BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 6, 2021)
6th Street in Austin, Texas, 1993 (Photo by Jmabel)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin area moves to Stage 5 risk as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to soar (KUT)
Austin and Travis County have moved into Stage 5, the highest level of risk in the local health department’s COVID-19 guidelines.
Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County's health authority, said during a news conference Thursday that this is the fastest COVID-19 surge in the pandemic so far.
“Patients in the ICU are sicker and staying longer in the hospital than with prior surges, putting more strain on hospital resources," she said.
With most older adults already vaccinated, the surge has been particularly affecting younger people. Health providers are seeing more COVID cases among children under 12, who cannot be vaccinated, and life support machines are being used on patients as young as 19, Walkes said.
"Getting vaccinated is your best possible defense and significantly reduces your chance of getting extremely sick, being hospitalized or dying," she said.
In addition to increasingly low ICU space, hospitals are having to deal with a shortage of staff to provide care, Walkes said.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been rising sharply in the last few weeks, spurred by the highly contagious delta variant and stagnant vaccination rates. Austin Public Health has raised its COVID-19 risk assessment twice in the last month… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City tax bills could go down for 2022 (Austin Monitor)
City Council’s decision to enact a 20 percent maximum homestead exemption will save the typical homeowner $33 on next year’s tax bill if Council members decide to go along with City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed 3.5 percent increase in the tax rate. Austin’s Deputy Budget Officer Erik Nelson told Council Thursday that under updated numbers for property tax valuations, a typical senior or disabled homeowner would save more than $184 over their current bill – and the city will have a balanced budget.
However, projections for the city budget are not nearly as favorable next year. With a revenue cap increase of 3.5 percent imposed by the state, budget writers expect a $5.5 million deficit in Fiscal Year 2023, Nelson explained. By FY 2025-26, Nelson expects the deficit to be $15.6 million under the 3.5 percent cap. (Council can ask voters to increase the tax rate through an election and that seems likely in the future, though not this year.)
For this year, Council still has some money to put into one-time costs, and that could be the focus of final budget negotiations… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Designated campsite strategy remains in limbo (Austin Monitor)
On Thursday, City Council members had their most in-depth discussion about designated encampments for homeless people since voting unanimously to explore the strategy back in May. Still, much remains uncertain.
Last week, Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison and Council Member Paige Ellis spoke out against moving forward with encampments, throwing the proposal into doubt. Yesterday, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said she had reservations about the strategy while other Council members reaffirmed their support. Because the occasion ostensibly called for budget discussion, Council did not take the matter to a vote.
Council’s May resolution envisioned building tiny homes or other temporary structures along with communal bathroom and kitchen facilities on city-owned property to offer people experiencing homelessness safe shelter – an imperative for Council following the passage of Proposition B, which outlawed public camping in the city.
Council members have made clear that providing housing remains their top priority and that the camps would be temporary. “It is not a housing solution,” Council Member Kathie Tovo said. “It is a stopgap solution. But it is a solution and a strategy that I continue to believe we need to have within our portfolio of strategies.”
Because of the split opinions and lack of a vote, there was some confusion on the dais about Council’s direction and how city staff will interpret it.
“I’m not sure that I heard clarity on what our direction is,” Council Member Ann Kitchen said. Mayor Steve Adler concurred, but did not offer clarification. “It’s a good point,” Adler said. “If you could just let us know what direction you’re following,” he told City Manager Spencer Cronk, “or if you don’t think you have sufficient direction, come back to us.”
Without a more explicit policy directive, Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey is unlikely to pursue the strategy, having highlighted its cost and drain on staff time in an Aug. 4 memo to Council.
“Given the timeline, substantial staff effort and financial resources necessary to pursue the creation of a designated encampment on either of the two identified city-owned properties, staff requests direction from Council before initiating any further activity related to community engagement, rezoning, application for state approval, or operational planning,” Grey wrote. “Staff will continue to work toward the creation of additional shelter beds or alternatives in the community. We look forward to receiving further Council direction regarding this resolution.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
United Way for Greater Austin to merge with United Way of Williamson County (Community Impact)
United Way for Greater Austin and United Way of Williamson County announced Aug. 5 that they will merge, combining their 10-county Central Texas service region.
“As the Austin metro area grows, the boundaries between Travis and Williamson counties continue to blend; many people work in one and live in the other,” said David C. Smith, CEO of United Way for Greater Austin, in a statement. “This merger will help us better and more efficiently serve the Greater Austin community, while expanding and deepening our impact with a regional approach.”The nonprofits have signed an intent to merge contract and are in the operational, financial and legal due diligence process, expected to wrap up by the end of 2021. Smith will carry on as CEO following the merger.
The combined organization will continue its mission of combatting poverty in the Austin area under the United Way for Greater Austin name. It expects to "upgrade, update and strengthen" its programs, which focus on bolstering the financial security of families with young children; providing children with learning resources; and meeting food, health, housing and transportation needs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Gov. Greg Abbott announces special legislative session starting Saturday, covering elections, federal COVID-19 funding, quorum rules (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the second special legislative session will begin at noon Saturday — and with an expanded agenda (LINK TO AGENDA).
The 17-item agenda still includes well-known Abbott priorities like the election bill that caused House Democrats to flee the state at the start of the first special session, which ends Friday. But it also features six additions, including the spending of federal COVID-19 relief funds and potentially changing the legislative rules regarding quorums.
There is also a new item on public education during the pandemic, an increasingly salient issue as parents prepare to send their kids back to school with the virus on the rise again in Texas… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas AG urges cities, counties to sign onto $26 billion opioid settlement (Houston Chronicle)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday encouraged cities and counties to sign on to a proposed $26 billion national opioid settlement agreement that could yield up to $1.5 billion for the state. “This is a good deal for Texas, for its cities and its counties and really all of the citizens of this great state,” said the Republican attorney general at a news conference in Houston. “The cities and counties with trial dates have no guarantees of a trial and they have no guarantees of any money. One thing they are guaranteed is a long, drawn-out process, which doesn’t allow the people who need this to get it.” The proposed settlement was made with Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen — the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors — and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids.
The distributors had been accused in hundreds of lawsuits of ignoring the amount of addictive painkillers being sold on the black market and their role in the nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths. Johnson & Johnson was accused of minimizing the dangers of opioids in its marketing. All three have denied wrongdoing. Some governments have scoffed at the payout. The Philadelphia district attorney late month sued that state’s attorney general over the deal, saying the city will reap relative pennies compared to the cost of the crisis that is killing more than 1,000 people there per year. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he would reject the deal as “insufficient” and move ahead with a trial on claims against the distributors scheduled to start in September. Similar attitudes abound in Texas as well. Attorneys representing Bexar County have disagreed over whether to participate in the settlement, with some arguing that the plaintiffs will have better leverage and a chance for even more funds if they continue marching toward trial… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch sues Judge Clay Jenkins, calls for his ouster over mask rule (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch kept good on his promise to take legal action against the county’s top elected official, filing a lawsuit and temporary restraining order against Judge Clay Jenkins and calling for his removal from office. Jenkins instructed a bailiff to remove Koch from a commissioners court meeting on Tuesday over Koch’s refusal to wear a mask. Jenkins claimed a Texas Supreme Court order gave him authority to mandate them during the meeting. Koch disagrees and says under an executive order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Jenkins is not a traditional court judge and can’t do so. “You clearly expressed your authority to impose a face-covering request for an elected official outside of the governor’s order,” Koch said from a video feed after he was removed from the meeting.
Koch filed the suit and temporary restraining order in the Dallas County 116th Civil District Court, asking for a judge to rule that Jenkins must follow Abbott’s order prohibiting counties from requiring masks or vaccines. The suit also calls for Jenkins’ removal “based on incompetency and official misconduct,” according to the court document. “The enemy is the virus, not each other,” Jenkins said in a prepared statement. “My actions were taken after consultation with local doctors to increase safety for people in attendance.” The suit was not listed publicly in Dallas County court records until Thursday morning. Koch also claimed that his removal violated the Texas Open Meetings Act. Koch is asking for $250,000 or less. Throughout the meeting, he refused to vote on measures before the commissioners court, saying he was unable to participate virtually. The suit claims the mask mandate “restricts the public and [Koch] from attending Commissioners Court.” On Tuesday, Koch said he hoped to prove that Jenkins was overstepping his authority as a county judge by requiring masks. Koch said he had a mask in his pocket but refused to wear it to make a point. He said he’ll wear one at the next court meeting… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas hospitals hit by staffing crisis as burnout depletes workforce and COVID-19 surges (Texas Tribune)
Texas nurse Jenna Price gets half a dozen solicitations a day from hospitals and staffing agencies that want to pay her four times her current salary to leave her job at a suburban Central Texas emergency room and take a temporary assignment in another hospital that needs nurses.
“The money is ridiculous,” Price said.
Not to mention tempting — especially after the most traumatic year of her career on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Texas, where hospitals are struggling with historically low staffing levels while hospitalizations from the COVID-19 delta variant are skyrocketing, nurses like Price are a hot commodity.
There are 23,000 more unfilled jobs in Texas for registered nurses than there are nurses seeking to fill them, according to a labor analysis by the Texas Workforce Commission.
“There's no pipeline of staff that we see ready to just hop in and start helping,” said Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Schumer moves to shut down debate on $1T infrastructure bill (The Hill)
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is teeing up a Saturday vote to wind down debate on a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, with senators hoping to pass the legislation as soon as this weekend.
Schumer on Thursday night moved to arrange the vote for Saturday, where he’ll need 60 votes to move forward, after a day of behind-the-scenes haggling failed to produce a breakthrough.
“I believe we’re very close to an agreement and see no reason why we can’t complete this important bipartisan bill," Schumer said. "So I urge both sides to continue working diligently to make it happen."
A Democratic aide described Schumer’s move as a back-up plan that would ensure that the Senate could take the procedural vote Saturday in the event that he wasn't able to work out a deal to finish the bill Thursday, as was the case.After more than two hours on the floor, senators weren’t able to get a deal to wrap up the bill on Thursday night or agree on quickly moving to final passage once they reconvene on Saturday. That left some senators visibly frustrated as they departed the Capitol for the night.
Senators had hoped to get a deal on anywhere between 16 to 25 additional amendment votes, but that fell apart by the end of the night. Instead they’ll vote to start ending debate on Saturday and have up to 60 hours to burn before final passage… (LINK TO FULL STORY)