BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 25, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG BLOG: Austin Mayor Steve Adler announces "Stay Home – Work Safe" order (LINK TO BLOG POST)
*NEW* BG PODCAST EPISODE 80: Discussing Austin's Omnibus SXSW/COVID-19 Resilience Plan (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
What You Can And Can't Do Under Austin's Stay-At-Home Order (KUT)
The City of Austin has issued an order that requires everyone (with some exceptions) to stay at home and requires many businesses to close in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
So, what can’t you do?
Well, you have to stay at home – but there are a few exceptions. All public and private gatherings outside of a house are banned. All travel, unless for a few specific reasons, is banned.
The exceptions to leaving your home are somewhat broad:
For health and safety: going to the doctor, taking a pet to the veterinarian, etc.For necessary supplies or services: getting groceries, getting work-from-home supplies, etc.For outdoor activities: running, walking, bike riding or hiking – as long as you’re at least 6 feet from anyone elseTo go to work: people who work at “essential businesses” (we’ll get to that), in government or critical infrastructure can go outTo care for someone else: traveling to another person’s home to care for them or a pet is allowed… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Unclear what stay-at-home order means for Austin building sector (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin-area housing industry leaders said Tuesday it was not immediately clear what the shelter-in-place orders issued for the city of Austin, Travis County and Williamson County will mean for what has been Central Texas’ long-running homebuilding boom -- and commercial construction projects as well.
“Obviously the switchboard has lit up,” said Joe Fowler, a custom builder who also is president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin. “I really can’t give you an interpretation right now. It’s so new and we... as well as (the Texas Association of Builders) are trying to get clarification. We are actively communicating with our members as they are anxious as well.”
The city’s order includes construction among the businesses, services, functions and sectors deemed “vital to the security, governance, public health, safety, and economic continuity of the city of Austin.”
More broadly, Mayor Steve Adler’s order for Austin prohibits non-essential travel and business operations to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The order takes effect at midnight Tuesday.
Regarding construction, the order states: “Construction, including public works construction, and construction of affordable housing or housing for individuals experiencing homelessness, social services construction, and other construction that supports essential uses, including essential businesses, government functions, or critical infrastructure, or otherwise as required in response to this public health emergency.”
Phil Thoden, president and CEO of the Austin chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, said in a written statement that Austin and Travis County have released “confusing guidance” in their respective “Stay Home - Work Safe” orders.
“Unlike other major cities in Texas - namely Dallas, Houston and San Antonio - that have provided clear guidance that commercial construction is allowed to continue under their orders, the directives from Austin and Travis County are hazy at best,” Thoden wrote…(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Worrying about elections in the time of coronavirus (Austin Monitor)
While some people may be worrying about their health or their business, it is Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir’s job to worry about elections. One of her major worries is how she’s going to conduct the July 14 runoffs for the Democratic and Republican primaries. After that, she wonders if the coronavirus will still be around in November when Travis County and the rest of the nation are scheduled to vote on who will be president for the next four years, as well as many other important offices.
DeBeauvoir, along with election officials from 17 other states, wrote a letter to Congress Monday citing the unprecedented challenges they face this year in fulfilling their responsibilities. They asked Congress for a major financial commitment in the coronavirus stimulus package to help local officials ensure fair elections.
It was not clear Tuesday exactly how much Congress might decide to dedicate to elections, but to DeBeauvoir and others who signed the letter, the $140 million proposed in the bill “is simply not enough to give all local election officials the support needed to plan and pay for the changes that will be necessary for elections in light of how COVID-19 is creating new norms that cannot be ignored as we continue forward.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas unemployment rate headed toward double digits, comptroller warns (Texas Tribune)
After a low unemployment rate of 3.5% in January, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Tuesday the unemployment rate in Texas is on track to more than double that as the new coronavirus spreads.
“It’s up to probably 9%,” Hegar said, speaking on air to the Texas Standard. “And I have no doubt that people are going to start forecasting it’s going to be slightly in the low double digits.”
A spokesman for the comptroller's office later clarified that the unemployment rate is not currently at 9%, but that is where economic research firms have moved their forecasts… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Conservative opposition grows as stay-at-home orders are enacted in Texas (Houston Chronicle)
As more cities and counties enact stay-at-home orders, frustration is growing among conservatives in Texas who are pushing back and saying the government is crossing a dangerous line. After Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins became the first to announce a mandatory stay-at-home rule, conservative groups including Empower Texans began ringing alarms in opposition to Jenkins and to Gov. Greg Abbott, who they say paved the way for the move. “I’m extremely concerned about what Dallas Co just did, and Abbott’s apparent sanctioning of it,” Empower Texans president Ross Kecseg wrote on Twitter after Jenkins made his announcement.
Former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, a contributor to conservative websites, also fired at both Jenkins and Abbott. “This is just an elected official, drunk with power, issuing daily mandates until someone stops him,” said Rinaldi after Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins issued his order. “Very disappointed @GovAbbott endorsed this type of local overreach today.” Earlier in the day, Abbott had said he was fine if individual cities and counties felt they should issue stay-at-home orders for their communities. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, was even more forceful after Harris County announced it was enacting a stay-at-home order. He said Harris County and other governments need to give other steps a try before enacting something as “economically calamitous as a county-wide shutdown.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Worried about current compliance, Gov. Greg Abbott signals openness to stricter coronavirus order (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott expressed some dissatisfaction Tuesday with how Texans are responding to various measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, signaling an openness to imposing stricter statewide action soon.
"It's clear to me that we may not be achieving the level of compliance that is needed," Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. "That's why I said before I remain flexible in my statewide standard.
"We will continue to evaluate, based upon all the data, whether or not there needs to be heightened standards and stricter enforcement," Abbott added.
Abbott's comments came on the heels of the state's biggest counties issuing stay-at-home orders in the absence of a statewide mandate. Abbott has resisted such a sweeping order so far, saying many counties are still not reporting cases and that he wants to see the full impact of an executive order he issued Thursday. That order, which expires at midnight April 3, limited public gatherings to 10 people and closed restaurants and schools, among other things… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Negotiators strike deal on massive coronavirus rescue package (Politico)
Senate leaders and the Trump administration clinched a bipartisan deal early Wednesday morning on a nearly $2 trillion emergency relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move intended to assist businesses and millions of Americans amid an unprecedented halt in the U.S. economy.
The announcement, which came around 1 a.m., capped five days of tense, marathon talks between senators and the White House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that the Senate will pass the bill later Wednesday, while House leaders are eyeing an expedited process to get the massive emergency package to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature before the end of the week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Coronavirus suddenly upends campaign themes for both parties (PBS)
The coronavirus pandemic and the country's collapsing economy are forcing Democrats and Republicans to rethink the messaging they thought would help them win November's elections for White House and congressional control. Shattered, certainly for now, is President Donald Trump's ability to tout a brawny economy and record stock market prices as the predicate for his reelection. And it could be hard for Republicans to call Democrats socialists with a straight face as Congress approaches a bipartisan deal on a near $2 trillion rescue package that would essentially have government drive the economy indefinitely.
Democrats say they're the party that will protect people's health care, but it's unclear that would be heard by people focused mostly on when life will return to normal. And by pounding away at Trump's competence, they'd risk alienating voters who, during a stressful time, want policymakers to produce solutions, not partisan wrangling. "We're in the middle of a hurricane. We don't know all the political consequences. We don't know if it's a Cat 1 or a Cat 5," said GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak, referring to categories used to express the strength of storms. Trump has seized public attention with almost daily briefings about the government's response to the pandemic. That's left former Vice President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, and his party's congressional candidates searching for ways to break into the news cycle… (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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