BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 12, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (6,076)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,754)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
City leaders, Austin police say arrests will be a ‘last resort’ as enforcement of homelessness ordinances resumes (KUT)
Starting yesterday, it's illegal — once again — for people experiencing homelessness to set up encampments throughout most of the city.
Sitting or lying down in some stretches of Austin and panhandling at night are also against the law after voters this month approved a proposition to reinstate criminal penalties for those activities.
While those laws are officially back on the books, the city says it's not ticketing anyone yet for violating them — at least not immediately.
City officials said at a news conference today that they'll reach out to people at encampments in the next two months to inform them about the ordinances and their penalties. Authorities will resort to ticketing and arrests if people continue camping in public, they said.
For the next 30 days, the city said, tickets won't be issued. Authorities will give some tickets and verbal warnings during the following 30-day period.
Interim Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said arrests will be "a last resort."
"We have put together a plan that will include components of education and outreach, as well as enforcement, so that we are responsibly managing our public spaces and meeting voters' expectations," Chacon said.
Chacon and other city officials outlined a four-phased approach that folds in multiple city departments, including the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Public Works, Austin Resource Recovery and the city's Homeless Strategy Office, among others.
In the first phase, Austin police, along with other city departments, will reach out to people in encampments to let them know they are in violation of the ban that was reinstated as a result of Prop B, a petition-driven effort to restore Austin's camping ban after the City Council rescinded it in 2019.
If a camp poses an immediate danger to public health or safety, people could be cited immediately.
During the second 30-day phase, which runs from June 14 to July 10, Austin police will begin issuing verbal warnings and citations.
After that, people who don't comply could be cited or arrested. Camps could also be cleared, but only after a 72-hour notice is posted at encampments… (LINK TO STORY)
Postmortem of winter storm raises many questions (Austin Monitor)
While individuals and departments shone in their dedication to the city and its people during the cascade of calamities caused by Winter Storm Uri, City Manager Spencer Cronk still has a lot of questions to answer when he releases the much-anticipated after-action report.
City Council gathered online Tuesday afternoon to hear from Cronk and leaders of the Emergency Operations Center, the Transportation and Public Works departments and three public safety departments about the extraordinary problems they faced as a result of the extreme low temperatures, accumulating snow, days without electricity and burst water pipes – all during a pandemic requiring social distancing.
Council Member Alison Alter wanted to know why Council hasn’t had emergency training. She noted that many Council members were reaching out to busy city disaster leaders, perhaps making their jobs more difficult, not easier.
Council Member Greg Casar said one important thing to figure out is what a Council member’s role within a district system should be during a disaster. He urged Cronk to have a plan and a “reconfigured set of expectations” for Council members. There were so many times, he said, when Council members didn’t know what to do, whether to fill a perceived void or even whom to ask for advice.
For example, Casar wanted to ask someone what to do with three truckloads of water donated by a community member. He told Cronk there should be a plan for such situations so Council members don’t “feel like we’re making this up from scratch” when such an emergency arises.
Council Member Kathie Tovo said Casar was “really nailing the experience. I did go through disaster training while on Council,” but it was “pretty clear within about two hours on Monday we were all stepping way outside the role that had been prescribed in that disaster training.”
Fire Chief Joel Baker described some extraordinary efforts on the part of firefighters who were trying to get to work. “Some came to work 24 hours before the storm because they knew if they did not come early they would not be able to get to work,” he said. Others tried to drive to work but their cars got stuck and they had to walk. He said civilians picked up some of those firefighters and took them to the nearest fire station so they could work.
“Some of our firefighters worked 48 hours or 96 hours” or longer, Baker said. They stayed at work because they knew other firefighters could not get to work. “Our firefighters really came through.”
Baker also praised the Fleet Department for its service during the ice storm. Because of the duration of cold weather, he said, the fuel in the vehicles began to gum up. “But Fleet overcame that. They delivered different types of fuel.”
Interim Police Chief Joe Chacon said there were so many collisions during the storm that APD was only able to send officers to crashes resulting in serious injuries. Others, he said, officers had to work over the phone. APD also provided security at shelters and water distribution centers on a 24-hour basis for eight days. In addition, APD provided emergency transportation for those who didn’t have it.
Overall, Austin fire, police and emergency management services provided critical services and racked up large overtime bills. The city expects to receive about 75 percent of $1.8 million in eligible expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it wasn’t clear exactly how much the storm has cost Austin.
Mayor Steve Adler said he thought it was important for people in the community to figure out how to deal with a disaster. The city alone cannot shoulder the burden, he said. Many people demonstrated that they were capable of helping their neighbors, and in the future, Adler wants to make sure community members can step forward to help. “Some challenges are so great you can’t build a system” to meet those challenges all by themselves. The public has to play a role. But the challenge will be in figuring out how to convey that information. Council members seem eager to help with that… (LINK TO STORY)
Local demand for construction workers remains high amid U.S. labor shortage (Austin Business Journal)
Residential and commercial construction activity is inundating the entire metro — from the flurry of cranes in Austin's downtown skyline to the neighborhoods popping up around the suburbs — as people and companies flood Central Texas.
That means there is exploding demand for skilled workers, at a time when the industry is experiencing a nationwide talent shortage that's unlikely to let up anytime soon. Other issues such as lumber shortages are also coming to a head.
A May 9 report by Workforce Solutions Capital Area found a spike in job postings over the last five years in the metro for building equipment contractors. In 2017, there were less than 100 jobs posted for this position on a monthly average but that's now up to 400 average job postings. Residential building construction jobs are also up, from less than 100 average monthly postings in 2017 to just under 300 average monthly postings as of April, according to the Workforce Solutions report, which sourced data from job analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies.
And from a broader trade jobs perspective, labor market data provider JobsEQ projects that the Austin area will be short nearly 3,000 workers in trade occupations over the next decade, including construction services, according to the Workforce Solutions report. That doesn’t take into account any demand from projects such as the Tesla gigafactory or Samsung’s potential $17 billion chip plant, which could require more than 10,000 workers in each year of construction.
“These jobs are projected to grow quickly, but since there are not enough residents earning certifications to meet the hiring demand, there is a shortage of talent,” Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said in the report.
Overall, the local construction, mining and logging industry had roughly 74,500 workers as of March, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. The Austin metro saw a recent bump in construction employment numbers, with 5.7% job growth year-over-year in March, or roughly 4,000 jobs. But industry expert Phil Thoden, president and CEO of the Austin chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, said the recent boost isn't enough.
"This employment pain point is expected to grow even more acute as the year progresses and more construction projects, especially in the office and hotel markets, come back online after being paused during the pandemic," Thoden said in a statement. "Further, production and shipping delays are driving up materials prices and delaying projects as well."
According to a Q4 2020 national survey conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 83% of contractors reported moderate to high levels of difficulty finding skilled workers. An April report by Home Builders Institute found the national homebuilding industry had a shortfall of 200,000 workers by the end of 2020, rising to a shortage of 309,000 workers by the end of January this year. There were concerns this shortage would lead to affordability and supply concerns, according to an announcement. Other industries issues were high lumber prices and regulatory burdens.
And Austin's growth is arguably just beginning. In March, the National Association of Realtors ranked Austin among the top 10 best commercial real estate markets in the country, and JLL Capital Markets recently identified Austin as one of eight growth markets in the U.S.
The development of downtown towers could also reach a record high this year. A total of 9.2 million square feet is under construction through 28 projects in downtown Austin with another 19 million square feet planned in 32 developments, according to a recent report from Downtown Austin Alliance. More than 1.5 million square feet of class A office space is expected to be delivered this year, a record-breaking figure for downtown Austin… (LINK TO STORY)
'Modernizing is key': Austin-based Army Futures Command continues to grow, adapt (Austin American-Statesman)
As Austin-based Army Futures Command continues to expand its presence and modernization efforts around Austin and the state, its best practices could help model innovation for the Department of Defense and the rest of the military. On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks toured several Austin sites for the Austin-based innovation unit to learn more about how it's working to harness and acquire technology and train talent. Futures Command is a public-private initiative that leads modernization projects for the Army. The military chose Austin for its headquarters in 2018.
“The (defense) secretary has been very clear that modernizing is key. As deputy secretary, my job is to help bring new strategies to execution, and that line goes right through process development and capabilities for us, and eventually resourcing and that's what Army Futures Command is all about to the Army,” Hicks said. She said it helps her to see what part the Army is playing in moving the Department of Defense towards modernization. Futures Command won’t be the end-all standard for modernization for the Department of Defense, but Hicks said the goal is to take the best ideas from each branch's modernization efforts.
“What we really want to do at the corporate or enterprise-level really is pull up those good ideas and see what’s working,” Hicks said “From there, we can start to think about what are their major policy changes or their authority structure. Everything from promotion to how budgets are determined. We’re just at the beginning of that journey.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Bill limiting Gov. Abbott's powers during pandemic also voids most local rules (Houston Chronicle)
The authors of the Pandemic Response Act aimed at first to limit Gov. Greg Abbott’s powers during such public health crises and give the Legislature more say in how to manage them. But the heavily amended version that received initial approval from the Texas House on Monday would also constrain local government officials with the same zeal. Abbott’s dependence on executive orders to manage the pandemic, rather than calling the Legislature into session, was a point of contention for Republicans and Democrats alike last year. Members wanted to have more say on pandemic-related decisions, and many conservative members were staunchly against restrictions they saw as impeding on Texans’ rights. Some even filed suit against the governor.
House Bill 3, a priority for House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, that he has described as “the House’s blueprint for pandemic response,” passed on a 92-45 vote, with Democrats split and most Republicans voting in favor. It needs one more vote before it heads off to the Senate. The bill would indeed add new checks on the governor, mainly by forming a committee to review the governor’s pandemic disaster declarations and proclamations. That committee would have the option to dissolve all or parts of the governor’s orders when the Legislature is not in session. The 12-member committee would be made up of the lieutenant governor and speaker of the House, who as joint chairs would convene the group when necessary, and various House and Senate committee chairs.
The governor would still have the authority to issue orders to close businesses in part or in full, mandate face coverings or place limits on voluntary surgeries or other procedures. But the governor would be required to get approval to renew such orders beyond 30 days. And if a pandemic lasts more than 120 days, the governor would be forced to call a special session to continue a disaster declaration. But on top of that, local government officials’ powers would also be limited, and the governor actually gains a new authority. The bill prohibits local governments from closing businesses or limiting their maximum occupancy, plus any local government deemed by the governor to have required a business to close would be prohibited from levying certain tax increases. The bill also includes protections for most businesses from civil suits related to the pandemic… (LINK TO STORY)
Mayor Turner plans to rely on federal relief money to plug holes in $5.6 billion budget (Houston Chronicle)
Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to use an influx of federal cash to give firefighters a “raise the city can afford,” fully replenish Houston’s $20 million rainy day fund ahead of hurricane season and stay clear of the city’s savings account, an unusual amount of flexibility for an administration used to closing massive budget deficits, according to the $5.1 billion annual spending plan he unveiled Tuesday morning. The proposals mostly are made possible by an infusion of about $304 million in federal relief money set to deposit into the city’s coffers Tuesday. Turner proposes to use $188 million of that money in the budget to close what he estimated would be a deficit of $201 million and fund a slew of other initiatives. “Without this flexibility, the city would be facing catastrophic cuts across all services,” Turner said.
The budget itself will change in the coming days and weeks, Turner said, as city officials get more clarity about the aid they are set to receive and how they can spend it. Pay raises for firefighters were not included in the mayor’s budget plan released Tuesday. Turner, who would not reveal the size of those raises, said he would announce more information and adjust the budget plan to accommodate the additional cost next week. Among the funded initiatives is some $25 million over three years to build out alternative police teams, which pair officers with mental health counselors or replace them altogether. Turner said the city also is reserving funds to help Solid Waste, which has fallen behind on heavy trash collection and other services amid the pandemic. He said he will reserve funds to hire contractors when the department lags behind, and also look at helping the department be “more competitive” in the hiring process, but he would not say whether that means workers will get raises. He said he is exploring those options… (LINK TO STORY)
Ted Cruz bets big on Facebook (Politico)
Sen. Ted Cruz isn't up for reelection until 2024. But the Texas Republican has spent more on Facebook advertising over the past two months than all but one senator, an investment strategy that other lawmakers have used in recent cycles to help set the stage for presidential runs. Cruz has plowed more than $240,000 into Facebook advertising since the platform started accepting political ads again two months ago. The only sitting senator who has spent more is Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who forked over $335,000 for ads on the social media giant, according to a POLITICO analysis of Facebook advertising disclosures.
Republicans say the approach will help Cruz raise dollars online and cultivate and collect email addresses of small dollar donors. And while the investment could pay off in what’s likely to be an expensive Senate reelection bid — Cruz’s 2018 race against Beto O’Rourke was the second most expensive of the cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics — it also could serve the Texas Republican well if he decides to run for president again, which Cruz has said he hoped to do. Politicians with an eye on the White House have built digital-heavy campaign fundraising apparatuses in the past. Vice President Kamala Harris spent heavily on online ads in early 2017 right after she was elected to the Senate. Back then, her team told HuffPost that she was taking advantage of small donors' enthusiasm for contributing to Democrats after Trump's election; and, indeed, the roughly $300,000 she spent on digital ads resulted in nearly $750,000 in small dollar donations. The email list she built through those ad campaigns served her well after she launched her presidential campaign two years later, when she raised millions right out of the gate. Cruz’s outsize spending has, like Harris’, also led to a small-dollar surge. His campaign and allied groups raised $5.3 million in the first quarter of this year — 98 percent of which came in increments of $100 or less, according to Cruz’s team… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Panic drives gas shortages after Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack (NPR)
The Colonial Pipeline hack that shut down the major gasoline and jet fuel pipeline to large swaths of the south and the east coast, is leading to temporary shortages.
The cyberattack disabled computer systems responsible for fuel production from Texas to the northeast and now gas stations in the southeast are seeing panicked motorists lining up in droves to fill their tanks and jerrycans. In some cases, NPR's Camilla Domonoske reports, drivers are getting turned away from now-empty gas pumps. The overall anxiety over a shortage has also triggered slight price increases, even as gasoline costs were already beginning to climb.
"We've already seen higher gas prices," Tiffany Wright, a spokeswoman for AAA in the Carolinas said on Tuesday.
"They have gone up as high from anywhere from three to 10 cents overnight," she added… (LINK TO STORY)
Housing-market surge is making the cheapest homes the hottest (Wall Street Journal)
The red-hot U.S. housing market is giving an extra boost to the cheapest houses, including many in historically stagnant neighborhoods that have suffered from a lack of investment.
It is pushing forward efforts to revive the local economies of Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, Ohio, and other areas where homes can sell for as little as a few thousand dollars but typically require a lot of work to fix up and can’t be financed with a mortgage.
U.S. ZIP Codes where the median home cost less than $100,000 in early 2018 have had a 42% rise in prices in the three years since then, according to a CoreLogic Inc. analysis for The Wall Street Journal. That is about double the rise for ZIP Codes where the median was between $150,000 and $200,000, and triple the rise in locales with $300,000-plus price tags.
The pandemic has prompted wealthy buyers to splurge on vacation homes and families to trade in city living for the suburbs. It has also fueled demand among first-time home buyers and investors, lifting the bottom end of the housing market in particular.
While prices in many low-cost areas remain far below national averages, some worry that the price appreciation either won’t last or won’t reach the residents who stand to benefit most. The rising prices could also lock some families out of homeownership, especially young people and first-time buyers.
It is unclear if the recent rise “is a sign of upward and sustainable wealth accumulation for low-income and minority households,” said Karen Petrou, author of “Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America.” “I think the data is at best equivocal on that point.”
Still, community advocates see signs that neighborhood revitalization is spreading from more established neighborhoods to those previously lacking signs of economic life… (LINK TO STORY)
Cheney in defiant floor speech: Trump on 'crusade to undermine our democracy' (The Hill)
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) warned in a fiery floor speech on the eve of her expected ouster from House GOP leadership that the decision by many in her party to enable former President Trump's falsehoods about his election loss risked undermining American democracy.
Cheney, who currently serves as chair of the House Republican Conference, made clear in her Tuesday night floor speech that she isn't backing down against the former president, despite the expected cost to her political ambitions in the House.
“Every one of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy. This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans," Cheney said.
"Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar," Cheney continued. "I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law, and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy."
Cheney warned that the U.S. faces an unprecedented threat to its democratic process with Trump continuing to claim that President Biden was not legitimately elected.
She further warned that Trump's actions threatened more violence like the Jan. 6 insurrection, when a mob of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying Biden's Electoral College win.
"Today, we face a threat America has never seen before. A former president who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him," Cheney said. "He risks inciting further violence."
House Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors on Wednesday morning and vote to remove Cheney from her role as the GOP conference chair, the third-ranking position in their leadership… (LINK TO STORY)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast EP. 139: Q1 20201 Review: COVID-19's Impact on the Built Environment with Michael Hsu
On today’s episode we speak with return guest, Austin-based Michael Hsu, Principal and Founder of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. catch up from their June 2020 show, updating on impacts to the design/built environment sector through Q1 2021.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!