BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 16, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
CEO NOTE
National Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. We at the firm want to give a special shoutout to our Hispanic colleagues, friends, collaborators and officials this month (and really every month)!
On that note, check out KVUE Austin’s profile of Emmy Alcocer-Hill, the vice-chair of The Bingham Group Foundation (more on that soon!), a nonprofit organization improving the quality of life for underserved communities in the Austin metro area.
Emmy currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and sits on the executive leadership team. She is a Senior Manager (Retail Enablement) with University Federal Credit Union (connect with her on LinkedIn). //A.J.
*NEW* The Political Life: Politics, Partnerships, and Publishing in the New American South (SHOW LINK)
This is a special post from our friends at the Political Life podcast, a show people whose lives are immersed in the political world, and how they got there. The episode features our Atlanta-based colleague Howard Franklin, Founder and Managing Partner of Ohio River South, a strategy firm focused on “the New American South.”
Also check out CEO A.J.'s Political Life episode: Launching a Firm and Lobbying in the Lone Star State (SHOW LINK)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council members consider funding to save local service economy (Austin Monitor)
Without significant intervention, economists are predicting a “K-shaped” Covid-19 recovery trajectory, a scenario where high-skill professionals thrive while the service sector continues in a rapid decline.
City Council hopes to prevent the further demise of our local music and arts venues, restaurants, bars and child care centers with a new concept called SAVES, or Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors. If approved Thursday, a resolution will direct the city manager to prepare an ordinance with viable funding sources for the relief program by Council’s Sept. 29 meeting.
With the city already up against its budgetary limits, Mayor Steve Adler said the city will need “to look in the cushions” at every possibility, to find spare dollars for SAVES.
The draft resolution includes exploring federal, state or county assistance, General Fund reserves, certificates of obligation or contractual obligations, sales taxes, convention center reserves or interest, property tax abatements or dollars approved in the upcoming fiscal year budget… (LINK TO STORY)
Success of Austin Convention Center expansion may hinge on COVID-19 recovery (Austin American-Statesman)
Financial projections show the planned expansion of the Austin Convention Center would inject an additional $306 million per year into the local economy, but only if one condition holds: that large events are again held in-person after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
A study that a consulting firm presented Tuesday to the City Council was conducted last fall — several months before the disease reached Austin and put an extended pause on gatherings throughout the world.
Tom Hazinski, managing director of HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment, the firm that conducted the study, expressed confidence that people will again have an appetite for large-scale conventions after the pandemic. However, he did caution that financial setbacks caused by the pandemic could prevent typical convention attendees from making out-of-town trips.
“Face to face importance won’t change,” he said.
The study follows the City Council’s May 2019 vote to approve a $1.2 billion plan to expand the convention center. The first phase calls for expanding the convention center to the west before demolishing and rebuilding within its existing footprint. It’s expected to be completed by 2033.
Other than the concerns tied to the pandemic, the consultant report paints a promising picture of the expansion’s potential economic impact.
The report projects that the convention center’s annual impact would grow from its current estimated $494.9 million to about $801.7 million with the expansion, an increase of $306.8 million. There also would be a 61% increase in jobs created, from 2,868 to 4,640, according to the study. The Austin Convention Center, currently the third-smallest venue among the 16 comparable metro areas included in the study, could be the second-largest among those markets upon completion of the expansion in 2033… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis County children, teenagers ages 10-19 account for recent upswing in coronavirus cases (Community Impact)
Austin area residents ages 10-19 now present the highest positivity rates for COVID-19, according to data from Austin Public Health.
Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott told Travis County commissioners at a Sept. 15 meeting that around 14% of the youth in that age range tested have been positive in the past week, accounting for an overall increase in Travis County's positive cases since Sept. 3.
"The fact that we’ve seen increases in cases is concerning, but because they’re primarily in younger age groups that have a much, much lower risk of being hospitalized and dying, we’re not seeing a significant impact on hospitalizations," Escott said. "Of course, it can spread outside of those age groups, which is why it’s really important not only that they try to avoid transmission, but once they’ve been exposed, once they are sick, it is absolutely critical that they protect other people by isolating."
High school-age children currently present the highest positivity rate, Escott said, with 14% of the last week's 235 tests coming back positive, nearly triple the general population's 4.8% positivity rate. College-age individuals tested at around 9.4%. Middle and elementary school-age children tested at 5.6% and 1.5%, respectively… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Ahead of announcement, Gov. Abbott faces pressure to lift COVID-19 restrictions as cases decline (KXAN)
Governor Greg Abbott is expected to share an update this week on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as some fellow Republicans have called on him to more quickly lift restrictions implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Nearly every post from Abbott’s social media accounts receives a flurry of responses, many from Republicans, to reopen the Texas economy and end the statewide mask mandate. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican facing re-election in Texas’ 21st Congressional District, has routinely called to “#OpenTexas” on Twitter, as have several Republican state lawmakers.
“The majority of Republicans in Texas are not interested in pretending the coronavirus doesn’t exist, they just weigh the risks, and they weigh the cost of certain kinds of measures differently,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas officials walk back $15 million proposed cuts to women’s and children's health services (Texas Tribune)
State health officials walked back a plan to cut $15 million in funding from health and safety net programs, including services that offer low-income Texans access to birth control and cancer screenings, and support families of young children with disabilities or developmental delays.
They are instead looking at other belt-tightening measures this year to find savings — and continuing to focus cuts on the agency’s administrative budget — under a revised proposal released Monday.
The latest proposal — part of a state-mandated budget reduction to weather the coronavirus pandemic — comes after lawmakers and advocates warned the previous plan would hurt vulnerable Texans and criticized top state officials for propelling the process without formal input from the Legislature.
The new plan says the Texas Health and Human Services Commission received “feedback” from numerous stakeholders and found “alternative savings opportunities.” The agency also has more “financial certainty” after the close of the fiscal year two weeks ago, the budget proposal said.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and outgoing House Speaker Dennis Bonnen asked state agencies in May to reduce their budgets by 5% as the coronavirus battered parts of the economy and left Texas with a projected deficit of $4.6 billion. Several state agencies responding to the virus and its economic fallout were exempted from the mandate, as were critical programs like child protective services and much of the health commission’s two-year budget, which includes about $29 billion in state funds.
Bonnen said a public hearing will be held to discuss the cuts, though money has already dried up for at least one program — a mobile unit for stroke patients whose director said funding was supposed to arrive Sept. 1 for the next fiscal year.
“The legislative budget board is statutorily required to hold a public hearing for the purpose of discussing interim cuts before they are finalized," the speaker said in a statement. "The House will follow the proper process and notice requirements so the public can be heard.”… (LINK TO STORY)
H-E-B to deploy robots for booming delivery, pickup business (Austin Business Journal)
H-E-B LP has partnered with Switzerland-based Swisslog Logistics Inc. to deploy automated micro-fulfillment centers to streamline its growing curbside and grocery delivery service.
Swisslog's AutoStore system enables the grocer to efficiently meet the growing demand for curbside pickup without impacting customers' in-store experience, according to an announcement. A video demo posted to YouTube shows robots on tracks to collect online orders with cranes from above the shelves. It then brings the order to an employee for processing.
Swisslog does not detail exactly how this will work at H-E-B stores. The Business Journal reached out to San Antonio-based H-E-B for comment on the Swisslog partnership, but it did not respond by the time of publication.
"Swisslog is pleased H-E-B put their trust in us to automate and support their facilities with state-of-the-art automation and software," said Mitch Hayes, vice president of e-commerce and retail for Swisslog Logistics Automation, Americas. "Covid-19 and anticipated behavioral changes have created increased urgency around the need for automation within many grocery operations."
H-E-B has a tech and innovation center in Austin, which was spawned by the 2018 acquisition of app-based delivery service Favor. Overall, H-E-B is Austin's largest private-sector employer… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller says he’d ‘certainly expand medical marijuana’ (KSAT)
After touring a state-licensed Austin-area marijuana facility last week, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller indicated he would like to see the program expanded.
Miller, a staunch conservative Republican, made the comments while visiting Compassionate Cultivation on Thursday, according to KXAN.
“I would certainly expand medical marijuana. If it’ll help somebody, I’m for it," Miller said. “Whatever it is. I mean, a toothache, I don’t care. If it’s a cure, if it [alleviates] pain, we should be able to use that.”
In 2017, Texas' “Compassionate Use Act” went into effect, allowing some Texans to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. However, access is significantly limited, only applying to people with a handful of very specific conditions like intractable epilepsy and terminal cancer. Under the law, businesses are allowed to cultivate low-THC cannabis to treat those issues.
Critics say Texans with ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or glaucoma should be allowed access to medical marijuana.
While Miller expressed the need to expand medical access to marijuana in Texas, he stopped short of advocating for legalizing the drug recreationally.
“I’m not a recreational marijuana [user], but if someone has a condition that this chemical will help, they should be able to use it,” Miller said.
Some Texas lawmakers, including San Antonio Democratic Senator Jose Menendez, have previously called for further legalization of medical marijuana, allowing it to be used for conditions like PTSD.
Expanding access would require approval from the state legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott. The next legislative session will not convene until January… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Louisville agrees to $12 Million settlement with Breonna Taylor's family (NPR)
The city of Louisville, Ky., announced a $12 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Breonna Taylor.
The settlement also includes a series of police reforms to be adopted by the Louisville Metro Police Department, including establishing a housing incentive program to encourage officers to live in low-income neighborhoods within the city.
Other changes to police tactics include creating a clearer command structure when executing warrants at multiple locations.
Louisville police shot and killed Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, during a botched narcotics raid at her home in March.
Taylor's case has become a rallying cry in the ongoing national protests against police brutality, like other cases of Black people killed or severely injured by law enforcement this year, including George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Jacob Blake.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's announcement comes 186 days after Taylor's killing.
"Her death has ignited a movement in Louisville and the nation for racial justice, sending thousands into our streets and cities all across the country and the world all crying out for justice for Breonna," Fischer said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference… (LINK TO STORY)
Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter (Washington Post)
One tweet claimed coronavirus numbers were intentionally inflated, adding, “It’s hard to know what to believe.” Another warned, “Don’t trust Dr. Fauci.” A Facebook comment argued that mail-in ballots “will lead to fraud for this election,” while an Instagram comment amplified the erroneous claim that 28 million ballots went missing in the past four elections. The messages have been emanating in recent months from the accounts of young people in Arizona seemingly expressing their own views — standing up for President Trump in a battleground state and echoing talking points from his reelection campaign. Far from representing a genuine social media groundswell, however, the posts are the product of a sprawling yet secretive campaign that experts say evades the guardrails put in place by social media companies to limit online disinformation of the sort used by Russia during the 2016 campaign.
Teenagers, some of them minors, are being paid to pump out the messages at the direction of Turning Point Action, an affiliate of Turning Point USA, the prominent conservative youth organization based in Phoenix, according to four people with independent knowledge of the effort. Their descriptions were confirmed by detailed notes from relatives of one of the teenagers who recorded conversations with him about the efforts. The campaign draws on the spam-like behavior of bots and trolls, with the same or similar language posted repeatedly across social media. But it is carried out, at least in part, by humans paid to use their own accounts, though nowhere disclosing their relationship with Turning Point Action or the digital firm brought in to oversee the day-to-day activity.
One user included a link to Turning Point USA’s website in his Twitter profile until The Washington Post began asking questions about the activity. In response to questions from The Post, Twitter on Tuesday suspended at least 20 accounts involved in the activity for “platform manipulation and spam.” Facebook also removed a number of accounts as part of what the company said is an ongoing investigation… (LINK TO STORY)