BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 21, 2021)
Photo by Kumar Appaiah, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Code amendment would make car booting less of a headache (Austin Monitor)
Getting booted for not obeying parking signage on private property is a huge hassle, involving a fine and a wait of sometimes an hour or more for someone to come and remove the boot. But if City Council passes a new tweak to city code, drivers could remove the boot themselves, saving time, if not money.
“This is a new self-release boot, and in the law, they don’t allow a self-release boot,” Joe Santiago, owner of Capital Parking ATX, a company that handles booting, told the Urban Transportation Commission on Thursday.
Santiago touted the benefits of the technology by describing someone who comes back to their car after a late night on the town, only to find a boot on one of the wheels. “We have accounts on Rainey Street, Sixth Street – you know, 2 in the morning, they really don’t want to wait an hour for us to come out there and take it off,” Santiago said.
The new boot, called a Tire Tag, weighs only 2 pounds and can be unlocked with a code after payment. The warning notice that accompanies the Tire Tag would tell car owners how to pay online, how open the lock and where to drop the boot off – in a drop box in the parking lot or at any other drop box around the city. Customers will have a week to return the boot.
The booting fee, typically $100, would stay the same. Commissioner Mario Champion asked if the new technology reduces personnel costs, thereby lowering the fee. Santiago said that because the cost of the new technology is about the same as any savings elsewhere, the fees will remain unchanged.
“If they got mad and threw it in the river or something, is there a fee?” Commissioner Diana Wheeler asked. Santiago said that the fee is only $60 for a lost or damaged Tire Tag compared to $200 for a damaged boot.
According to Santiago, commercial landlords tack thousands of dollars onto businesses’ leases for private parking spaces. “Parking now is valued at $25,000 a parking spot per year, depending on the type of business you have,” he said. Some business owners, looking to reserve their precious parking spaces for customers, hire booting companies to enforce parking rules. Private companies like Capital Parking ATX do the actual booting, overseen by the Austin Police Department and Austin Transportation Department, which vets the companies to prevent fraudulent activity.
The commission unanimously recommended that City Council update the code to allow the self-release boots… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin School District returns to in-person classes next fall with no virtual learning options (KUT)
The Austin school district announced Friday that it won’t offer virtual learning options this fall and that all students will attend classes in person.
The district had considered keeping a virtual option after the pandemic but decided against it after the Texas Legislature failed to pass House Bill 1468, which would have allowed schools to offer virtual learning and get state funding for it.
Every school in Texas gets money based on the average number of students who attend classes in person every day, but when the pandemic hit, the Texas Education Agency allowed them to count virtual attendance to calculate their funding.
HB 1468 would have allowed schools to continue doing that on a permanent basis to a certain extent, and without that legislation, it's more difficult for schools to offer a virtual option.
The Round Rock and Hays school districts have also said they won’t offer a virtual-learning option. AISD and other school districts have signed a letter asking Gov. Greg Abbott to consider taking up virtual learning as an option when legislators meet in special sessions later this year.
With COVID-19 cases falling dramatically in Travis County and by continuing pandemic safety measures, district officials say they believe they can offer a safe experience when students return in the fall.
“By following guidelines from Austin Public Health, the CDC and more, we’re confident we can safely reopen to all our students,” AISD Chief of Schools Anthony Mays said.
At the end of this school year, 60% of elementary students, 34.5% of middle-school students and 9.2% of high school students already had returned to in-person classes, district officials said… (LINK TO STORY)
Beto O'Rourke, Luci Baines Johnson speak at Austin voting rights rally on Father's Day (Austin American-Statesman)
Speaking from atop a large black trunk near the South steps of the Texas Capitol on Sunday, Beto O'Rourke lambasted Republican lawmakers for their latest efforts to rewrite the state's election laws and urged those gathered in attendance to "fight on every front" to secure the right to vote for all.
“This is what democracy looks like and this is what fighting for democracy feels like,” O’Rourke said, closing out an evening of speeches from Democratic elected officials and activists on voting rights.
“It’s hot, it’s sweaty, it’s tough, it’s loud and it’s no accident that we held this rally for American democracy right here in Texas on the longest day of the year," he continued. "It is going to take every waking moment from every single one of us to see this through, but I have faith and confidence in every single one of us.
“We are the people that this country has been waiting for, right here in the great state of Texas.”
O'Rourke, a former congressman and presidential candidate from El Paso, has been crisscrossing the state as part of a speaking tour dubbed: "For the People: The Texas Drive For Democracy," holding events in different corners of the state.
Sunday's rally also featured remarks from Julián Castro, another 2020 presidential candidate; U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin; several state lawmakers and Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon Baines Johnson… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas approves another $100 million to entice businesses (Dallas Morning News)
The state’s best-known corporate incentive program, the Texas Enterprise Fund, got its usual vote of confidence last month. Lawmakers in Austin approved another $100 million for the next two years, allocating roughly the same amount to the so-called deal-closing fund as in recent legislative sessions. That’s welcome news in Dallas-Fort Worth, where projects over the years have won $289 million in enterprise awards, more than any region in the state. In the most recent two-year period, D-FW companies won over three-quarters of the funds awarded. That includes millions in grants for Uber Technologies in Dallas, Microsoft in Irving, Texas Instruments in Richardson, Wesco Aircraft Hardware in Fort Worth and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America in Frisco. The question is: How much of the money will be well-spent?
From 2019 through 2020, four companies completed their enterprise deals as advertised, according to the latest report to the Legislature from the governor’s office. But 15 companies terminated their contracts, presumably because some wouldn’t meet their commitments. The terminations freed up over $23 million to be returned to the fund. The state also clawed back $4 million more in awards because participants didn’t hit hiring numbers. Some see those refunds as evidence of a flawed program while others believe the opposite — that they show the state’s increased oversight is working.
“We certainly see improvement in our monitoring and compliance,” said Adriana Cruz, executive director of Economic Development and Tourism for the Office of the Governor. “A lot of those payments and liquidated damages are from prior years, and as those old contracts expire, they’ll be even lower. There also may be no clawbacks because they’re all performance-based now.” The fund was created in 2003, and in the early years, it provided money to companies soon after they announced expansion plans. But a 2014 state audit found that the office of then-Gov. Rick Perry did not have good controls to monitor the process and company commitments. Almost half the money, especially in the early years, was awarded without contracts or specific job-creation pledges. That led to major reforms, and now taxpayer money is distributed only after hiring and investments have been made — and new jobs and wages confirmed. Companies receive about $1,000 to $10,000 per job, depending on median wages, capital investments and other details… (LINK TO STORY)
With jobless Texans losing access to federal unemployment benefits, some in rural areas can’t find jobs (Texas Tribune)
In May, Gov. Greg Abbott said that after June 26, Texas will opt out of extra federal assistance for unemployed Texans as a result of the pandemic. Abbott also cut off another initiative, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which extended jobless aid to gig workers, self-employed people and others who aren’t traditionally covered by unemployment insurance.
Jobless Texans will lose access to all additional federal unemployment aid — including a $300-per-week supplemental benefit. Abbott’s office said the decision was made to focus on connecting unemployed Texans with jobs instead of paying them unemployment benefits.
“The number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits,” Abbott said… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Supreme Court sides with bullet train backers, clearing way for use of eminent domain for land (Houston Chronicle)
Texas Central Railroad, according to the Texas Supreme Court, is a railroad, ending a five-year legal battle over the controversial high-speed rail company’s right to use state eminent domain laws. The ruling, unless a federal court intervenes or stops the company in another way, clears the path for backers of the Houston-to-Dallas bullet train to acquire land over the objections of landowners unwilling to sell. The Supreme Court on Friday declined to review the Texas 13th Court of Appeals ruling last year that upheld Texas Central’s right to use state eminent domain laws. “The court’s denial of review should put an end to over five years of contentious litigation and clear the path for Texas Central to bring the high-speed train to Texas,” Texas Central said in a statement.
Texas Central is planning a 240-mile train line using Japanese Shinkansen trains to carry riders between Houston and Dallas in about 90 minutes, with a single stop near College Station. The Houston terminal is planned for the current site of Northwest Mall near Loop 610 and U.S. 290. At issue in the case, brought by Leon County landowners Jim and Barbara Miles, was whether Texas Central was classified as a railroad by state law. Despite claiming to be a railroad, Miles’ lawyers noted the company owns no trains, has no track and does not operate any service.
Texas Central remains, after more than nine years, still in the planning stages, and continues to face stiff opposition from rural residents. Being considered a railroad is important because only a railroad has a right to acquire property under eminent domain for a private purpose. Otherwise landowners simply could refuse to sell. Now, Texas Central must offer property owners fair market value, but can go to court to condemn land… (LINK TO STORY)
Nebraska sending state troopers to help at the Texas border (Associated Press)
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts plans to send about two dozen state troopers to Texas later this month to help patrol the nation’s border with Mexico. Ricketts said Saturday that the troopers will spend up to 16 days providing law enforcement assistance to the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Ricketts said he was responding to a request for aid from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in accordance with a preexisting mutual aid agreement that is normally activated in times of emergencies.
Ricketts has criticized the Biden administration’s approach to border security and several other policies. In recent weeks, Ricketts has been giving speeches around the state condemning President Joe Biden’s conservation plan that calls for preserving 30% of the nation’s land and water by the year 2030. “Nebraska is stepping up to help Texas respond to the ongoing crisis on their border with Mexico,” Ricketts said in the press release. “The disastrous policies of the Biden-Harris Administration created an immigration crisis on the border. While the federal government has fallen short in its response, Nebraska is happy to step up to provide assistance to Texas as they work to protect their communities and keep people safe.” After Florida officials announced a similar deployment of officers last week, officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said they would continue working with state and local law enforcement but would defer to state officials to comment on “any steps they are taking to increase an enforcement posture.”… (LINK TO STORY)
For Texas Republicans, Vice President Kamala Harris is a more tempting target than Biden (Corpus Christi Caller)
Maybe Kamala Harris is the new Hillary Clinton. At least in Texas, and specifically among Texas Republicans. The Democratic vice president has become something of the state GOP's foil heading into the 2022 election cycle, particularly in her role as President Joe Biden's point person for seeking solutions to the problems in Central America that are driving unauthorized immigration at the southern border. Gov. Greg Abbott, in a podcast interview on Tuesday, chided Harris for not taking the matter seriously and for not visiting the border. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who like Abbott is a Republican who will seek a third term next year, has said he is "offended" that Harris appeared to laugh off a reporter's question about whether she plans to visit the border. "Not today," she said with a chuckle.
Republicans are also faulting Biden himself for what they say is a mounting crisis at the border, not the mere "challenge" that administration has called it. But Biden might be a tougher target for Texas Republicans to demonize. A poll last month by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Tribune found that Biden's approval rating in the Lone Star State is a tick or two higher than Abbott's, and almost a dozen points higher than Patrick's. The president also outpolled Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz by the same margin as he did Abbott. Texas' other GOP senator, four-termer John Cornyn, was down in Patrick territory, as was Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Biden's eight years as vice president under Barack Obama, and before that his decades of service in the Senate, pretty much make him a known commodity. His avuncular nature seems to have spared him some of the venom that Republicans hissed at Obama, and later at Clinton when she was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
American Airlines canceling hundreds of flights through mid-July (The Hill)
American Airlines is canceling hundreds of flights for at least the next few weeks as a combination of factors threaten regular business operation.
A heavy uptick in travel, labor shortages and weather are contributing to the cancellations, expected to last until mid-July at the earliest.
"The first few weeks of June have brought unprecedented weather to our largest hubs, heavily impacting our operation and causing delays, canceled flights and disruptions to crew member schedules and our customers' plans," Stacey Day, a spokeswoman for the airline, told The Hill.
She added, "That, combined with the labor shortages some of our vendors are contending with and the incredibly quick ramp up of customer demand, has led us to build in additional resilience and certainty to our operation by adjusting a fraction of our scheduled flying through mid-July."
According to Day, the cancellations will be focused in areas with bigger airports where travel plans can be more easily adjusted by the airline.
"We made targeted changes with the goal of impacting the fewest number of customers by adjusting flights in markets where we have multiple options for re-accommodation," she said.
People flying American Airlines through July 15 whose flights are affected will be notified ahead of time… (LINK TO STORY)
As lumber prices fall, the threat of inflation loses its bite (New York Times)
From sawmills to store shelves to your own hammer swings, lumber can tell you a lot about what’s going on in the economy right now.
Lumber prices soared over the past year, frustrating would-be pandemic do-it-yourselfers, jacking up the costs of new homes and serving as a compelling talking point in the debate over whether government stimulus efforts risked the return of 1970s-style inflation.
The housing-and-renovation boom drove insatiable demand for lumber, even as the pandemic idled mills that had already been slowed by an anemic construction sector since the 2008 financial crisis. Lumber futures surged to unprecedented heights, peaking at more than $1,600 per thousand board feet in early May.
But since then, the prices of those same plywood sheets and pressure-treated planks have tumbled, as mills restarted or ramped up production and some customers put off their purchases until prices came down… (LINK TO STORY)