BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 23, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* Austin Mayor Alder’s COVID-19 Mask Order (6.22.2020)
Effective Today: Establishes a $1,000 civil or criminal penalty of up to $1,000 for businesses, but not individuals, for violations of the face covering requirements. (LINK TO ORDER)
PODCAST Episode 93: Processing with Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President/CEO at Huston-Tillotson University (SHOW LINK)
Today's podcast features returning guest Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, Ed.D., President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University (HT), a private historically black university located in Austin’s East Side.
She and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the state of world in HT’s corner including the May, including the June 7th Black Lives Matter protest sparked by the murder of George Floyd, adapting to COVID-19, and ways organizations can support the university.
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin businesses that don't comply with face-covering requirement could face fines (KUT)
Businesses in Austin must require their employees, customers and visitors to wear face coverings starting Tuesday, otherwise they could face a fine of up to $1,000.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler announced the requirement last week, but didn't establish what the penalty would be for not adhering to it. A new order signed Monday explains that violating the requirement is punishable by a fine, but not jail time. Peace officers, code department inspectors and the Office of the Austin Fire Marshal are authorized to enforce the order.
Enforcement, though, is “substantially reliant on self-regulation,” the order states, and “a community commitment to public health and safety under the threat of COVID-19." If there isn’t widespread compliance, the order says, the city will increase its enforcement efforts.
Under the order, all businesses – both those that the public can go to and those that are accessible to employees only – must implement a health and safety policy that requires employees, customers and visitors to wear face coverings over their nose and mouth. Businesses need to post a sign displaying the health policy at or near their entrances…(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Former Council Member Berl Handcox, who broke the color barrier, dies at 88 (Austin Monitor)
Berl Handcox, Austin’s first elected African American City Council member since Reconstruction, has died at the age of 88. Handcox was elected as part of the seven-member Council on May 1, 1971, and reelected on April 7, 1973. He received about 62 percent of the vote for both elections. He resigned from his seat in the spring of 1975 to serve as the head of the Texas Equal Employment Opportunity Office, part of the governor’s office.
Prior to 1971, City Council had just two Black Council members. The first, Henry Green Madison, was appointed by Gov. E.J. Davis in 1871. According to the Austin History Center, “The first elected black city council member was William G. Wilson, from Ward 10, who served as alderman from 1883 to 1884.”
Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison said via email, “Berl Handcox kicked down a door that had been sealed to African Americans in Austin for nearly a century. I would not be where I am today without him. His overdue achievement is one of those major milestones that mark the protracted but progressive march towards justice and equality here in our city. We owe it to him to carry on that march with his memory firmly in our minds and tenderly in our hearts.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Capital Metro plans to not give employee raises, delays projects in face of COVID-19 (Community Impact)
Capital Metro is going through the process of crafting its fiscal year 2020-21 budget in uncertain economic times.
The public transportation agency receives about 80% of its revenue from the 1% sales tax levied by members of its service area. Projected revenue for the last budget, adopted in the fall, was $265.7 million, but as local businesses struggle, residents stay home and consumer spending drops due to the effects of the coronavirus, those revenues are plummeting.
The city of Austin reported a 19.9% drop in April sales tax revenue, which was released June 10 by the state comptroller’s office—nosediving from $20.35 million in April 2019 to $16.3 million in April 2020.
It is unclear how businesses will recover and where the sales tax revenue will end up for Capital Metro, according to Chief Financial Officer Reinet Marneweck, who gave a presentation to the board of directors June 22. She said staff are preparing budget best- and worst-case scenarios that could provide anywhere from $245.1 million to $264.4 million in sales tax revenue for the next budget… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas is heading down a dangerous path, local leaders warn as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge (Texas Tribune)
As Texas' coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to break records for a second straight week, leaders and health experts in the largest cities are warning that the state is heading down a dangerous path and hospitals could soon be overwhelmed.
Gov. Greg Abbott struck a more urgent tone Monday, calling the increases in hospitalizations and cases across the state unacceptable. He said the state would only shut down businesses again as a last resort but cautioned that if trends don't reverse in the coming weeks, he'd be forced to take action.
"To state the obvious, COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled," Abbott said during a news conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin.
Travis County and Austin-area cases dramatically increased over the weekend, surging to 6,210 on Monday, compared with about 4,991 reported Friday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
If trends persist, Houston 'would become the worst affected city in the US,' expert Peter Hotez says (Houston Chronicle)
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas continued to reach record highs over the weekend while new cases also climbed in the Houston area.
The new figures come as County Judge Lina Hidalgo and leaders in other urbanized counties have issued orders mandating that businesses require customers wear face masks. Hidalgo’s order goes into effect Monday, though the latest local trends indicate masks “won’t be enough,” said vaccine researcher Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
“My observations if this trajectory persists: 1) Houston would become the worst affected city in the U.S., maybe rival what we're seeing now in Brazil 2) The masks = good 1st step but simply won't be enough 3) We would need to proceed to red alert,” Hotez said Saturday on Twitter… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Study predicts massive North Texas coronavirus surge throughout summer and into fall (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
A new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center predicts a surge in coronavirus cases throughout the summer and into the fall. The report, which is part of a series during the pandemic, examined the latest trends in the North Texas region, including hospitalizations and age.
“If the current path continues, cases will grow significantly throughout the summer and autumn in the absence of increased adherence to recommended physical distancing guidelines (keeping 6 feet between people) and wide-spread use of masks,” the report said. According to the data, current social distancing and prevention measures are 63% effective in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. If that remains, the study predicts 500 new daily cases in August and more than 900 cases a day by November. The projections worsen if the effective rate lowers and improve if the rate increases. For example, the study shows if the effective prevention rate improves by just 2%, daily case averages would eventually fall to about 200 by November. If the effective rate was 68%, the study says new cases would be nearly nonexistent by November… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Trump signs executive order suspending certain work visas through 2020 (The Hill)
President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to suspend the issuance of certain temporary worker visas through the end of 2020, cracking down further on immigration after signing a more narrow measure in April.The order applies to H-1B visas, H-2B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and certain J-1 visas. It is the latest effort by the Trump administration to satisfy immigration hawks and groups that argue American workers should be prioritized, especially amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
H-1B visas are used for skilled workers and are common in the tech industry and is the largest visa program of those included in Monday's order as its recipients can stay for multiple years… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Trump aides consider a CDC overhaul as virus cases surge (Politico)
White House officials are putting a target on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positioning the agency as a coronavirus scapegoat as cases surge in many states and the U.S. falls behind other nations that are taming the pandemic.
Trump administration aides in recent weeks have seriously discussed launching an in-depth evaluation of the agency to chart what they view as its missteps in responding to the pandemic including an early failure to deploy working test kits, according to four senior administration officials. Part of that audit would include examining more closely the state-by-state death toll to tally only the Americans who died directly of Covid-19 rather than other factors. About 120,000 people in the U.S. have died of the coronavirus so far, according to the CDC’s official count.
Aides have also discussed narrowing the mission of the agency or trying to embed more political appointees within it, according to interviews with 10 current and former senior administration officials and Republicans close to the White House. One official said the overall goal would be to make the CDC nimble and more responsive… (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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