BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 21, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
WANT TO GET OUR DAILY MORNING UPDATES? Email us at: info@binghamgp.com
BG Podcast EP. 138: Q1 2021 Review with Veronica Briseño, Chief Economic Recovery Officer, City of Austin
On today’s episode we speak with return guest Veronica Briseño, Chief Economic Recovery Officer for the City of Austin.
Veronica and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss developments in Q1, including recent efforts by the city and Austin Council including the Economic Recovery and Resiliency Framework (bit.ly/3sbsJ6d), released last month.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (5,666)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,602)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Devil is in the details when it comes to recalibrating density bonus (Austin Monitor)
City Council is set to approve a resolution recalibrating the Downtown Density Bonus program’s affordable housing fees, a first attempt to pick up the pieces of the city’s failed Land Development Code rewrite.
Almost all Council members have said they support recalibrating the fees, and none have said they are opposed. But the details – how the fees should be recalibrated and how often – are still up for debate.
The Downtown Density Bonus program gives developers more floor area ratio (FAR) in exchange for community benefits, including a fee toward affordable housing in lieu of providing on-site affordable housing. The program also requires developers to meet urban design and green building standards.
If not for a judge halting the LDC rewrite last year, the new fees would already be in place. Even without the LDC, the city can still change the fees. A resolution, if passed Thursday, would begin that process.
Council Member Kathie Tovo, who sponsored the resolution, wants to use fees calibrated in 2019 as part of the Land Development Code rewrite. Others, such as Council Member Paige Ellis, suggested recalibrating the fees to current market conditions before adopting new ones.
“I’m really keen on moving that forward, and not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Tovo said.
The 2019 fees, however, can’t be directly applied to the current code.
“Because of differences between the current code and the proposed code,” Housing and Planning Officer Erica Leak said, “we would have to go back and and basically sort of translate and remap the proposed fees.”
Housing and Planning Department staff explained in a memo that the LDC fees “were calibrated based on the site’s base zoning (CC and DC in the proposed LDC), not the downtown sub-district as they are today.” Other parts of the Land Development Code, such as parking maximums and unlimited FAR, also affected the 2019 calculations.
Tovo also wants commercial and hotel projects to pay fees, as proposed in 2019.
If Council decides to use the 2019 fees, city staffers said they could tweak them to fit the current code by June. Recalibrating the fees for current market conditions would take until August.
Leak said, “It is certainly possible that what was proposed as part of the Land Development Code is no longer correct, for especially the commercial space.”
Improper calibration could have unintended consequences. Real Estate Council of Austin CEO Dianne Bangle told the Austin Monitor in an email that “it is incredibly important … that (density bonuses) are correctly calibrated. If they are set without regard for market forces, builders will likely change the project to comply with the code without the density bonuses.” Bangle said that when done correctly, density bonuses “benefit everyone…
Tovo emphasized there will still be time to figure out details after the resolution passes: “By passing the resolution, it doesn’t effect the change. It just starts the process of having that conversation.”
After implementing the changes to the Downtown Density Bonus program, several Council members hope to recalibrate other density bonus programs and add new ones around the city. Harper-Madison indicated that another resolution could be forthcoming, but did not provide a timeline.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin reacts after jury finds former Minneapolis Police Officer guilty of murdering George Floyd (KUT)
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday on all three counts of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died last May after Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes.
His murder sparked a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism. In Austin and across the country, people took to the streets to protest racial injustice and demand police reform.
Austin City Council Member Greg Casar said Tuesday's guilty verdict was important, but doesn’t provide “real justice.”
“Real justice would be George Floyd being able to return to his daughter Gianna,” he said on Twitter. “Real justice would be never allowing this to happen again.”
But Chas Moore, the founder of the Austin Justice Coalition, said the verdict could be a precursor to cases involving police misconduct here in Austin.
"I think [Travis County District Attorney José Garza has] made it clear about how the lay of the land is going to be in these kinds of cases," he said. "I think the Derek Chauvin verdict ... gives people a sense that this could very ... well be a reality here, as well. So I'm looking forward to seeing how these [cases] play out."
During protests last summer in Austin, demonstrators demanded justice for Floyd, but also change within the local police department. The Austin Police Department had been facing allegations of racism for years. And just a month before Floyd's death, Mike Ramos, a Black and Hispanic man, was killed by Austin police.
The protests led to further clashes between APD and the public. During the first weekend of demonstrations in Austin, officers fired bags filled with lead pellets at demonstrators, severely injuring several protesters who have since filed lawsuits against APD. Protesters also converged onto I-35, where police used tear gas to get them off.
In response to calls for reform, Austin City Council decided to cut millions from APD and make changes to policing, or "reimagine public safety" as the city calls it.
“This prosecution and today’s verdict address the immediate need for justice and are symbols of the commitment communities like Austin have made to hold police officers accountable and to implement social justice and policing reforms to ensure the safety of and justice for all residents, especially those of color,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in a statement Tuesday… (LINK TO STORY)
Questions abound with convention center’s future up in the air (Austin Monitor)
With up being the only viable direction in which to significantly expand the Austin Convention Center, the deal structure and timeline for such a project appears to have gotten far more complicated.
Former City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan is now president of Austin Convention Enterprises, a public facilities corporation created to manage the city-owned Hilton Austin hotel adjacent to the convention center. Flannigan said the news this week that the city is abandoning a westward expansion of the facility means going vertical on the existing footprint. That would mean a prolonged reduction in available convention space, with hotel taxes paid by nearby convention-dependent hotels falling off as well.
Neither the city or convention center officials have relayed any plan for what comes next.
“The direction to head is up, and that was always on the list of options for that particular footprint that is owned by the city and is not constrained by (Capitol) view corridors, so you have the ability to go vertical,” Flannigan said. “The challenge with staying on the existing footprint is the construction time will reduce the available convention space. It also makes a very different assessment of who’s assuming the risk of construction, and the opportunity for (public-private partnerships) is not gone, but is different.”
Flannigan said the drastic reduction in hotel taxes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic likely impacted the budget for acquiring the three-and-a-half blocks west of the center, which were intended to include more convention space on the lower floors with a mix of space developed privately to make the proposed $1.2 billion expansion more financially feasible.
Once the western properties had been expanded, the plan approved by City Council would have had the existing convention center space dramatically remade to improve its public use and make it more accommodating to east-west foot traffic.
Flannigan said the city should still aim to make the site more pedestrian friendly, but doing so will mean less opportunity for public-private partnerships with developers to shoulder some of the financial burden.
“Even without the westward expansion, the opportunity is there to rebuild and reimagine the pedestrian scape,” he said. “What you lose by not going west is increased risk, a time period where hotels that were banking on a certain amount of convention space will now have a period where that (business) will be smaller because you have to tear a piece of it down when you build something new … it’s like how when TxDOT builds a highway while people are still driving on it, that makes the project more complicated and it will take longer.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Plan to house 3,000 homeless individuals in Austin in the next three years would cost $515 million (Community Impact)
Austin City Council members on April 20 shared their support for a newly-developed city plan to house upwards of 3,000 unsheltered homeless individuals over the next three years, alongside questions about the level of funding and community-wide engagement that could be required to successfully facilitate the initiative.
Homeless Strategy Officer Diana Grey shared an overview of the proposal and its "banner goal" of rehousing 3,000 people April 20 following a weekslong summit to address unsheltered homelessness in the city which she said featured participation from government, private, nonprofit and community representatives.
The housing initiative, which Grey said would be gradually implemented through mid-2024 in addition to the city's present rehousing pace of an estimated 1,800 people per year, is aimed at targeted outreach and rehousing efforts at encampments of people experiencing homelessness. Officials also noted that the plan fits within the framework of the ongoing first phase of Austin's Housing-Focused Homeless Encampment Assistance Link program, or HEAL, also aimed at addressing the city's prominent homeless encampments and which Grey said was intended as a stepping stone for future initiatives.
"We want to really beef up the teams that are going into the encampments to include the outreach work that we’ve already got folks doing really well in the community. Making sure of course that we continue to have behavioral health resources attached to that outreach team, but also that we offer storage to those who need it while they wait for housing that we’re cognizant of transportation needs that will be there as people transition into housing. And that we really also bring in peers who are really critical in terms of understanding the experience of people who are moving into housing," Grey said.
Based on the strategy outline introduced during the city's recent homelessness summit, Grey said the total cost of the plan is now estimated at around $515 million. Around $222 million is accounted for through committed and anticipated funding, Grey said, with a need for an additional $293 million from both public and private sources still needed to fill in the program's gaps… (LINK TO STORY)
Medical marijuana company breaks ground in San Marcos (Community Impact)
Local government and economic leaders met in an empty field in San Marcos on April 19 for the groundbreaking of a $25 million cannabis cultivation, production, distribution and retail facility being built by Parallel, a cannabis company operating in multiple states.
Parallel is able to sell certain marijuana products in Texas with low THC levels to qualifying patients under the state's Compassionate Use Program, which was created in 2015.
President Marcus Ruark of Goodblend, the brand Parallel uses in Texas, said the company is one of three licensed to sell medicinal marijuana products in Texas. Compassionate Cultivation and Fluent are the other two companies… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas Legislature considering bill to make it harder to get public information about government employees (Texas Tribune)
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would restrict state agencies from sharing salary data and other typically public information about government employees with the public in a bill that experts say is overly broad. Senate Bill 16, filed by state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, would require an individual’s written consent for a state agency to share their personal information. The bill has been declared a priority by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s coauthored by 29 out of 31 members of the Senate, suggesting it has widespread bipartisan support. Public records — such as elected officials’ salaries or the demographics of appointees to state agencies — are widely used to understand how tax dollars are spent and who is representing Texans in state government. Data such as Social Security numbers and medical records are already protected by the state and not subject to the Public Information Act.
The bill defines the protected information to include “one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of the individual,” in addition to location or identification numbers, but does not define what information meets that criteria. Nelson declined to answer questions for this story but said in a statement that the legislation comes in response to an increase in cases of personal data being compromised. In November 2020, about 27.7 million Texans had their drivers license numbers, names, addresses and more exposed in a Vertafore data breach. Vertafore is an insurance software provider who admitted that some data files were accidentally stored in an unsecured external storage service and a third-party was able to access the information.
“Our agencies are in possession of highly sensitive personal data, and they have a duty to protect it,” Nelson said in a statement. “Texans should not have to worry about their personal data being sold or shared with third parties without permission.” Public information experts say there is no clear reason why the changes proposed in the bill would be necessary… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott won’t say if he supports NRA-backed ‘permitless carry’ bill on handguns (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott declined to say Tuesday whether he supports a controversial bill that would let people carry handguns in public without a license. The bill, which has the National Rifle Association’s blessing but is opposed by some members of law enforcement, passed the House Thursday in a 87-58 vote that fell largely along party lines. Abbott ducked taking a position on House Bill 1927 after he voted early in a local election in which the Republican governor said he voted for a ballot measure that would reinstate a ban on camping by homeless people.
Abbott has excoriated Austin’s leaders for creating unacceptable disorder when they in 2019 sought to stop issuing thousands of citations to people by expanding areas in which sleeping overnight outdoors is permitted. “Constitutional carry,” as it’s called by supporters, who say the government shouldn’t restrict people’s toting of guns in any fashion, gained little momentum in Texas until this year. On Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the measure doesn’t have the votes to pass the GOP-controlled Senate. Patrick, who didn’t make “permitless carry” one of his 30 priority bills for this year’s session, said he would meet with both supporters and critics of the proposal “to see if we can find a path that a majority of senators will vote to pass.” If it does, he as the chamber’s presiding officer “will move it,” Patrick said in a written statement. Critics including several police chiefs and firearm instructors, warn it would be dangerous to let untrained people carry loaded guns in public places and could lead to deadly accidents. Under the bill, anyone 21 and older who can legally have a handgun could carry it publicly without first passing the safety course and background check required now. About 1.6 million Texans are currently licensed to carry… (LINK TO STORY)
Here's how Texas elections would change, and become more restrictive, under the bill Texas Republicans are pushing (Texas Tribune)
Like Republicans across the country, Texas lawmakers are pushing to enact sweeping changes to state voting laws, including new restrictions on how and when voters can cast ballots.
At the forefront of that campaign is Senate Bill 7, a legislative priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that has already passed the Senate and awaits action in the House. The wide-ranging legislation touches almost the entire voting process, taking particular aim at narrowing the latitude local officials have to control voting. It clamps down on early voting rules and hours, restricts how voters can receive applications to vote by mail and regulates the distribution of polling places in diverse, urban counties.
The original bill has already changed in significant ways — revised to eliminate a provision that would have required some voters to provide proof of a disability to vote by mail. But the 38-page bill would still institute an expansive set of changes and new regulations governing Texas elections.
Below is our analysis of the most significant portions of the legislation, with some added context to help Texans understand some of its key provisions… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Former President Bush: Today’s GOP is ‘isolationist’ and ‘nativist’ (Politico)
Former President George W. Bush described the modern-day GOP as “isolationist, protectionist, and to a certain extent, nativist” in an interview Tuesday that was packed with implicit criticism of the most recent Republican president. “It’s not exactly my vision” for the party, Bush told NBC’s “Today” show in a rare live TV appearance. “But, you know, I’m just an old guy they put out to pasture.” Still, Bush remained hopeful that a more moderate Republican — one who supported reasonable gun reform measures, increased public school funding and a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, among other policies — could succeed in the party’s 2024 presidential primary. “I think if the emphasis is integrity and decency and trying to work to get problems solved, I think the person has a shot,” he said.
As for the Jan. 6 insurrection perpetrated by supporters of former President Donald Trump, “it did make me sick. I felt ill. And I just couldn’t believe it,” Bush said. “What’s really troubling is how much misinformation there is and the capacity of people to spread all kinds of untruth,” he added. “And I don’t know what we’re going to do about that.” Bush, who was on hand Tuesday to welcome 30 new U.S. citizens from 17 different countries during a naturalization ceremony on Rockefeller Plaza, also decried the divisive rhetoric that has surrounded the immigration debate in Washington — and reached new levels of hostility under his Republican successor in the White House. “It’s a beautiful country we have. And yet, it’s not beautiful when we condemn [and] call people names and scare people about immigration,” he said. “It’s an easy issue to frighten some of the electorate. And I’m trying to have a different kind of voice.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Old U.S. Covid-19 hot spots are the new hot spots (Wall Street Journal)
The recent rise in Covid-19 cases in the U.S. has largely been driven by a handful of states, many of them the same places that first emerged as hot spots a year ago. Through Monday, about 75% of the previous week’s new cases in the U.S. came from Michigan, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Covid-19 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 people are resurging in several states that, for long stretches, had kept the pathogen relatively at bay. Outside of the period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey haven’t seen levels this high during the pandemic. And outside of that same holiday period, New York hasn’t had this many new cases since spring, and Florida not since the summer.
Public-health officials and epidemiologists say the increasing caseloads in many parts of the country can be attributed to a constellation of factors, including the spread of more transmissible variants; a rise in infections among younger, often unvaccinated, people; relaxed prevention efforts and loosened restrictions on indoor dining and masking; as well as pandemic fatigue.
Following a sharp drop from the deadly fall surge, newly reported Covid-19 cases have remained elevated across the U.S. But some states have seen cases jump back higher again. They seem to follow a familiar pattern. When cases reached their first peak in mid-April 2020, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York were leading that surge.
However, when the nation reached a new peak in late July, those four states were at low points as the pandemic center moved South and West. They rose again in winter, along with the rest of the U.S., and now are the driving force behind this year’s latest rise.
Epidemiologists and public-health authorities in Michigan have pointed to school sports as a major source of Covid-19 transmission. In addition, nationwide, large outbreaks have been tied to the recent Easter holiday and spring breaks… (LINK TO STORY)