BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 16, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG PODCAST Episode 92 : Processing with Austin Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison (District 1) (LINK TO SHOW)
Today's BG Podcast features a conversation with returning guest, Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison.
She and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the protests and national conversation around the murder of George Floyd, police reform, and the continued threat and impact of COVID-19 in Austin’s Black community.
[AUSTIN METRO]
As Covid-19 cases spike, local officials stress caution and personal choice in slowing its spread (Austin Monitor)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Public Health Interim Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott and Assistant to the Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt extended stay-at-home orders Monday in response to a surge in Covid-19 cases, and asked residents to reinvest in precautions to help slow the virus’ continued rise.
“This community gets to make this choice,” Adler said. “I hope everybody will work to protect one another.”
On Sunday, Austin’s rolling daily average of hospitalizations rose to 20.6, moving the area into Stage 4. As a result, revised local orders that reflect the new recommendations are now in place until Aug. 15.
“Quite clearly, the situation has changed in Travis County over the past week,” Escott said.
In Stage 4 conditions, Austin Public Health advises high-risk individuals, including people over 65 and those with underlying medical conditions, to avoid going out and to refrain from gatherings of more than two people. In addition, all residents should avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.
“Frankly, we have gotten to this place sooner than I thought that we would,” Adler said. “When this virus comes, it is going to come fast. It is going to come faster than any of us can imagine. … We’re getting that first early warning sign that this virus is still here, that it’s coming at us.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis County reportedly considering deal to bring Tesla to Austin (Austin Business Journal)
Tesla is negotiating terms of a possible incentives deal with Travis County that could bring the electric car maker’s next U.S. assembly plant — and thousands of jobs — to Austin, the American-Statesman has learned.
The Travis County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss the potential incentives deal in an executive session on Tuesday, according to people with knowledge of the proceedings. A vote is expected in the coming weeks.
The terms of the potential incentives deal have not been disclosed. Commissioners Court members did not respond Monday to messages left seeking comment. County spokesman Hector Nieto said the county had no comment.
Messages left seeking comment from Tesla and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office were not returned Monday.
A number of media outlets reported last month that Tesla had chosen Austin and Tulsa, Okla., as finalists for the assembly plant.
It was unclear Monday whether the negotiations with Travis County signal that Tesla has settled on Austin, or if the company is also continuing to negotiate with Tulsa on possible incentives.
Item 21 on Tuesday’s Commissioners Court agenda calls for the members to “consider and take appropriate action on a project under Travis County Code Chapter 28.” It gives no additional detail, but Chapter 28 of the Travis County Code contains guidelines for economic development incentives.
The United Auto Workers, a union for employees of automakers, believes “that Item 21 on the agenda is related to Tesla,” Brian Rothenberg, UAW director of public relations, told the Statesman on Monday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
ACL Live announces July 4 party, days after Austin fireworks canceled due to coronavirus (Austin 360)
Downtown Austin venue ACL Live announced on Monday that it will throw a live music event called Red, White & Willie Nelson Blvd on July 4.
The event is billed as a “limited capacity celebration to remember.” The announcement comes after the Austin Symphony last week canceled its traditional Fourth of July concert and fireworks because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cases of COVID-19, as well as the hospitalization average, continue to rise in Travis County.
Red, White & Willie Nelson Blvd — which is presented by ACL Live, 3TEN Austin City Limits Live and W Austin — will feature five stages of live music across those three locations, touting “a safe social distance,” as well as a virtual fireworks display. Performers include Jackie Venson, Brownout, Walker Lukens, Jesse Dayton, Carolyn Wonderland, Los Coast, DJ Mike Swing and DJ Chorizo Funk, with more to be announced, according to ACL Live… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Arrested Protesters In Major Texas Cities Aren’t Outsiders, Data Show (KUT)
When protesters across the U.S. started marching through city streets late last month, demanding justice for George Floyd, state and local leaders sounded a familiar alarm.“The violence is coming into Texas from across state lines,” Gov. Greg Abbott said alongside Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson at Dallas City Hall on June 2.San Antonio Metro Police Chief William McManus echoed that sentiment regarding protests in the Alamo City. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo participated in protests, but still pointed his fingers at rowdy participants, saying he believed they were actually from Austin — where he’d once worked… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Rising coronavirus hospitalizations are just the tip of the iceberg, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas County officials reported 305 more cases of the coronavirus Monday, the county’s sixth straight day of at least 300 new positive tests.
The county also reported that another resident has died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus: a Dallas man in his 60s who did not have underlying health problems.
There have been 14,537 confirmed cases of the virus in Dallas County — about 5.5 for every 1,000 residents — and 285 county residents have died from it. The county does not release a number of recoveries from the illness.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement that hospitalizations for coronavirus symptoms have risen recently and that people should consider those cases as an indicator of deeper problems.
“Think of hospitalizations as that part of the iceberg that you can see that is above the water,” he said. “Below the water are all the people who are sick but that are not yet in the hospital. The iceberg below the water is obviously far greater than the iceberg above it and a small increase in hospitalizations indicates a larger increase in illness.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott scolds 20-somethings for not wearing masks, taking coronavirus too lightly (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott says 20-something Texans are catching coronavirus in greater numbers.
And he’s rebuking them for not taking safety precautions, such as wearing masks, when they go out.Abbott took to the airwaves on Monday to caution Texans in their 20s that too many of them are taking COVID-19 too lightly.“
A lot of people have let down their guard,” he said on KLBK-TV’s noon newscast in Lubbock.
“If you do not use these safe strategies, you will test positive,” the governor warned. He referred to wearing a face covering, washing hands and maintaining a safe distance from others when Texans go out… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Houston Adjusts After the Economic Collapse of COVID-19 (Governing)
The coronavirus pandemic forced a swift collapse of the economy, but the tentative recovery beginning to take shape is likely to stretch for months, if not years, as businesses, workers and consumers try to adapt to dramatic changes in economic and social life.
In a matter of months, more than 30 million Americans lost jobs, including more than 2 million in Texas and 500,000 in Houston. The pace of job losses has slowed in recent weeks as businesses have reopened, employees have returned to work and consumers have ventured from their homes, but the economy’s path forward remains uncertain — perhaps more uncertain than it has ever been.
Across every industry and employment sector, businesses face the question of not just when, but whether their customers will revert to normal behavior, or at least something resembling it. Restaurants wonder whether diners will feel comfortable entering their dining rooms retailers if consumers will feel safe again to browse… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Workers can't be fired for being gay or transgender, Supreme Court rules (The Hill)
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 in a landmark decision that gay and transgender employees are protected by civil rights laws against employer discrimination.
A set of cases that came before the court had asked the justices to decide whether Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination on the basis of "sex," applies to gay and transgender people.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the opinion for the six-member majority, said that it does.
"Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender," Gorsuch wrote. "The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Unions tap into burst of worker angst over coronavirus (Politico)
Amazon warehouse workers in New York walked off the job to demand protection against Covid-19. A county judge in Illinois pressed two McDonald’s franchises to work out an agreement with their employees about the supply of masks and hand sanitizer. And grocery store workers at Publix and Trader Joe's in Florida have haggled for hazard pay as they work public-facing jobs.
Across corners of the labor market traditionally without unions, the coronavirus is spurring new interest in organizing for safer workplaces and better pay as the nation embarks on a long economic recovery.
Most states have already crafted or kicked off plans to reopen their economies after shutting them down to curb the spread of Covid-19. Now, many among the millions of people who toiled away at invisible low-wage jobs stocking shelves or setting up medical equipment the whole time are looking to capitalize on how “essential” they’ve become.
“In literally a day, grocery store workers have gone from ‘just a job,’ to having a job that’s incredibly stressful, demanding and scary,” said Damon Silvers, the policy director and special counsel for the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. “The nature of the job has been transformed. Employees are saying, ‘If I’m going to risk my life, how about paying me more?’”… (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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