BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 10, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 99: Impact Advocacy, Lobbying, and Movement Makers with Terri Broussard Williams (SHOW LINK)
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Hearing Summary: Austin City Council Special Called Meeting on COVID-19 Enforcement (BG Blog)
At its Special Called Meeting on COVID-19 enforcement, the Austin Council voted unanimously to expand the enforcement ability of Governor Greg Abbott’s existing orders.
Council members stressed that the intention is not to issue fines for not wearing masks but to get better voluntary compliance.
Del Valle ISD Approves Tesla's Proposed Property Tax Break (KUT)
Del Valle Independent School District’s board members agreed to a property tax abatement with Tesla, Inc., Thursday night.
The electric car maker is looking to build a $1 billion factory in Eastern Travis County. If the company meets all of the criteria while bringing its new factory online, it could save as much as $50 million in property taxes over 10 years.
The school district will still come out way ahead, netting an estimated $28 million in taxes in the same period. The current owner of the concrete plant that sits on the location Tesla is eyeing for the factory pays about $58,000 in property taxes to the district a year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City evaluates rental assistance program, prepares for round two (Austin Monitor)
Back in May, the city’s Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants program disbursed $1.2 million in emergency rental assistance to 1,680 families across the city. This week, the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department, in conjunction with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, revealed more about the people the program actually helped.
In a July 8 memo, Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Director Rosie Truelove noted that nearly two-thirds of the households earn at or below 30 percent of the median family income. Another 32 percent of the households earn between 31 and 60 percent of MFI. Just 8 percent of the households earn 61 to 80 percent of MFI.
Twenty-two percent of those helped by the program are 25-34 years old. Another 18 percent are ages 35-44. The majority of the households identify as Latinx, and nearly 20 percent identify as African American or Black. Most households reside in southeast or northeast ZIP codes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
As COVID-19 rages, Texans are voting at historic pace in July 14 runoff elections (Dallas Morning News)
Even as they grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, Texans are voting at a historic pace in the July 14 runoff contests. Through July 8, nearly 800,000 Texans had voted early—either in person or by mail. According to the data submitted by county officials to the Texas Secretary of State, more than 482,000 people have voted in the Democratic Party runoffs, while more than 316,500 have participated in Republican runoff contests,
The early vote totals are remarkable because the runoffs are occurring as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic, and residents are being urged to stay at home as positive test cases in Texas increase. Many political analysts predicted a sluggish turnout by voters. While the percentage of registered voters participating in the elections is low, the turnout is more robust than the runoffs of yesteryear. “We’re talking about extremely high turnout for a runoff,” said David de la Fuente, a senior political analyst for the think tank called Third Way. The Democrats are voting in higher numbers because the party is staging a Senate runoff between former Air Force helicopter pilot MJ Hegar of Round Rock and state Rep. Royce West of Dallas. The winner faces Republican incumbent John Cornyn in November, who easily won his March primary. There’s also a statewide runoff between former state Rep. Roberto Alonzo of Dallas and Dallas lawyer Chrysta Castaneda for the Democratic Railroad Commission nomination… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Fort Worth Mayor, council members campaign for special police tax as opposition mounts (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and three councilmen have financially backed a Chamber of Commerce campaign to impose the police’s special sales tax for a decade. City voters in the July 14 election are asked to commit a half cent sales tax, worth more than $80 million annually, to the Crime Control Prevention District, a special fund that pays for enhanced police patrols, equipment and a portion of school officers’ salaries, among other things. Typically the tax is renewed every five years, but the City Council this year decided to request its renewal for 10 years. The item is Proposition A, the only other item on Fort Worth ballots besides party runoffs.
Fort Worth is the largest city in Texas to devote extra sales tax money to policing, a move proponents say has kept crime low since the mid-1990s. Skeptics have called it a “police slush fund” and say the money would be better spent with community-based nonprofits or improving transportation. Early voting ends Friday. More than 5,500 had already voted as of Thursday afternoon. Price along with Councilmen Bryan Byrd, Jungus Jordan and Dennis Shingleton donated to a campaign committee dubbed Keep Fort Worth Neighborhoods Safe run by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Their contributions, as well as a $5,000 donation from the Fort Worth firefighter’s union, total $13,500. No campaign committee against the sales tax has filed with the city, but grassroots community groups and the Tarrant County Democratic party have come out against the renewal as a way to reform policing… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas reverses course, says it won't collect overpaid unemployment benefits in instances when it was the state's mistake (Texas Tribune)
Workers who lost their jobs and received overpayments from the Texas Workforce Commission won’t have to pay back those unemployment benefits if it was the state’s mistake, commission officials now say.
That's different from the agency's previous insistence, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, that the 46,000 Texans who received overpayments in recent months would have to pay the state back — even if they were not to blame.
“Texas is prevented by court order from collecting overpayments caused solely by the commission's error,” spokesperson Cisco Gamez said Wednesday during a media update posted on Facebook. That court order, which Gamez said he was previously unaware of, dates to 1978… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Big Ten moves to conference-only model for all fall sports (The Hill)
Florida has emerged as a global epicenter of the latest coronavirus surge, raising questions about the safety of major events that relocated to the state.
As coronavirus cases surged throughout much of the Northeast in April and May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declared victory.
Florida was one of the last states to impose a stay-at-home order, and one of the first to reopen. DeSantis earned praise from President Trump for his response to the pandemic and attacked the media for fearmongering after the state reopened its beaches.
“When you look at some of the most draconian orders that have been issued in some of these states and compare Florida in terms of our hospitalizations ... I mean, you go from D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois — you name it — Florida has done better,” DeSantis said from the Oval Office in late April.
Buoyed by the low infection rates and encouraged by the White House, the state’s first phase of reopening included restaurants, gyms, barbershops and large spectator sporting events, with reduced capacity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
For Black women mayors, rising national profiles come with political risk (Politico)
Black women mayors are having a moment. They’re also facing a daunting political challenge.
Mayors Keisha Lance Bottoms, Muriel Bowser, Lori Lightfoot and London Breed steer four of America’s most prominent cities at a time when activists are looking to their local leaders to transform American policing. The four women have emerged as leading national voices, regularly appearing on cable news and headlining virtual forums on policing and protests.
Black women mayors are having a moment. They’re also facing a daunting political challenge.
Mayors Keisha Lance Bottoms, Muriel Bowser, Lori Lightfoot and London Breed steer four of America’s most prominent cities at a time when activists are looking to their local leaders to transform American policing. The four women have emerged as leading national voices, regularly appearing on cable news and headlining virtual forums on policing and protests… (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.
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