BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 12, 2020)
[BG PODCAST]
NEW -> Episode 78 - Bingham Group Supports the Austin Sunshine Camps (LINK TO SHOW)
Founded in 1928 the Austin Sunshine Camps (ASC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that has opened a world of possibilities to the youth of Central Texas by providing free week-long summer camps to low-income families. (NOTE: Campers must qualify for the Texas public school free and reduced lunch program to be eligible to attend.)
Located inside Zilker Park near Barton Springs Pool, ASC serves campers 7 – 11 years of age. The camp program, under the supervision of experienced counselors, offers activities such as swimming in Barton Springs or Deep Eddy pool, fishing, canoeing, handicrafts, nature study, hikes, games, and a ropes course with a variety of elements including a team wall, and trust fall. Transportation to camp and three meals a day is included.
Bingham Group is a proud ASC supporter and is committing $10,000 to its annual fundraising campaign. (See also, 2019 ASC Annual Report).
Here is a breakdown of where funding goes:
One Child’s Camp Session for a Week ($500)
Canoe Rentals for 200 Kids ($100)
Food and Snacks for a Day ($25)
Camp bedding ($50)
Please consider a donation today through April 1st.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council to examine aid for ‘SXSW resilience’ after festival’s cancellation (Austin Monitor)
City Council and staffers will spend much of next week looking at how to provide assistance to small businesses and workers who stand to be severely impacted by last week’s decision to cancel the South by Southwest festival.
In a post on Council’s web forum titled “SXSW Resilience Plan,” Council Member Jimmy Flannigan laid out some of the goals of the item that will be on the March 26 agenda.
The item appears to be involved with SXSW in name only, specifying “small and local businesses, and service, music, film and others who are impacted by this unfortunate situation” as the primary targets for assistance.
The festival was canceled last week after regional public health officials opted to declare an emergency amid fears of the spread of COVID-19 via festival attendees visiting from all over the globe. The cancellation of the festival, which has an annual economic impact estimated at nearly $360 million, is expected to have severe repercussions for the local economy beginning with bars, nightclubs and restaurants that in some cases earn more than a quarter of their yearly revenue during the 10-day event.
Flannigan told the Austin Monitor it will take a mix of existing city programs and funding sources – and likely some that will need to be created – to provide the assistance he and other Council members agree is needed.
“Next week is when we’ll do lots of brainstorming to identify the programs that we have that can be put to use now, and then others that are more for down the road,” he said. “We’re not talking about South By as a recipient. We’re talking about small businesses, artists, musicians and workers who in some cases make their years on that two weeks.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
With limited testing capacity, Central Texas health officials aim to prioritize patients at high risk for coronavirus (Community Impact)
As Austin and Travis County officials continue to monitor the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, the region remains resource-strapped in its ability to test patients for COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the virus, according to local health officials.
Austin-Travis County Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott said the state lab in Austin, which serves the 20-county Central Texas region, can only test 10-25 potential cases per day. Escott emphasized the limited resources need to be used wisely.
“The reality is, there’s not enough tests to test all of those people,” Escott said in a March 10 briefing to the Travis County Commissioners Court. He said health officials are determining which cases to test based on risk and working to ensure medical resources do not get overstressed.
“As we know, the vast majority of people who will get this infection have a mild illness; they don’t need to be in the hospital; they probably don’t ever need to see a hospital,” Escott said. He said most people who get the illness should treat it like the flu. “The vast majority of people who get the flu don’t need to see a hospital. The vast majority of people who will get COVID-19 do not need a hospital either.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Judge mulling protest rights in Austin land code rewrite (Austin American-Statesman)
A Travis County judge is considering whether individual property owners have the right to protest zoning changes proposed under the city’s land development code overhaul.
The legal battle comes after a group of 19 property owners and local attorney Fred Lewis, who have long opposed the code rewrite, sued Austin and its City Council last year for refusing to recognize individual protests.
The city has contended such protests are valid only when the city considers rezoning individual tracts of land, not to a citywide rewrite, which would make possible greater housing density throughout large sections of the city, especially among major corridors.
On Wednesday, 354th District Court Judge Jan Soifer heard nearly three hours of testimony from attorneys arguing the case before opting to postpone her decision until a later date. It’s unclear when she will make her final ruling.
It’s unclear when Soifer will make her final decision, but it could have a significant impact on the code.
A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would force the city to recognize thousands of protests that have been filed since the first draft of the code, and require a supermajority vote from the council to approve the new code.
Douglas Becker, attorney for the plaintiffs, said the number of protests that have been filed with the city related to the code are uncertain, as the city has not recognized them. However, Community Not Commodity, a group that has opposed the code rewrite, established a website where people could file a protest that accounted for more than 14,000.
Becker said the goal of the suit is to force the city to start the rewrite process over, with the city sending out individual notifications of zoning changes and recognize protests.
Jane Webre, who argued for the city, said including the same provisions for smaller zoning changes to a comprehensive rewrite would be absurd, requiring vast amounts of notifications in overlapping sectors… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
For Many Texans Without Insurance, Doing Everything To Avoid Coronavirus Is Not An Option (KUT)
More than 5 million Texans don’t have health insurance. The state has the highest uninsured rate and number in the country – and it’s been getting worse recently.
Anne Dunkelberg, an associate director with the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, said she's concerned about this population as the coronavirus spreads.
“They are not quite as vulnerable as seniors,” she said, “but they do face a special round of challenges.”
Most of these people are among the state’s working poor. Dunkelberg said these people work mostly in the service industry and – on average – make less than $32,000 a year.
“Our folks who are out there in the retail and service trades – practically and economically – have a hard time trying to comply with the ideal behaviors that we are putting out there as what we want people to do during a disease outbreak,” Dunkelberg said.
Another piece of advice people in the service industry often can’t follow: staying home if they feel sick… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Coronavirus prompts Texas universities to extend spring break, move classes online (Texas Tribune)
Nearly a dozen Texas universities announced Wednesday they would extend students' spring breaks and start switching to online classes, joining a swelling group of colleges across the country taking steps to prepare their campuses for the novel coronavirus.
Most Texas institutions extending their breaks said they plan to use the extra time to prepare faculty for teaching online. Many have canceled events, prohibited large gatherings, stepped up their sanitation measures and restricted university-sponsored travel.
Some cited the unique challenges universities face in managing contagious disease, particularly in the face of an upcoming break… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Coronavirus has revived the paid sick leave debate (Governing)
Starting on Sunday, employers in the city of Pittsburgh will be required to provide workers with paid time off when they are sick or taking care of family members due to illness or injury. This isn’t a new ordinance passed in response to the novel coronavirus. It was enacted all the way back in 2015, but was held up by legal challenges until the state Supreme Court ruled in Pittsburgh’s favor last year. “People should not be forced into making the tough decision between staying home sick and missing a day’s pay or coming in to work and spreading infection,” Mayor Bill Peduto said in response to the ruling.
For years, paid sick leave has been a dividing line between Democrats, who mostly favor mandates, and Republicans, who oppose them as a burden on employers. Given the current pandemic, there’s heightened interest in the issue at both the federal and state levels. It’s still not certain, however, that any new consensus has formed around the issue. President Trump has outlined a plan to boost the economy, which includes a payroll tax cut and relief for hourly workers. His proposal helped the stock market regain some lost ground on Tuesday, but did not include mandatory paid sick leave, which congressional Democrats are demanding. “A mandate comes with a lot of paperwork, a lot of cost, a lot of time,” says Holly Wade, director of research and policy analysis for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which advocates for small companies. “Having that on top of dealing with vastly changing economic conditions isn’t helpful.” Guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call on businesses to “actively encourage sick employees to stay home… Ensure that your sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance and that employees are aware of these policies.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
White House told federal health agency to classify coronavirus deliberations - sources (Reuters)
The White House has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, an unusual step that has restricted information and hampered the U.S. government’s response to the contagion, according to four Trump administration officials.
The officials said that dozens of classified discussions about such topics as the scope of infections, quarantines and travel restrictions have been held since mid-January in a high-security meeting room at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), a key player in the fight against the coronavirus. Staffers without security clearances, including government experts, were excluded from the interagency meetings, which included video conference calls, the sources said. “We had some very critical people who did not have security clearances who could not go,” one official said. “These should not be classified meetings. It was unnecessary.”… (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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