BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 26, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW // BG Podcast Episode 124: Opposing Strong Mayor Reform with Austin for All People
NEW // BG Podcast Episode 125: Shifting to a Strong Mayor System with Austinites for Progressive Reform
CITY OF AUSTIN
THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (1,461)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin FC Will Play In 'Q2 Stadium' When Major League Soccer Gets Underway (KUT)
Austin FC has announced a partnership with Q2 Holdings, Inc., for naming rights for the stadium at McKalla Place.
"It's great to have a local company stepping up and believing in Austin FC," team owner Anthony Precourt said. "Having the stadium called Q2 Stadium is a great honor for us."
Q2 is a financial software company that helps banks connect with customers digitally for things like account management and loan applications. Terms of the stadium deal were not disclosed.
"It's a long-term commitment, it's a significant commitment from Q2," Precourt said. "We've always aimed to be a top-tier club in terms of all of our metrics, and this puts us in the top tier in terms of our commercial business."
Major League Soccer officials announced Monday they are planning to start the regular season about a month later than normal, on April 3, with preseason games starting as soon as late February. The timeline means Austin FC will spend the beginning of the season away from Q2 Stadium… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin's unemployment rate dropped to 5.1% in December (Austin Business Journal)
The Austin metro ended 2020 with a positive trend in its unemployment numbers.
The December 2020 unemployment rate for the Austin metro dropped to 5.1% with roughly 65,000 people out of work, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6% in November.
Though the area's unemployment numbers continue to swing, last month's rate is trending closer to pre-pandemic levels, which hovered around 3%. The highest rate since the pandemic started was in April, which was an adjusted 12.7%.
Central Texas' employment picture is a bit complex these days as droves of companies are relocating or expanding to Austin, such as Oracle Corp. or Tesla Inc. Even since the start of the year, several companies have announced relocations from the West Coast, including data center giant Digital Realty Trust Inc., magnet manufacturer Amazing Magnets LLC and pet supply company Alpha Paw LLC. A report out late Friday indicates Samsung may bring Austin one of its biggest deals yet later in 2021.
Many are coming from California because of Texas' relatively low taxes and lower cost of living. Read more about the cost difference between the two states here.
At the same time, local businesses continue to grapple with the impact of the pandemic and recently reduced occupancy levels. In early January, the local hospitalization rate triggered additional restrictions for the area under state guidelines, which lowered allowed occupancy in most businesses to 50%… (LINK TO STORY)
Council plans hotel purchases for housing homeless, floats camping sites (Austin Monitor)
At Monday’s work session, City Council members discussed purchasing two hotels in North Austin to secure more than 150 permanent supportive housing units for the homeless.
Mayor Steve Adler urged Council to act to remedy what he called an “emergency situation,” perhaps using previously rejected measures like setting up designated campsites.
In a press release, Council Member Greg Casar celebrated the proposed hotel purchases. “This is how we pull hundreds of people off the streets and into housing,” he said. “Only homes can solve homelessness.”
Council Member Alison Alter also hailed the hotel-buying strategy as a proven way to house homeless people for relatively little money compared to building new housing.
City Council will likely vote on the purchases on Wednesday. The two hotels, at 10811 Pecan Park Blvd. and 13311 Burnet Road, will cost $9.5 million and $6.7 million, respectively. The properties will add to the city’s five other converted hotels, moving the city closer to its goal number of supportive housing units provided to homeless residents.
Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, the newly elected District 6 representative, asked to postpone the vote by a week in order to allow more time for nearby residents to comment and for Council to address residents’ concerns. Casar said he wanted to vote on the items on Wednesday… (LINK TO STORY)
City watching bills that would cut its authority (Austin Monitor)
As has been the case for several sessions, Austin is facing numerous challenges as the Texas Legislature begins to do its business. Due to Covid, this session will present new challenges, not just for city advocates, but for members and anyone who might want to testify before a committee or even watch from the audience.
As Intergovernmental Relations Officer Brie Franco told City Council at Monday’s work session, the city is watching some bills aimed at reducing its authority to lobby on its own behalf and control its own public safety budget. On her list of bills to watch was House Bill 749 by Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) and Senate Bill 234 by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Rockwall). The bills would restrict use of public money by political subdivisions and would prevent the city from hiring lobbyists or paying nonprofit state associations that primarily represent political subdivisions.
Franco also included information about HB 638, which would require a political subdivision to adopt a public safety budget equal to or greater than the public safety budget of the prior year. She also pointed out HB 741, which if approved would require voter approval of a city or county’s attempt to decrease the budget allocation for public safety compared to the previous year.
Gov. Greg Abbott has not given his State of the State address yet, but is expected to endorse bills to limit or eliminate Austin’s authority over its own police department budget… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Longhorns coach Shaka Smart tests positive for COVID-19 (ESPN)
Texas coach Shaka Smart announced Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation.
"I tested positive for COVID and am in isolation away from our team and my family," Smart said in a statement. "I am working remotely and look forward to rejoining our team in person when it is safe to do so."
Texas, ranked No. 5 in this week's AP men's basketball poll, is scheduled to face Oklahoma on Tuesday and travel to Kentucky on Saturday. It's unclear whether either game will be impacted by Smart's positive test, and the school hasn't announced who will take over as interim head coach if Smart is forced to miss games. The Longhorns' associate head coach is K.T. Turner, who spent seven seasons at SMU before moving to Texas last offseason… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
“If we’re all sick, we can’t legislate”: Coronavirus cases at Texas Capitol put lawmakers further on edge (Texas Tribune)
Texas lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Tuesday two weeks after kicking off their session with the adoption of varying rules to protect against the coronavirus.
But since the Legislature gaveled in for its 2021 session, at least four House members have announced they tested positive for the virus, forcing some colleagues into quarantine and renewing discussion about whether the rules go far enough.
While it’s unlikely the rules will be revisited in either chamber anytime soon, the developments have put some lawmakers further on edge as they prepare for months of legislating in relatively close quarters.
“There’s not a good answer for this, that’s the problem,” Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, told The Texas Tribune last week. “But if we’re all sick, we can’t legislate. And we’re on a time crunch.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Google Maps will start showing COVID-19 vaccine sites in Texas (KSAT)
Google will soon enable a tool to make it easier for Texans to find a COVID-19 vaccination site.
CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday announced Google Search and Maps will roll out the vaccine finder “in the coming weeks” for Texas, as well as Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi for starters.
The tool will also list if an appointment or referral is required, if the vaccine is limited to certain groups, and if a drive-through is available.
It will use information from government agencies, pharmacies and VaccineFinder.org, Pichai said in the announcement. It will be available in other states and countries at a later time.
Google decided to add the tool as searches for “vaccines near me” increased five times since 2021 began, he said.
Even as about 18 million people, or less than 6% of the U.S. population, have received their first dose of the vaccine, the rollout has been marked with confusion.
In Texas, the vaccine is available for groups in Phase 1A — frontline healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities — and in Phase 1B — people who are 65 or older and people with chronic medical conditions… (LINK TO STORY)
COVID-19 pandemic concerns force Texas Gov. Greg Abbott into a televised state of the state speech (Dallas Morning News)
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Gov. Greg Abbott to shed the trappings of a high-profile event and deliver this session’s state of the state speech next week on live TV, from a small business in the greater Austin area. On Monday, Abbott announced he’ll give his speech on live television on the evening of Feb. 1 as part of an hour-long program being produced and broadcast by Irving-based Nexstar Media Group Inc. Usually, not long after the start of a legislative session, a Texas governor appears in the House chamber at the state Capitol to deliver what, with all three branches of state government assembled, can be a nearly hour-long stemwinder about Texas’ accomplishments, challenges and priorities.
This year, with no live audience packed on the House floor and galleries because of the risk of coronavirus infections, Abbott’s speech will last 30 minutes. As aides and producers of the event noted, there will be no applause lines and standing ovations, shortening the speech’s duration. Abbott’s expected to talk about, among other things, distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, efforts to help small businesses recover from economic hits caused by the pandemic and how the state will maintain the increased aid for public schools it began in the 2019 session. “We are at a pivotal moment in our state’s history, and this televised address is an occasion for every Texan to celebrate our state’s exceptionalism and recognize our shared goal for an even better Texas,” Abbott said in a written statement. “Despite the challenges that America has endured over the past year, Texas remains a leader for the rest of the nation, and we have a duty to keep it that way.” The speech will air at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 1… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
House Transmits Article Of Impeachment Against Trump To Senate (NPR)
At about 7 p.m. ET Monday, House impeachment managers delivered to the Senate an article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump, a move that prompts preparations for a historic trial.
The formal step comes just over a year after the House last transmitted an impeachment measure against Trump to the upper chamber. The latest rebuke alleges that the former president incited the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
On Tuesday, U.S. senators, who act as jurors in an impeachment trial, will be sworn in.
The trial itself will begin on Feb. 9, giving the nine House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team two weeks to file briefs and finalize their legal preparations.
An aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the delay will ensure Trump has due process.
The two-week period also allows for other Senate business to continue, like the confirmation of President Biden's Cabinet nominees… (LINK TO STORY)
State-level Republicans wracked by division after Trump's loss (The Hill)
Long-simmering tensions between Republicans at the state level are spilling into plain sight as conservative activists loyal to former President Trump look to cement their hold on the GOP.
With Trump now settling into his post-presidency, the grassroots activists whom he inspired — many of whom now hold sway over state and local Republican parties — are ratcheting up pressure on Republicans they deem too moderate or insufficiently loyal to the former president and his political legacy.
Over the weekend, the Arizona GOP narrowly reelected Chairwoman Kelli Ward, a polarizing figure who was among Trump’s biggest boosters in the state.
The party also passed a trio of resolutions censuring three of Arizona’s most prominent Republicans — Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain. Flake and McCain endorsed President Biden ahead of the November election.
Meanwhile, the Wyoming Republican Party rebuked the state’s lone congresswoman, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, after she voted to impeach Trump earlier this month, issuing a statement calling Cheney’s vote “a true travesty for Wyoming and the country.”… (LINK TO STORY)
The Vaccinated Class (The New York Times)
The coronavirus vaccine wasn’t supposed to be a golden ticket. A tiered and efficient rollout was meant to inoculate frontline workers and the most vulnerable before the rest of society.
But scattershot and delayed distribution of the still-limited supply now threatens to create a new temporary social class — one that includes not just people who are at higher risk for infection or severe illness and death, but also grocery store customers in Washington; Indonesian influencers; elementary schoolteachers; American celebrities; New York Post reporters and others who, because of their work or because of luck, have been able to get immunized quickly.
Tests of the vaccines show they’re incredibly effective. But people can still get the coronavirus while in the process of getting inoculated, and could possibly still spread the virus, especially if they come in close contact with others or stop wearing masks.
As a result, as people clamor to get in line for what represents the only real safety from a disease that has killed millions, plenty of individuals who have been vaccinated will wait patiently until they are told it’s safe to gather… (LINK TO STORY)