adler was encouraging people to stay home to avoid contracting or spreading Covid-19.
“Not only did we not do anything wrong, we didn’t do anything that abrogated or violated the rules or regulations in the city, or the conduct that we were expecting of others that we also expect of ourselves,” Adler initially told KUT.
Adler confirmed to KUT that 20 people attended the wedding, which was held outside at a hotel and restaurant on South Congress. He said people were seated at distanced tables but that not everyone was wearing masks.
At the time of the wedding, which was held in early November, the city and county were under Stage 3 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based guidelines, with public health officials urging people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.
Adler said his daughter had originally invited about 100 people to the wedding but disinvited dozens in order to hold a much smaller gathering.
“It’s a hard thing for a girl to do, but there are girls all over the city that are having to do the same kind of thing, couples all over the city that are having to do the same kind of thing,” Adler said.
When asked why the family didn’t decide to postpone the wedding indefinitely, he said, “We’re not asking people to not get married.”
A few hours after speaking with KUT, Adler released a statement saying he regrets his decision to travel.
“I wouldn’t travel now, didn’t over Thanksgiving and won’t over Christmas,” he wrote. “But my fear is that this travel, even having happened during a safer period, could be used by some as justification for risky behavior. In hindsight, and even though it violated no order, it set a bad example for which I apologize.”… (LINK TO STORY)
APH threatens crackdown on bars-turned-restaurants not following COVID-19 orders (KXAN)
Austin’s top doctor warned on Tuesday that Austin Public Health isn’t going to keep stopping at just warnings for bars-turned-restaurants that don’t comply with COVID-19 restrictions.
Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott says as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, issues with bars reclassified as restaurants are trending in the wrong direction, as well.
“In a spot check on Saturday, compliance was 60%,” Escott said.
According to the City of Austin, multiple warnings were issued over the weekend. However, Escott says businesses that continue to violate state orders when it comes to safety measures like social distancing and mask wearing won’t get off as easily.
“If they do not clean things up, if they do not show a pattern of compliance, we will take further action, including closure,” he said. “We simply cannot tolerate bad behavior at a time when we are really struggling to keep businesses open.” (LINK TO STORY)
Two towers, 590,000 square feet of housing and office space on table for former HealthSouth property in downtown Austin (Community Impact)
City officials released the details Dec. 1 of the recommended proposal for the city-owned, essentially vacant 1.7-acre downtown tract at 1215 Red River St., Austin, setting the stage for a City Council vote on the long-awaited development.
However, City Council members disagreed with how quickly the project was moving. Some said the time between proposal presentation and City Council vote was too accelerated, while others said that as Austin continues to suffer from growing housing affordability challenges, the city needs to be moving swiftly in getting affordable housing projects approved and off the ground.
The city has owned the tract since 1972 but bought back development rights after the former tenant, HealthSouth, vacated the property in 2016. The tract, which is among the most valuable undeveloped properties in the city’s portfolio, has since represented a rare opportunity for the city to produce an affordable housing-focused project in the increasingly unaffordable downtown area.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the property also plays a crucial role in the city’s burgeoning Innovation District, the northeast quadrant of downtown Austin, which city and local state leaders want to become a multidisciplinary hub that attracts business, creative and medical-focused tenants of global-scale prestige.
After requesting development proposals in November 2019, the city said the project outlined by the Austin-based Aspen Heights Partners—responsible for downtown’s Independent skyscraper—best met its wants. The proposal’s details remain sealed; however, the city’s economic development department has provided a rough outline of what Aspen Heights Partners sees for the property.Two towers are proposed for the site. The first would be a 36-story, 420,000-square-foot residential tower with 348 apartments and 160 condos. The tower will offer 25% of the total units as affordable housing, with a mix of rental units for residents earning between 50%-60% of the median family income—$48,800-$58,550 for a family of four—and ownership condos for residents earning 80% of the median family income—$78,100 for a family of four… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas may receive initial coronavirus vaccine doses for 1.4 million people this month, Gov. Greg Abbott says (Texas Tribune)
Texas could receive coronavirus vaccine doses to give an initial dose to up to 1.4 million Texans in December, assuming U.S. health officials approve coronavirus vaccine candidates from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has promised to send Texas as many as 1.4 million doses of forthcoming vaccines in the month of December, Abbott said. The vaccines require two doses per person, and state health officials have said health care workers will be first in line.
Abbott said the vaccine candidates would likely arrive in Texas the week of Dec. 14. A second shipment is expected to arrive in January.
"The State of Texas is already prepared for the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, and will swiftly distribute these vaccines to Texans who voluntarily choose to be immunized," Abbott said in a news release. "As we await the first shipment of these vaccines, we will work with communities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."… (LINK TO STORY)
On Election Day, Republicans lost a critical advantage in the state Senate. Will Dan Patrick push to change the rules? (Texas Tribune)
Nine months before the November election, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made headlines by suggesting that if Republicans lost their supermajority in the Senate, he would pursue a bold procedural move: further lowering the threshold that is required to bring legislation to the floor.
Now that the election has come and gone — and the GOP indeed lost its supermajority — it remains to be seen how serious Patrick is about the idea, which would strip Senate Democrats of the one tool they have to block legislation they unanimously oppose.
The lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate, has not made any known public comments since the election about the potential rule change, and senators are being tight-lipped or saying they have not heard anything. The uncertainty comes less than a month and a half before the Legislature gavels in for the 2021 session — and each chamber takes up its rules as one of the first orders of business.
Right now, Senate rules require 19 members, or three-fifths of the body, to vote to bring legislation to the floor. With the reelection loss of Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, this November, Republicans are set to begin the session with 18 members… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas leads the country in construction job gains (Dallas Morning News)
While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed or postponed some building projects, the Dallas area leads the country in construction jobs gained in the past year.
Only 30% of the metro areas have seen an increase in construction employment during the past 12 months due to the impact of the pandemic, according to government data that the Associated General Contractors of America released.
The Dallas area has added 7,100 construction jobs since October 2019 — more than any other metro area.
At the same time, Houston saw the worst construction sector employment declines in the country with a 19,800-job drop.
Construction jobs around the country are still facing downward pressure as businesses and governments curtail planned building projects, according to the industry trade group.
“The pandemic has devastated the finances for businesses, institutions, and state and local governments, leading to widespread postponements and cancellations of construction projects,” Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America’s chief economist, said in the report. “As contractors use up the funds from Paycheck Protection Program loans, even more job losses are inevitable unless the federal government provides an immediate economic boost.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Houston City Council approves $28 million more in relief money (ABC 13)
Houston City Council passed an additional $20 million in direct assistance Wednesday morning to help those who qualify.
Up to $1,200 in payments will go to as many as 23,750 people. The money will be received by the end of the year, though the city has not yet determined who is eligible or how they will disburse the funds.
The payments come from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, provided by the federal government. The act was signed into law in March to help provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The city must spend all of the $405 million it received in federal funds by the end of the year or forfeit any unspent money. Mayor Sylvester Turner told ABC13 Tuesday he is confident they will spend all of the money by January 1, 2021.Still, it's important to note that some the people who will be receiving the money have already been selected through programs with BakerRipley and Catholic charities. But by the end of the week, BakerRipley will know if additional Houstonians can apply for this help. BakerRipley does also have existing and available funds for both rental relief and utility payments. The rental help could be as much as $1,900 and the utility help as much as $400. Applications can be found on BakerRipley's website
City council also passed an additional $10 million to help small businesses…(LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Obama: Criminal justice reformers ‘lost a big audience’ with defund the police rhetoric (Politico)
Former President Barack Obama suggested in a new interview that “defund the police” was little more than a “snappy slogan” that polarized many Americans and was ineffectual at producing broader reforms to the criminal justice system in the United States. In an interview that aired Wednesday on Snapchat’s “Good Luck America,” Obama likened young activists to shoe companies marketing sneakers or musicians promoting their records, arguing that such efforts to galvanize commercial support are “no different in terms of ideas.”
“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan, like ‘defund the police.’ But, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” Obama said.
“The key is deciding, do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with?” he added. “And if you want to get something done in a democracy, in a country as big and diverse as ours, then you’ve got to be able to meet people where they are. And play a game of addition and not subtraction.”
The former president is the latest prominent Democratic leader to express disapproval of the politically divisive phrase, which gained greater recognition over the summer amid nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality. Supporters of defunding the police have called for taxpayer dollars to be redirected away from law enforcement and toward mental health services and other social safety net resources… (LINK TO STORY)
CDC chief warns Americans face 'rough' winter from COVID-19 surge (Reuters)
The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Wednesday the COVID-19 pandemic, still raging with unprecedented fury nationwide, will pose the country’s grimmest health crisis yet over the next few months, before vaccines become widely available.
CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield urged stricter adherence to safety precautions such as wearing face coverings, social distancing and good hand hygiene to slow the spread of a highly contagious respiratory virus now claiming well over 2,000 U.S. lives a day.
The sober message from one of the nation’s top health officers followed Thanksgiving holiday observances in which millions of Americans disregarded warnings to avoid travel and large gatherings even as COVID infections and hospitalizations surged largely unchecked.
Besides the monumental loss of life, Redfield said, the country faces the prospect of a healthcare system strained to the point of collapse. The contagion has now reached every corner of the country - with 90% of all hospitals in areas designated as coronavirus “hot zones” - and continues to spread on a much steeper trajectory than any previous wave of the pandemic.
“The reality is that December, January and February are going to be rough times,” Redfield told a livestream presentation hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “I actually believe they’re going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.”
President-elect Joe Biden amplified the bleak forecast during a roundtable with workers and small business owners hard hit by the devastating economic fallout of the pandemic… (LINK TO STORY)