BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 28, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast Special Episode - Discussing the FY2021 City of Austin Budget Talk #2 (SHOW LINK)
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Sarah Eckhardt wins special election for Texas Senate seat after Rep. Eddie Rodriguez forgoes a runoff (Texas Tribune)
Former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt will succeed former state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, in the Texas Senate after state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez said Monday he is dropping out of the race. Eckhardt and Rodriguez, both Democrats, were poised to face off in a special election runoff for the seat after the two finished first and second, respectively, in the six-way race on July 14.
After Rodriguez's announcement, Eckhardt said she looked "forward to joining forces with him in the next session to advance our shared progressive values" for the community. Rodriguez congratulated Eckhardt on the race in an email he sent to supporters and said he is looking "forward to working with her to carve a progressive path forward for our shared community."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin moves forward with phased-in Project Connect plan, including $300 million to prevent displacement (Community Impact)
The proposal set to go in front of Austin voters this November to pay for an expanded public transportation system will likely not fund the entire plan all at once. Instead, it will ask voters whether they would like to contribute enough in tax revenue to fund about 70% of the system.
Capital Metro's board has already approved a plan—called Project Connect—to build new light rail lines that converge in a downtown tunnel, among other transit improvements. Austin City Council decided July 27 to take another step toward calling the fall election to secure the funding.
The entire plan would cost $10 billion, most of which would go toward the underground station and the light rail lines running to North Austin, South Austin and Southeast Austin. The city is on a path toward asking voters to fund only a $7.1 billion piece of that plan, leaving certain elements, including extensions of the light rail in North Austin and South Austin, to future funding decisions… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
YMCA Austin needs a new CEO soon (Austin Business Journal)
YMCA of Austin President and CEO James Finck will retire on January 31, the nonprofit announced July 27.
Finck, who has led what is now Austin's 18th-largest nonprofit by revenue for more than 12 years, will stay on through at least that time to help the nonprofit navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and work with YMCA’s board of directors to ensure a smooth transition to his successor.
The board is forming a search committee led by AT&T executive Bob Digneo, a former board chairman who has served as a YMCA director for 30 years.
Prior to the pandemic, Finck said he planned to retire later in 2021. But with the recent passing of his mother, spending time with family has taken on greater urgency, according to the announcement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas fifth and eighth graders won't have to pass STAAR test to move on to the next grade (Texas Tribune)
Texas students will still have to take the STAAR test next year, but fifth and eighth grade students will be able to move on to the next grade even if they fail, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday.
State education officials announced earlier this summer that third through 12th grade students would take the state standardized exams, or STAAR, this upcoming academic year. Normally, fifth and eighth graders must pass the STAAR in order to move on to the next grade, or else they must retake it later that year or over the summer. But Abbott said that next spring, the fifth and eighth grade math and reading exams would only be administered one time, in May.
Texas education officials told school administrators Monday that they would have local discretion on whether fifth and eighth graders should advance to the next grade, and must support students who perform poorly. They also posted a revised testing calendar for the upcoming school year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Greg Abbott extends early voting for November election by six days, starting Oct. 13 (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday extended the early voting period for the November election by six days, citing continued challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election will now begin Oct. 13 instead of Oct. 19. The end date remains Oct. 30.
The extension of the early voting period is not a surprise. During a TV interview in late May, Abbott said he would add more time to the early voting period for the November election — as he did for the primary runoff election earlier this month — but did not elaborate.
Last week, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins asked Abbott to provide more details so that election officials could have enough time to prepare. In a letter to the governor, Hollins requested that Abbott move the start date to Oct. 13 at the latest… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
GOP rolls out $1 trillion coronavirus relief package (The Hill)
Senate Republicans unveiled a roughly $1 trillion coronavirus relief package Monday, paving the way for negotiations with Democrats.
The legislation caps off days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and public infighting as a group of GOP negotiators and administration officials tried to line up on key provisions.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the package represents a "realistic" proposal for what would be "appropriate" to add to the country's debt.
"We think it is about $1 trillion, and we've allocated what we think makes the most sense for the country at this particular time," McConnell told reporters.
Large portions of the bill were already known: $16 billion in new funds for coronavirus testing, $105 billion for schools, and a five-year shield from coronavirus-related lawsuits unless an entity — such as a business, school or government agency — engaged in “gross negligence” or “intentional misconduct.”.
The measure will also provide a second round of stimulus checks. Similar to the CARES Act from late March, it would give a payment to those making up to $75,000 a year. That amount scales down until it hits an income ceiling of $99,000, where it phases out altogether.
For small businesses, the legislation provides another round of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program but requires businesses to have lost at least 50 percent of their revenue to be eligible. The revised program also would limit participation to firms with no more than 300 employees, compared with the 500-employee cap from earlier this year.
One of the final issues worked out between congressional Republicans and the White House was how to replace a $600-per-week increase of unemployment benefits, which was included in the CARES Act and began expiring over the weekend… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
‘It's absolutely serious’: Susan Rice vaults to the top of the VP heap (Politico)
Don’t count Susan Rice out of the vice-presidential contest.
At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss the former national security adviser’s chances of joining Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. Rice has never run for elected office. She doesn’t bring along the loyalties of a swing state. Her work experience revolves largely around foreign affairs, which could seem redundant given Biden’s experience in those issues. Her son is a proud and active Republican, while the GOP has for years used her as a punching bag over the Benghazi tragedy – the main reason many Americans have ever even heard her name.
But more than a dozen of Rice’s friends and former colleagues recently interviewed by POLITICO dismiss those concerns. They argued that Rice is no stranger to the campaign trail, even if she wasn’t the candidate, and besides, amid the coronavirus pandemic, what campaign trail is there?… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
The pandemic’s opportunity to improve government procurement (Governing)
The onset of COVID-19 has not only highlighted a critical shortage of ventilators, along with masks, gloves and other protective gear, but also has stress-tested government procurement processes that too often are slowed by outdated rules and regulations. In addition, the CARES Act's funding for cities and states, as well as any additional forthcoming federal pandemic aid, will only be successful if the funds are spent quickly and well.
In the midst of this global pandemic, the poor federal response to the needs of stressed health-care systems has left states and local governments to develop emergency procurement processes for the personal protective equipment (PPE) urgently needed for health-care and other essential workers. What has resulted has been a Wild West system of procurement as states had to bid against one another for resources and hospitals desperately resorted to extreme measures. Hospital administrators beseeched procurement teams to purchase foreign-made PPE on open markets, thus skimping on quality inspections, standards and other common protocols for "peacetime" procurement. Meanwhile, traditional medical-supply distribution companies insisted on following peacetime procedures undermining the urgency of the situation, such as asking possible suppliers for PPE product samples and submitting them to standard compliance protocols… (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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