BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 4, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG PODCAST EPISODE 84: TECH, POLICY, AND LABOR WITH RENÉ LARA, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, AFL-CIO (LINK TO SHOW)
WEEKEND READS
[AUSTIN METRO]
City Providing $1.2 Million In Rental Assistance For Austinites Affected By The Pandemic (KUT)
The City of Austin is providing $1.2 million in one-time emergency rental assistance to residents affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants, or RENT, program will distribute the payments through a lottery system. Residents in need of assistance can apply on the Housing Authority of the City of Austin's website from May 4 at 9 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. May 6.
At a news conference Friday announcing the program, Michael Gerber, CEO of the housing authority, said the highest priority is keeping Austinites in their homes.
“We know that the needs of our community will far exceed the [money] we have available today, and that’s difficult,” he said. “We expect to serve 1,000 families, but we know many more will apply than we can provide help for.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Loan forgiveness, grants highlight recommendations to Council for economic recovery (Austin Monitor)
The Economic Prosperity Commission has given City Council a list of suggested new programs and financial practices that are designed to assist low-income residents and small businesses most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
At last week’s meeting the commission voted 8-0 to approved the 13 recommendations, which are focused around forgiveness of city loans made to small businesses, establishing new loan and grant programs, offering housing and other services to essential workers and nonprofit organizations, and making innovation a priority of workforce training efforts involving the city.
Those moves would come in addition to steps already taken by the city to stabilize the local economy and enhance public health resources in response to the virus’ spread throughout the area in March.
So far the city has allocated $15 million in emergency reserves for food aid, rent stipends and other direct assistance for vulnerable residents, and recently provided $2.5 million to assist artists and musicians who were severely impacted by the cancellation of the South by Southwest festival… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Former Starbucks exec becomes Alamo Drafthouse CEO, replacing founder Tim League (Austin Business Journal)
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema LLC is shaking up its top leadership.
The Austin-based theater chain announced April 30 that former Starbucks Corp. executive Shelli Taylor was taking over as CEO May 1.
Founder and current CEO Tim League remains with the company as executive chairman, according to the announcement.
“Six months ago I began searching for a CEO who could work as a partner and collaborator, with a strong voice and battle-tested leadership skills. Shelli Taylor brings that and more,” League said in a statement. “As Executive Chairman I’ll continue to lead the brand, digging hard into developing new creative and marketing initiatives at Alamo Drafthouse, Mondo and Fantastic Fest.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas sees 4th day in a row with 1,000-plus new coronavirus cases (Austin American-Statesman)
Texas health authorities reported 1,026 fresh coronavirus cases Sunday, the fourth consecutive day of more than 1,000 new cases statewide. Previously, Texas had seen just two days of more than 1,000 new cases: on April 8 and April 10. The high numbers of cases come as some retail stores, restaurants and movie theaters open their doors at limited capacity under Gov. Greg Abbott’s relaxed coronavirus restrictions, which took effect Friday.
By one important measure, however, the growth of new cases is slowing: The total number of cases as of Sunday, 31,548, doubled in 18 days. On April 15, the state’s total, 15,492, was double the figure of just nine days earlier. And though the number of new tests reported on Sunday dipped to below 10,000, testing had been increasing rapidly in the previous days. On Saturday, authorities reported a record 28,873 tests had been administered during the previous 24 hours. It was the first day that the number of tests had exceeded 25,000, a goal of Abbott’s… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas sales tax revenues fall by 9.3% in April (Texas Tribune)
Texas collected $2.58 billion in state sales tax revenue in April — a roughly 9% drop from what the state collected the same month last year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Friday. That drop, from $2.8 billion to $2.58 billion, marked the steepest decline since January 2010, Hegar said.
April's revenue, which the state collected from purchases made in March, is among the first official glimpses at the dramatic blows state and local budgets will take from widespread social distancing measures first taken last month to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. And Hegar warned that the state’s largest single source of funding will continue to "show steeper declines" in the coming months compared with a year ago as the economy continues what will likely be a slow crawl out of a weekslong virtual shutdown due to the pandemic.
“The steepest declines in tax remittances were from businesses most quickly and dramatically affected by social distancing," Hegar said in a statement. "However, those losses were, to a degree, offset by increases from big-box retailers, grocery stores and online vendors. Remittances from oil and gas-related sectors also fell significantly as oil and gas exploration and production companies slashed capital spending in response to the crash in oil price.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Was that a cough? Going back to the movies in Texas. (New York Times)
It happened early inside the cool, darkened cineplex, before Vin Diesel even had a chance to turn superhuman, as people sat munching popcorn and sipping sodas in their plush recliner seats. Someone coughed. If anyone seated nearby was alarmed, no one showed it. The cough sounded muffled: The moviegoer was wearing a mask — part of the recommended etiquette of going to the movies in the middle of a pandemic. On Saturday, three movie theaters in the San Antonio area became some of the first in the country to reopen, a move that worried some infectious-disease experts but was applauded by those who bought tickets and went to the show.
Santikos Entertainment opened three theaters, offering discounted prices, a limited food menu, workers in masks and greeters who opened doors as people entered, limiting contact with door handles. The theaters were showing older releases for $5, and at the Palladium, in an upscale shopping center called the Rim, business was steady — low for a Saturday in May, but higher than what might be expected in a state still grappling with a coronavirus outbreak that has killed nearly 900 people, 48 of them in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio. Texas took a big step out of its coronavirus lockdown Friday, allowing restaurants, malls, retail stores and some other businesses to resume operations, with strict limits on the number of patrons allowed inside. Movie theaters, like restaurants, were allowed to seat only 25% of their listed capacity. Grady McClung and his wife Rachel went to the 1:10 p.m. showing of the Christian movie “I Still Believe” at the Palladium, each wearing a mask. “Yesterday was my birthday, so I got the first two tickets for the first opening of the first movie in the first movie theater,” said Grady McClung, 51, a project manager for a telecommunications company who lives in nearby Boerne. “There’s about 12 seats in a 150-seat auditorium. We’re well spaced out.” To sit in a theater with dozens of strangers was a walk on the wild side of public health. But as the movies played and the plots thickened amid the crunch-crunch of patrons chewing popcorn, Hollywood was doing what it has done for decades: providing an escape, albeit masked and at a distance… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
White House blocks Fauci from testifying before House panel, committee spokesman says (Washington Post)
The White House is blocking Anthony Fauci from testifying before a House subcommittee investigating the coronavirus outbreak and response, arguing that it would be "counterproductive" for him to appear next week while in the midst of participating in the government's responses to the pandemic. The White House issued a statement about Fauci's testimony shortly after The Washington Post published a story Friday afternoon quoting a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, who said the White House was refusing to allow Fauci to appear at a subcommittee hearing next week.
"While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to covid-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings," said White House spokesman Judd Deere. "We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time." In fact, Fauci is expected to appear at a Senate hearing related to testing the following week, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. "It's not muzzling, it's not blocking, it's simply trying to ensure we're able to balance the need for oversight, the legitimate need for oversight, with their responsibilities to handle Covid-19 work at their respective agencies and departments," said the official, who noted that health risks entailed in moving around in public places were also a factor… (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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