BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 4, 2021)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
City of Austin certifies Save Austin Now PAC petition on public safety (CBS Austin)
A petition by the Save Austin Now PAC regarding adequate police staffing has been certified by the Austin City Clerk on Tuesday.
The petition drive began on May 26th and was completed on July 19th, 55 days in total. According to the PAC, the city clerk’s office analyzed the signed petitions, finding that out of the 27,778 submitted, 25,786 of those were valid for a 93% validity rate.
According to Save Austin Now PAC, the ordinance does the following:
Ensures adequate police staffing: Requires a minimum of 2.0 police officers per 1,000 population, a nationally recognized standard for safe cities, combined with a minimum of 35% community response time (or uncommitted time)
Doubles police training: Requires an additional 40 hours of post-cadet class training hours per year, making Austin the national model for police training
Enacts police reforms: Includes provisions to boost minority hiring (through foreign language proficiency), ensure racially diverse community policing, and provides retention bonuses for officers without police complaints (‘Good Conduct Medal eligible officers)… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
'The choice now becomes vaccination or ventilator.' 230 unvaccinated people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Austin in 2 weeks, versus 47 vaccinated (ABC KVUE)
As the delta variant of COVID-19 causes hospitalization spikes across the Austin area, Austin Public Health is urging everyone to get vaccinated.
APH's newest numbers show that about 80% of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Austin metro area in the past two weeks were unvaccinated.
APH also reported on Tuesday that 230 unvaccinated people were hospitalized between July 19 and Aug. 1, in comparison to only 47 fully vaccinated people. Fully vaccinated patients comprised only 16.55% of total hospitalizations in the area.
Last month, APH reported that over 70% of the eligible population had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. However, APH said at the time that the delta variant was already prompting a reassessment of herd immunity.
Currently, the seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions is 61, and an average of 346 people are hospitalized as of Aug. 3. This puts Austin-Travis County at Stage 5 COVID-19 levels, although the area remains officially under Stage 4 guidelines.
Due to this spike, Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said the herd immunity threshold is now expected to be between 80 to 89%, instead of 70 to 75%.
According to Walkes, only 54% of the entire Austin-Travis County population is fully vaccinated.
Additionally, Walkes said a larger number of people under the age of 50 are being admitted into area hospitals and ICUs, calling the numbers "startling."
"And unlike other surges, they’re people that are without any chronic illness comorbidities who are coming in severely ill, requiring ICU care, requiring ventilators," Walkes said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin area remains in Stage 4 threat level; updated guidelines coming this week, officials say (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin Public Health plans to update its guidelines this week to better address the risk of the coronavirus delta variant, the highly contagious mutation that is driving a massive spike in cases nationwide, including at least 29 in Travis County.
Despite Austin-area hospital admissions for COVID-19 this week remaining above the threshold for the most critical stage of Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines, Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, on Tuesday held off on officially shifting the community to Stage 5 just yet.
"The science has changed," Walkes said Tuesday. "We have a new variant, the delta variant, and it's impacting our hospital systems and medical systems because it spreads much more rapidly."
She said health officials "are considering a new guidance that will be released in the coming days to address the concerns regarding the delta variant."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis County proposes tax rate for 2021-22 fiscal year, prepares for budget approval process (Community Impact)
Travis County commissioners on Aug. 3 set a proposed fiscal year 2021-22 property tax rate around $0.017 less than the previous year's, laying the groundwork for budget talks that will take place across August and September.
Commissioners unanimously approved a proposed tax rate of $0.357365 per $100 of taxable valuation. That rate is composed of two parts; the maintenance and operations rate, which is proposed at $0.307311, and the interest and sinking rate, or debt service rate, which is proposed at $0.050054. If approved, the county will break a two-year streak of increasing tax rates.
"We were able to lower that rate due to increasing values," Travis County Budget Director Travis Gatlin said in a briefing to commissioners. Staff used property values from January 2021 when developing the tax rate, which were up around 10% from the previous year, Gatlin said.
Commissioners will officially set the tax rate Sept. 21 following a public hearing Sept. 14. The 2021-22 budget is slated for approval the following week Sept. 28.
County staff released a preliminary draft of the budget Aug. 2, balanced at nearly $1.43 billion, up from last year's roughly $1.29 billion budget… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Hospital systems across Texas struggle under weight of latest surge in COVID-19 cases (Associated Press)
The resurgence of COVID-19 in Texas has put some cities’ health systems in dire circumstances, as intensive care unit beds fill up, officials say. In Austin, the health department said there were only nine ICU beds available on Friday in the 11-county trauma service region that includes the city and serves 2.3 million people. “We are running out of time and our community must act now,” said Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin’s medical director/health authority.
“Our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for COVID. If we fail to come together as a community now, we jeopardize the lives of loved ones who might need critical care.”
In a joint statement, three hospital systems that serve the Austin area — Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White and St. David’s Healthcare — said the latest COVID-19 spike “is putting extraordinary pressure on our hospitals, emergency departments and healthcare professionals, and it has further challenged hospital staffing due to a longstanding nursing shortage.”
San Antonio is also facing a nursing shortage caused by an increase of coronavirus patients. City leaders had hoped the state would help fill the shortage, but in a letter sent Thursday to city and county leaders across Texas, the state directed local governments to instead make their own plans to increase hospital staffs before asking the state for help, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The state previously hired staffing companies to send traveling nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists to help hospitals cope with COVID-19 surges. In San Antonio, COVID-19 hospitalizations on Saturday were up by 430% since the start of July, the newspaper reported… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Federal judge temporarily blocks Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to pull over vehicles with migrants, which drew racial profiling concerns (Texas Tribune)
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas from ordering state troopers to pull over drivers transporting migrants “who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19.”
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted a temporary restraining order against Abbott’s move, meaning it will be blocked while the case continues to unfold. The U.S. Justice Department sued Abbott and Texas on Friday, a day after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland threatened to take legal action if Abbott didn’t rescind his order, calling it “dangerous and unlawful.”
In a statement later Tuesday, Abbott said the state looks forward to presenting evidence that supports his order.
"The Court's recent order is temporary and based on limited evidence," he said in the statement.
Cardone still must decide whether Texas’ move is constitutional. Abbott has defended his order as necessary to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Texas, while advocates for migrants say it would disrupt federal immigration efforts and invite troopers to racially profile people.
Fernando García, executive director for the Border Network for Human Rights, applauded the decision. He called the state’s defense of the order hypocritical in the first place, given Abbott's ban on COVID-19 prevention measures like mask mandates in schools.
“It was very clear that the state was advancing an anti-immigrant agenda rather than concerns for border residents,” he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Biden says Cuomo ‘Should resign,’ as sexual harassment findings emerge (New York Times)
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former government workers, whose accounts of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments were corroborated in a damning report released on Tuesday by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James.
The 165-page report prompted multiple calls for Mr. Cuomo to resign, including from President Biden, a longtime ally of the governor, and it cast doubt on Mr. Cuomo’s political future. The Democratic speaker of the State Assembly said on Tuesday that he intended to quicken the pace of a separate impeachment inquiry, adding that Mr. Cuomo “can no longer remain in office.”
The report, the culmination of a five-month investigation, included at least three previously unreported allegations of sexual harassment from women who accused Mr. Cuomo of improperly touching them, including a state trooper assigned to the governor’s security detail. It also highlighted far-reaching efforts by the governor, his staff and close associates to disparage and retaliate against one woman who made her allegations public.
All told, the investigators said they corroborated the claims of 11 women, nine of whom are current or former state employees, who accused Mr. Cuomo of a range of inappropriate behavior, from suggestive comments to instances of groping, through interviews with 179 witnesses and tens of thousands of documents… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Biden to GOP governors who resist COVID rules: "Get out of the way" (AXIOS)
President Biden spoke out Tuesday against Republican governors who've sought to block vaccine and mask mandates, as COVID-19 cases spike across the U.S.
Why it matters: Biden has tried to avoid making the pandemic a partisan issue, but the Washington Post notes the White House "has grown increasingly frustrated" with Republican leaders looking to obstruct health measures.
What he's saying: "I say to these governors: Please help. But if you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way," Biden said to reporters. "The people are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives."
Of note: Biden was asked about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in particular, both of whom have moved to ban mask mandates in recent weeks.
"Their decisions are not good for their constituents," Biden said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)