BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 17, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (6,184)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,768)
Austin’s elite funded $1.9M campaign to reinstate camping ban (Austin American-Statesman)
Save Austin Now's fundraising success upstaged the then-record $1.2 million Mayor Steve Adler raised for his campaign in 2014 and the $1.5 million Mobility for All raised in support of the 2020 mass transit initiative Project Connect.
After the early lag, Homes Not Handcuffs ended up raising a total of $198,000. Its largest donor: Adler. He contributed $10,516.
The only fundraising effort in an Austin election that exceeded that of Save Austin Now came in 2016, when Uber and Lyft spent $10.3 million out of their own pockets in a failed attempt to overturn a city law requiring fingerprint background checks for drivers.
"Fundraising was the single most important component to our victory," Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak said.
Mackowiak, the Travis County Republican Party leader, said the immense amount of money underscored the furor of residents and businesses owners as areas where they live, work and play became dotted with tent encampments.
"I believe there was a civic purpose, a truly civic purpose, by everyone who donated to our effort," he said… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin weather forecast shows chance of rain every day this week (Austin American-Statesman)
After a damp Sunday with scattered showers, Austin residents this week can expect ... more of the same.
An active weather pattern will continue through the upcoming week across all of Central Texas, bringing with it a daily chance of showers and thunderstorms through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
"While we do expect to see some strong to severe thunderstorms at times, we will also see some locally heavy rainfall that may lead to an increased flood threat," Eric Platt, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, wrote in this week's forecast.
Monday has the lowest chance of rain all week, with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms through the day. But those chances will increase in the evening and stay high through the end of the week… (LINK TO STORY)
Hutto City Council to consider appointing council members to boards, commissions (Community Impact)
Hutto City Council is considering appointing council members to boards and commissions to improve communication.
Discussion occurred at a special called meeting May 12 after Mayor Mike Snyder brought up the idea to appoint council members to the Economic Development Corporation and made a motion to appoint himself to the board. Serving as the liaison for the EDC, Snyder said during their meetings he often spends 90% of the time in the City Hall lobby because the majority of each meeting is spent in executive session, which is closed to those outside of the board, including Snyder.
Without council members knowing about economic plans before the item is presented, it creates months of back and forth between the council and the EDC board, he said.
Cities such as Round Rock and Pflugerville have had council members serve on their economic development boards. Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan and Place 5 Council Member Writ Baese serve on the city’s transportation and economic development corporation board. Pflugerville Place 5 Council Member Mike Heath serves on the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation board.
"As our city gets more sophisticated, if we're going compete and everybody wants to do what Pflugerville does or Round Rock does, you have to start, at some point, emulating what successful people do," Snyder said… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
George P. Bush wants to challenge beleaguered Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. But can he keep Trump out of it? (Texas Tribune)
Land Commissioner George P. Bush is sending strong signals that he’s preparing to launch a primary challenge against Attorney General Ken Paxton, hoping it can center on Paxton’s legal troubles and how he has run his office.
But can Bush keep former President Donald Trump out of it — both figuratively and literally?
It is one of the most glaring questions as the foundation is laid for what could be Texas’ marquee statewide primary next year. Both men have been Trump supporters, but Bush has a unique history with the former president as the most prominent member of the Bush political dynasty to embrace Trump. And in recent months, Paxton has grown only more overt in his affiliation with the former president, making him an inevitable topic in Paxton’s reelection bid.
Bush has insisted there is “no separation” between him and Paxton when it comes to supporting Trump. But even some of Bush’s supporters concede that, fair or not, Bush would have to contend with running with a last name that still evokes strong emotions among Trump backers.
“It’s very unfortunate to him because George P. Bush is his own man,” said Eric Mahroum, Trump’s deputy state director during the 2016 campaign in Texas — and an early supporter of Bush challenging Paxton. “I try to educate the base … that no, he was so supportive and helped us. He was willing to do whatever to get us across the finish line in 2016.”
Mahroum said his respect for Bush “just went to another level” when he came out in support of Trump in the summer of 2016 and urged Texas Republicans to unify behind the nominee. Mahroum suggested it took Paxton longer to "come out vocally" for Trump back then.
Paxton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. But it has not entirely ignored Bush, dinging him last month as a “potential opponent more interested with the narrative being set by the liberal media than on the real and important issues facing Texas families and small businesses.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas lawmakers move to raise penalties on owners of Teslas and other electric vehicles (The Hill)
Recently, some Texas lawmakers targeted owners of electric vehicles by proposing Senate Bill 1728, which critics say would punish EV owners for simply owning an EV. Essentially, EV drivers would have to pay additional taxes somewhere between $240 and $400 a year because politicians in the state want them to pay for the equivalent of fuel taxes they would otherwise pay, Clean Technica reported. The bill consists of a $190 to $240 annual EV fee, a $150+ fee for driving 9,000 miles/year, and a $10 annual surcharge for a new charging infrastructure advisory council. The bill is sponsored by two Republicans, Sens. Charles Schwertner and Robert Nichols, and one Democrat, Sen. Beverly Powell.
Senator Schwertner is a physician who was backed by several energy firms like Atmos Energy Corporation PAC, Entergy Corporation Political Action Committee (EnPAC), and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Texas Political Action Committee, to name a few, during his recent election, according to Transparency USA. Senator Nichols is an engineer in the plastics manufacturing industry who also serves as the Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and has similar donors to Sen. Schwertner. Senator Powell is a realtor with most of her donors being part of that industry or utility company as well.
The Association of General Contractors is also promoting the notion that EV drivers should be taxed, with the organization exclusively devoted to heavy construction issues, saying that the profit would create jobs. In response to the proposed tax, a social media group dedicated to Tesla in the Austin, Texas area, The Tesla Owners Club of Austin, is urging all Texans to call their local legislators. “Voting no on SB 1728 is voting FOR thriving jobs as well as clean trucks and cars made in Texas!” the group tweeted… (LINK TO STORY)
Fate still uncertain for many conservative legislative issues prioritized by Texas Republican leaders (Dallas Morning News)
As the Legislature entered the session’s homestretch Friday, many Texans were wondering how much of the conservative “red meat” agenda had passed. The House worked late Thursday and into Friday afternoon, after senators went home, because of deadlines it faced for passing its own bills. The flurry of activity rescued scores of bills from potential death but left hundreds of others in the legislative cemetery. Of the hot-button priorities for the GOP’s conservative “base,” only one abortion bill so far was headed to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. The fate of staunch conservatives’ other priority bills, targeting elections, guns, abortion, transgender children and taxpayer-paid lobbying, will largely be decided in the next 11 days.
A quick update on the red meat agenda: Both chambers have passed Senate Bill 7, a GOP-backed election bill that Democrats have said perpetuates the falsehood that there was widespread voter fraud last year. Republicans have said that they’re merely reining in Democratic election administrators in Texas’ biggest counties, and that even one fraudulently cast ballot is one too many. The Senate and House have each appointed five members to negotiate differences, and both chambers will have to approve an agreed-to version before the bill can be sent to Abbott. In his State of the State speech on Feb. 1, the Republican governor made “election integrity” an emergency item for the session. The permitless carry or “constitutional carry” bill that is backed by the National Rifle Association and is one of the state GOP’s top five legislative priorities has moved the closest it’s ever gotten to becoming law in Texas. House Bill 1927, which would let Texans 21 and older carry a handgun in public without a license and the currently required safety training, is in a House-Senate conference committee. If Abbott had hoped the measure would fall by the wayside — and his initial reluctance to give his opinion about it suggested he did — that changed when Patrick created a special committee, brokered deals with law enforcement groups and overcame the reluctance of several Republican senators to push it through his chamber… (LINK TO STORY)
Abbott spent 2 terms guarding his right flank, but a fellow Republican now sees an opening (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)
Even as Greg Abbott and many fellow Republicans were still basking in what they called Texas' "most conservative 48 hours" in history, a former one-term state senator announced he would challenge the governor in next year's primary from the right. Don Huffines, a scion of a Dallas family that made its fortune in the auto dealership business and a co-founder of a prosperous real estate development company, announced his candidacy in a series of tweets and retweets Monday. He promised "to finish the wall," eliminate property taxes and protect "election integrity." On one of the tweets, Huffines signed with the line, "An Actual Republican."
But the actions taken by the GOP-led Legislature, many of them pushed stoutly by Abbott himself, could make it hard for Huffines' message to gain traction. With a tweet of his own two days before Huffines launched his primary challenge, Abbott continued to woo Texas conservatives, just has he's been doing ever since he set his sights on the governor's mansion some eight years ago.
"In 48 hours the Texas House voted to: * Defund cities that defund police * Ban abortion at detection of heartbeat * Slash STAAR test requirements * Ban homeless camping statewide * Penalize protestors blocking roads * Ensure election integrity- easy to vote, hard to cheat," Abbott said in the May 8 social media post. Polling suggests Abbott's nonstop nurturing is paying dividends. But just like in his recent tweet, there's an asterisk or two.
Three out of four self-identified Republicans in the May 4 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll give Abbott high marks. The one cause of concern is that about a quarter of the Republican respondents don't like Abbott's handling of the pandemic. Evidence suggests that segment thinks the governor was too heavy-handed in temporarily closing down businesses, mandating mask-wearing and other government-intrusive measures to slow the virus' spread. Abbott rescinded those orders once COVID-19 vaccines kicked in and dramatically lowered caseloads… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
About 88% of children qualify for monthly payments in July (Associated Press)
The Treasury Department said Monday that 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.
The payments are part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which expanded the child tax credit for one year and made it possible to pre-pay the benefits on a monthly basis. Nearly 88% of children are set to receive the benefits without their parents needing to take any additional action.
Qualified families will receive a payment of up to $300 per month for each child under 6 and up to $250 per month for children between the ages of 6 and 17. The child tax credit was previously capped at $2,000 and only paid out to families with income tax obligations after they filed with the IRS.
But for this year, couples earning $150,000 or less can receive the full payments on the 15th of each month, in most cases by direct deposit. The benefits total $3,600 annually for children under 6 and $3,000 for those who are older. The IRS will determine eligibility based on the 2019 and 2020 tax years, but people will also be able to update their status through an online portal. The administration is also setting up another online portal for non-filers who might be eligible for the child tax credit… (LINK TO STORY)
Cheney says McCarthy and Stefanik are complicit in Trump's election falsehoods (NBC News)
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Sunday that House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and new House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are complicit in former President Donald Trump's false smear campaign against the election he lost last fall. "They are," Cheney told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, who asked whether the two were "complicit." "And I'm not willing to do that. I think that there are some things that have to be bigger than party, that have to be bigger than partisanship. Our oath to the Constitution is one of those." Cheney was voted out of House leadership last week after she continued to reject and refute Trump's false narrative. Stefanik, backed by Trump and other House GOP leaders, was voted in as her replacement to lead the House GOP messaging apparatus.
Republicans from leadership through the rank and file said they wanted to stop focusing on the past and move forward with attacking Democratic policies and politicians in the run-up to the midterms next year. McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters last week that he does not "think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election," even as Trump has released about two dozen statements claiming illegitimacy within the past two months. This weekend alone, Trump released a series of statements promoting bogus claims, saying the election amounted to the "CRIME OF THE CENTURY." Cheney said in her interview that she wished moving on from Trump was possible but that he "continues to be a real danger." "What he's doing and what he's saying, his claims, his refusal to accept decisions by the courts, his claims continued as recently as yesterday that somehow this election was stolen," she said. "You know, what he's doing is he's causing people to believe that they can't count on our electoral process to actually convey the will of the people." She said the "millions of people ... who supported the president have been misled," adding: "They've been betrayed."… (LINK TO STORY)
AT&T to Combine WarnerMedia Division With Discovery (Wall Street Journal)
AT&T Inc. T 0.09% will combine its sprawling WarnerMedia division with Discovery Inc., DISCB -1.14% the companies said, unwinding the telecom giant’s signature bet on media as pressure on the traditional entertainment business mounts.
AT&T would receive $43 billion in cash, debt securities and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt under the all-stock deal, the companies said Monday. AT&T shareholders would get stock representing 71% of the new entity, while Discovery shareholders would own the rest, the companies added.
The deal would further consolidate a media business buffeted by cord-cutting and competition from streaming video. WarnerMedia owns cable channels such as HBO, CNN, TNT and TBS as well as the Warner Bros. television and film studio. Discovery has a portfolio that includes its namesake network and HGTV.
The tie-up is a surprising U-turn by AT&T, which placed a massive bet on media with its 2018 acquisition of Time Warner Inc. for around $81 billion. That deal made it the world’s most indebted nonfinancial company.
Discovery President and Chief Executive David Zaslav will lead the proposed new entity, the companies said… (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!