BG Reads | News You Need to Know (November 12, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast Episode 113: A Post-Election Discussion with Vanessa Fuentes, District 2 Councilwoman-Elect
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
Link to Filed House Bills (528)
LInk to Filed Senate Bills (151)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Travis County takes stock of CARES Act dollars as clock ticks on remaining funds (Community Impact)
With less than two months remaining to spend funding issued through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Travis County officials are taking stock to be sure "not even a penny" goes back to the United States Treasury Department at the end of 2020, according to Travis County Intergovernmental Relations Officer Julie Wheeler. The county has a federally imposed Dec. 30 deadline to spend the more than $61 million in CARES Act funds it received in April. As of Nov. 6, Travis County had spent 77.7% of its CARES Act funding, with $13.75 million left to go.
Travis County instituted several COVID-19 relief programs this year with CARES Act dollars, including a program offering rent and mortgage relief to low-income residents originally worth $10 million. The county also disbursed $7.3 million to the county's small cities, offering proportional amounts based on population. The cities that accepted Travis County's funding had until Oct. 31 to spend their allocations and submit invoices to county staff, although several cities were offered a one-week extension. Four cities—Elgin, Round Rock, Village of the Hills and Volente—declined Travis County's support.With the clock ticking to spend remaining funds, Travis County has reallocated some funding from these pools to other most in-demand CARES Act programs. On Oct. 13, for instance, county commissioners voted to reallocate $3.5 million from the rental and mortgage relief program to two other programs, earmarking $2.95 million for the county's direct assistance program and $540,000 for TCTX Serve, which offers grants to local nonprofits. As of a Nov. 10 meeting, county budget direct Travis Gatlin said TCTX Serve was still in high demand, and staff was looking for sources to reallocate $1.18 million to that program… (LINK TO STORY)
AISD’s officers rarely get physical with students. When they do, minorities bear the brunt (Austin American-Statesman)
The Austin school district’s police officers very rarely use force as they patrol campuses full of children. But when they do, an American-Statesman analysis found they disproportionately use it on Black and Hispanic students. The school district’s Police Department, which has 89 full time police officers according to their website, only used force during a very small percentage of total interactions between 2015 and 2019. However, Black students were on the receiving end of that force in 20% to 40% of cases each year, according to the annual use of force reports. Black students only make up about 7% of the district’s student population.
White students, on the other hand, made up between 26% and 29% of the student population over that same period, and only 6% to 13% of Austin school police use-of-force incidents each year involved white students. Analysis by the Statesman in 2014 showed similar rates of disproportionate force used against Black students since at least 2009.
“The data confirms what parents and young people have been telling us for years and decades, which is that school police do not make them feel safer,” said Andrew Hairston, director of the School-to-Prison Pipeline Project at the Austin-based nonprofit Texas Appleseed. “There are so many other ways that Austin ISD could explore really creating a holistic school environment for young people that doesn’t involve investing in police and security and surveillance.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Formula One sets date for 2021 race in Austin (Austin Business Journal)
After missing out on the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Austin is scheduled to host the race on Oct. 24, 2021.
That's according to the provisional calendar released Nov. 10 by F1. It's good news for the backers of the Circuit of The Americas, where the USGP had been held every year since 2012, until the pandemic shortened the F1 calendar to 17 races in 2020.
The 2020 race at COTA — about 7 miles southeast of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport — was cancelled in July in order to prevent further spread of Covid-19.
That was a major financial blow to COTA. Austin Business Journal reported in 2018 that up to half of the track's annual revenue comes from F1 race weekend. The event had three-day attendance of about 286,000 in 2019.
COTA also lost its IndyCar race in 2020 because of the pandemic, and the race is not returning in 2021. However, it was recently announced the NASCAR would race for the first time at COTA next year.
Organizers at COTA are trying to diversify their revenue streams. This winter the track is hosting a winter wonderland drive-thru called Peppermint Parkway, complete with lights displays and cookies. The track in October received approval to rezone 1,155 acres to allow for mixed-use development, including a hotel and water park.
And although the pandemic seems to be worsening in parts of the United States and Europe, F1 said Nov. 10 that host cities for 2021 "are reassured by our safe return to racing this season and confident that the plans and procedures we have in place will allow us to return to a level of normality for the 2021 season."
The organization continued, in a statement: "As we have said before, we expect fans to return for the 2021 season and for the calendar to look similar to the originally planned 2020 season. We will continue to work closely with our promoters and partners and look forward to the start of the season on the 18th March 2021 in Australia."… (LINK TO STORY)
Another protester files suit over APD’s use of ‘less-lethal’ rounds. That’s the second this week. (Austin Monitor)
The Austin Police Department is facing yet another lawsuit over its use of less-lethal rounds during protests this summer.
A complaint filed on behalf of Steven Arawn accuses an unidentified officer of excessive force for using a so-called beanbag round against him, striking him in the hand and seriously injuring him on May 30.
Arawn, who attended protests against police violence and racism after the deaths of George Floyd and Mike Ramos, was acting as a street medic when he was shot, the complaint alleges. As he was assisting someone who was hit with a beanbag round on the side of Interstate 35, the unnamed officer shot him in the wrist and hand.
Months later, Arawn still hasn’t regained full use of his hand, according to the complaint. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Arawn by Austin attorney Jeff Edwards, is seeking damages for medical expenses.
APD has said it’s working with the Office of Police Oversight and the city’s Law Department to review each claim of excessive force as it relates to less-lethal ammunition.
The complaint also levels allegations of negligence against Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, suggesting he shouldn’t have allowed officers to use the rounds in crowds and that the officer involved in the incident has not been disciplined.
“(Manley) adopted policies that authorized or tolerated this unreasonable, unnecessary and brutally excessive force even though Manley had long known of the dangers of firing projectiles into crowds, at defenseless persons, and from significant distances,” the complaint reads. “Despite this, Austin Police Department policies – and Manley – authorized their use and continued use.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas surpasses 1 million Coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University (KUT)
If Texas was a country instead of a state, it would rank in the top 10 nations with the most overall coronavirus cases.
That's according to data from Johns Hopkins University, which also revealed that the state, the second-most populous in the U.S., surpassed 1 million cases on Tuesday.
Texas is the first U.S. state to record this number of cases. California is not far behind with 991,162 cases; Florida has 852,174. The rest of the states have each recorded under 600,000.
As of Wednesday, 6,779 patients were in Texas hospitals with the coronavirus, according to state data. More than 18,800 people in the state have died from the coronavirus.
The record number comes as the nation is battling its most widespread surge since the pandemic began. The U.S. recently recorded 10 million cases, meaning the Lone Star state accounts for about 10% of all U.S. cases.
It's also worth noting that Texas' own case dashboard has not yet exceeded 1 million. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services there have been 985,380 recorded as of Wednesday… (LINK TO STORY)
With hospitals full, El Paso extends business shutdown for three weeks (Texas Tribune)
El Paso’s temporary shutdown of nonessential businesses will continue for at least three more weeks under a new executive order issued by County Judge Ricardo Samaniego. The move extends a previous order Samaniego issued on Oct. 29 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 in this border city, where local hospital beds are scarce because of a surge of coronavirus patients.
The county has struggled to contain new infections, which have exceeded 1,000 daily several times during the last two weeks. The outbreak was responsible for another 14 deaths reported Wednesday, and active cases in this border area are now at more than 29,000. Nearly 1,100 patients are hospitalized, including 279 in intensive care, according to the latest government statistics.
Samaniego’s extension of the shutdown order until Dec. 1 comes despite the Texas Attorney General’s office’s ongoing efforts to have the county order squashed in court. Attorney General Ken Paxton and local restaurants argued the order exceeded the restrictions permitted under Gov. Greg Abbott’s own order, which outlines what limits can be placed on private businesses.
A state district judge last week permitted the El Paso shutdown order to stand pending a final resolution of the case. The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday also declined to halt the order and instead said a resolution from the state's 8th Court of Appeals is expected later this week… (LINK TO STORY)
Despite rising COVID-19 cases, universities including Texas Tech and Texas A&M are planning in-person fall graduations (Texas Tribune)
Texas Tech University senior Klay Davis worried for months that his 81-year-old grandmother wouldn’t get the chance to watch him walk across the graduation stage this December to receive his bachelor’s degree in animal science.
Graduations across the state were mostly shifted online or postponed this spring and summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Davis said a virtual event wasn’t going to cut it for his family.
“My grandma told my brother and I that her goal before she passes is to see [us] graduate college,” said Davis, who is graduating a semester early. He wanted that moment to celebrate, too. “I worked hard for a four-year degree. I think having such a memorable day, walking across that stage, is necessary.”
Davis got his wish. Texas Tech administrators said last month the university will host multiple in-person commencement ceremonies over a two-day period, as well as a virtual ceremony.
Other Texas universities are also planning to bring back in-person ceremonies this December, despite the fact that the state’s daily coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations are higher today than they were in May when most universities first scrambled to cancel the celebratory events.
But December’s graduation ceremonies will look different than usual — some spread out over several days to reduce crowd size and with new rules like caps on tickets and mask mandates. These events will be some of the first in-person college graduation ceremonies in the state since the pandemic began… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Biden names Ron Klain as chief of staff (The Hill)
President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday named Ron Klain as his chief of staff, according to two sources close to the transition.
Klain, Biden's longtime confidant and chief of staff during his years as vice president, had been considered a favorite for the role.
He served as one of Biden’s main advisers as the former vice president prepared to debate President Trump ahead of the election.
“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement.
“His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again," he added.
The 59-year-old will be elevated to the role as the Biden administration makes responding to the coronavirus pandemic its first priority. Klain has experience in that realm, as he previously served as the Obama administration’s Ebola czar in 2014 and 2015.
Klain called the appointment an "honor of a lifetime."
"I look forward to helping him and the Vice President-elect assemble a talented and diverse team to work in the White House, as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change, and seek to heal the divides in our country,” Klain said in a statement.
Klain first began working for Biden in 1989 when Biden was a senator from Delaware. He also worked for the president-elect's 1988 and 2008 presidential campaigns before joining the Obama administration.
Klain was a major proponent of Biden's presidential run, arguing the former vice president would be the best person to handle the coronavirus pandemic that has now infected more than 10.3 million and killed more than 240,000 people in the U.S… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump’s fraud claims a boon for his and his allies’ fundraising (Politico)
Shortly before the major news networks called the election for Joe Biden on Saturday, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien dialed into a private call for top donors and allies to insist his candidate could still win the race — and ask them one more time to chip in.
The margins are close, Stepien said, and the campaign is still fighting. And while he recognized the call was meant as a briefing on the recount fights and not a fundraiser, Stepien made an ask anyway: He urged the donors to go to the campaign website and give to Trump’s legal defense fund.
Much of the money raised by Stepien and the Trump campaign won’t go towards challenging election results, however, but to help set the stage for the president’s next act. The Trump campaign has a recount fund, but the money won’t go to it unless someone gives more than $8,333. Rather, 60 percent of a donation up to that amount for Trump’s “Official Election Defense Fund” is routed to a new PAC started this week by the president that can pay for a wide range of activities — but is likely legally barred from spending on recounts, lawyers say. The remaining 40 percent goes to the Republican National Committee, which is allowed — but not required to — spend on the recount. Prior to Tuesday, the majority of a donation went to helping Trump’s campaign cover its debt.
Trump’s insistence that there was voter fraud and demands for recounts are helping create post-election unity among his base, and raise money the president can use to keep his political career afloat after January, political fundraisers and campaign finance experts told POLITICO.
“He has always understood that money equals power, and now he wants to have a bunch of money and it’s going to give him a seat at the table. That’s what he’s doing,” said Richard Painter, White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush.
If Trump can keep his base of largely white, working class conservatives going forward, he can keep enduring influence over the Republican Party, Painter added… (LINK TO STORY)
Business groups shudder at thought of Sanders as Labor secretary (The Hill)
Chatter in Washington about the prospect of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) being nominated for Labor secretary is creating anxiety among business groups and optimism among unions.
Businesses are quick to push back on the idea of President-elect Joe Biden nominating Sanders, a sign they would likely mount a PR and lobbying campaign to deny him confirmation.
But they might not need to go that far. His nomination would be seen as a long shot if Republicans maintain control of the Senate, and his absence would leave Democrats with one less member of their caucus, at least temporarily.
Still, business groups are firing warning shots now and making their opposition clear.
“Naming such a polarizing choice would be a pretty big bait-and-switch for a president-elect who ran on bringing the country together to solve problems,” said Matt Haller, senior vice president of government relations and public affairs at the International Franchise Association.
“This election said many things, but it was not a mandate by voters to turn America into a country that rejects capitalism — just ask the House incumbents who were thrown out of office in purple districts for being unable to separate themselves from the lunatic fringe agenda,” he added.
Aric Newhouse, senior vice president of policy and government relations at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), said the next administration and Congress should be focused more on bipartisanship.
“We think this is the time for middle ground, compromise, results-oriented policies and extremes on either side are not going to be conducive to getting things done in Washington. It's not about individuals, it’s not about people, it’s not about politics, it’s about policy,” he said when asked about the prospect of Sanders leading the Labor Department.
Sanders on Wednesday said that, if asked, he would accept the position of Labor secretary… (LINK TO STORY)