BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 9, 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]
Council seeks to add teeth to virus regulations (Austin Monitor)
Mayor Steve Adler is proposing two ordinances: one would authorize the city health authority – in this case Dr. Mark Escott – to adopt rules protecting people from Covid 19 and create a class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 for anyone convicted of violating those rules. The second ordinance would allow the city to declare businesses that fail to comply with regulations intended to limit the spread of Covid-19 public health nuisances and to file suit for injunctive relief.
Adler told the Austin Monitor Wednesday, “The Council is defining what is a public nuisance, so the Code (Department) … could now operate to enforce this ordinance against establishments or places where disease spreads.” Both ordinances are directed at businesses as opposed to individuals.
While being declared a nuisance and ordered to stop doing business would be a hardship for individual businesses, the ordinance would not have the same impact on businesses that are following the rules.
Adler said the city currently has the authority to enforce orders he and County Judge Sam Biscoe put forth to stop the spread of the disease. However, adding the nuisance ordinance “enables you to enjoin the use of the property in a way that spreads disease.” So if the city determines a business is a public nuisance, a judge can issue an injunction to close down the business.
Under the nuisance ordinance, a person who is in control of a site must do a number of things, most of which are well known to businesses and the public at this point. Those include requiring everyone on site to wear a face covering, limit the number of individuals who gather or stand together to 10 or fewer, conduct a general health screening for each worker before he or she begins a shift, and enforce rules about hand washing.
Construction sites are required to institute staggered shifts, ensure hand-washing stations and restrooms are spaced 6 feet apart or more, keep a list of each worker who enters a job site every day, and provide individual water bottles for workers or instruct them to bring their own.
Upon the request of Dr. Escott, the city attorney is authorized to file suit for an injunction against any business that is not abiding by the health regulations.
Adler said he and his colleagues are trying to ensure that the city has an alternative method of enforcement if a court should decide that Gov. Greg Abbott did not have the authority to close bars. If that happened, the city might be able to step in and reach the same conclusion through different regulations.
Adler’s co-sponsors are Council members Greg Casar, Kathie Tovo and Paige Ellis and Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signals support as Austin weighs fines for people not wearing face masks (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott signaled his encouragement Wednesday to Austin city leaders to move forward on "additional enforcement mechanisms" related to a recent order Abbott issued requiring Texans to wear masks in most public spaces.
In a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Abbott said the city's consideration of new enforcement measures "to ensure compliance with my Executive Orders is an important step toward reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)."
"As you know, these Orders were created and adopted based on advise from medical experts, and if these Orders are followed, we will be able to protect both public health and the livelihoods of our citizens," he added.
The Austin-American Statesman reported Wednesday that the City Council will meet Thursday "to vote on a resolution that would allow for a fine of up to $2,000 for anyone violating a 'health authority rule' like not wearing a mask" and to take "civil action against any person who maintains a business or site that does not comply with minimum health standards."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin teachers union calls on district to keep classes online: ‘We are begging you’ (Austin American-Statesman)
Educators in the Austin school district are calling on state and local leaders to keep classes online for the first part of the fall semester, saying the risk of resuming any in-person activity is too great given the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We recognize there are no good options — they are all lousy options. But we have to pick the least lousy of those options,” said Ken Zarifis, president of the district’s employees union, Education Austin. “And we think a simple system of across-the-board online will be the easiest way to keep all people safe.”
Zarifis and other union members responded Wednesday to Texas Education Agency guidelines, released a day earlier, that said in-person classes will be held daily but gave parents the option of sending their children to school or have them learn remotely.
Educators in Austin said this model poses a risk of virus exposure for teachers who will still be required to enter buildings.
“We don’t want someone dead. We don’t want someone sick. We can only teach people when they’re alive,” Zarifis said. “It seems simple to us that we wouldn’t put people in harm’s way.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
City cancels state GOP convention in Houston as party vows legal fight (Houston Chronicle)
Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on Wednesday that the city has canceled the Texas Republican Party’s in-person state convention in downtown Houston next week. Houston First, the public nonprofit that serves as the city’s convention arm, sent a letter to the party’s executive committee notifying it that the convention has been canceled. The letter triggers a part of the contract called a “force majeure” clause, which allows one side to cancel for an occurrence out of its control. The definition included “epidemics in the City of Houston,” according to the Houston First letter.
“No one wanted to step in and be the heavy and say no, and then run the risk of being accused of being political,” Turner said. “But if after all of that, if you still refuse to recognize the public health danger to everyone involved, then I am still the mayor.” Texas Republican Party officials lambasted the decision and said they were preparing for a legal fight. The gathering, which was expected to draw several thousand visitors, was scheduled July 16-18 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Meanwhile, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he would welcome a convention there. “We are prepared to take all necessary steps to proceed in the peaceable exercise of our constitutionally protected rights,” Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey in a statement. Dickey recounted several steps the party was planning to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including thermal scanning of attendees as they enter, revised floor plans to accommodate social distancing, one-way traffic in convention hall, contactless hand sanitizer stations and masks for attendees. Turner said he sought the cancellation after Dr. David Persse, the city’s health authority, called the planned convention “a clear and present danger.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas parents face a frightening lack of information on coronavirus risks in child care centers (Texas Tribune)
With reported coronavirus cases in Texas child care facilities rising quickly, parents face terrifying uncertainty as they try to decide whether to entrust their children to child care centers.
According to the state health agency, as of Wednesday, Texas children and staff reported 1,695 positive cases at 1,078 child care centers, about 8.8% of the centers open as of this week. About a third of the cases were children, and the rest were staff.
Whether those numbers should be alarming is unclear.
State health officials are tracking overall numbers but providing little information about where and how the virus has spread in child care facilities. Pediatric experts are sending conflicting messages about how risky exposure to the virus is for children and the adults around them. And the state has only recently required child care centers to follow federal safety guidelines.… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Florida emerges as world's new epicenter for COVID-19 (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)
Republicans invite Parler CEO to rumble with Silicon Valley giants (Politico)
In a potential presage of fireworks to come, two House Republicans have asked the head of an upstart social media network to weigh in on the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan antitrust investigation into tech giants. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) sent a letter on Wednesday afternoon to John Matze, the CEO of Parler, asking him to weigh in on “the state of competition in social media.”
“Parler differentiates itself on the quality and features of its platform— namely, its commitment to not ‘censor or editorialize, share or sell user data,’” the lawmakers wrote. “This commitment positions Parler in stark contrast to Twitter, which has made increasingly clear in recent weeks and months that only users who refrain from expressing certain unfavored political beliefs are welcome to fully participate on its platform. In turn, Parler’s commitment to free expression takes the place of price as an incentive driving consumer behavior.”… (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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