BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 29, 2021)
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CITY OF AUSTIN
THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (1,589)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Construction starts on downtown Austin project focused on lower-cost 'workforce housing' (Austin American-Statesman)
An Austin developer says her company has started construction downtown on a project designed to provide moderately priced "workforce housing," potentially for up to 90 people.
Weaver Buildings, a real estate development firm owned by Jen Weaver, is constructing the 45,000-square-foot mixed-use project, called Capitol Quarters, at 1108 Nueces St. The site formerly housed an office building that was torn down last year.
The project also will have no parking for residents – something Weaver said is a first for a residential project in downtown Austin.
The new Capitol Quarters building will have 30 units, each with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The building could be ready for its first residents early next year.
The cost for the residential spaces are estimated to be $1,400 per person, if there were three people in the unit. Three people could come together to sign a lease, or one tenant could sublease to other residents.
“Austin’s downtown has the highest residential rental rates in the state of Texas,” Weaver said. “Urban living should be available to a broader variety of incomes."… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin doctor named chief medical officer of Department of Homeland Security (KVUE)
President Joe Biden has named an Austin doctor and a University of Texas faculty member the chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland Security.
Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, the associate medical director for the People’s Community Clinic of Austin, was appointed chief medical officer, the clinic announced on Jan. 28. People's Community Clinic is an East Austin safety-net clinic that gives care to more than 16,000 Central Texans who are uninsured.
Gandhi is also an affiliate faculty member at the University of Texas Dell Medical School. At Dell Medical School, he specializes in population health and pediatrics.
He studied at Tufts University and completed his residency at Tulane University. He also studied at the London School of Economics and Johns Hopkins University.
The People's Clinic said that "over the course of his career, Gandhi has worked with working-class and marginalized communities to address social determinants of health and poverty."
“We regret losing someone of Dr. Gandhi’s tremendous capabilities, talent and compassion. He has been an outstanding leader for our clinic and our community during one of the most difficult times in our country’s history. We are proud of the relationship Dr. Gandhi has had with us, and wish him the best in this new and very critical role for our country,” said Regina Rogoff, People’s chief executive officer… (LINK TO STORY)
Samsung seeks 100% tax rebate from Austin for proposed $17B plant expansion, threatens to build elsewhere (Community Impact)
If Austin wants Samsung Semiconductor to bring its $17 billion state-of-the-art chipmaking plant to the Texas capital, Samsung wants a 100% property tax reimbursement on the project from the city for more than 20 years, according to documents reviewed by Community Impact Newspaper.
Samsung Semiconductor, under the guise of Silicon Silver, is shopping around a new 6.1 million-square-foot chipmaking plant that comes with a $17 billion investment—$6 billion in structure and other real estate developments and $11 billion worth of personal property in machinery and equipment—according the documents. The project would bring up to 1,993 jobs, 1,800 of which carry average salaries of about $100,000. The project would be among the largest single economic investments in Texas history and the largest single investment in the Austin area, easily surpassing recent billion-dollar projects such as the Tesla Gigafactory in 2020 and the Apple campus in 2018.
According to documents, Samsung rejected a city offer that included nearly $650 million in economic incentives over a 10-year span. The proposal would have been a record corporate incentive from the city, exponentially topping the current record—a still active incentive package, initially estimated at $62.9 million, offered to Samsung in 2006 for its existing $4 billion chip manufacturing plant, according to economic incentive data from the city.
However, Samsung wants more for its latest mega-project and has asked for a 100% tax reimbursement over a 25-year term… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas takes on Biden but Republicans keep distance from AG (Associated Press)
As President Joe Biden’s agenda is dealt an early blow in Texas, the embattled Republican attorney general promising more fights ahead with the new administration is getting little public support from members of his party, even as they cheer the results. Nearly all of the more than 100 GOP lawmakers in the Texas Legislature did not respond when asked by The Associated Press if they had confidence in Attorney General Ken Paxton, who for months has been beset by an FBI investigation over bribery and abuse-of-office accusations. At the same time, Republicans are showing no intention of using their overwhelming majority and legislative powers to confront Paxton over the coming months in the state Capitol, where lawmakers are back at work for the first time since eight top deputies for the attorney general leveled accusations against him. All eight have resigned or were fired since October.
Since then, Paxton has baselessly challenged Biden’s victory, including asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the election. And on Tuesday, he won a court order halting Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations, in a lawsuit filed just two days after the president was sworn in. Now, with America’s biggest red state ready to resume the role of foil to a Democratic administration, the atmosphere surrounding Paxton in some ways resembles the peace that privately weary Republicans made with Donald Trump’s bombastic presidency — applauding the work while mostly staying silent about the surrounding turmoil. “That’s the real measurement. That’s the real litmus test,” said Republican state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who pointed toward the deportation lawsuit and challenges last year to mail-in ballot applications around his Houston district. “Because I already know, in my case, in my county, the AG’s office made a major difference.” The AP contacted the offices of every GOP lawmaker in the Legislature, asking if they had confidence in Paxton and whether the Legislature should act on his deputies’ accusations. Only two responded, both saying they had no reason to question the attorney general’s job performance and that they were waiting for the results of outside investigations. Paxton’s budget requests may yet force Republican lawmakers to consider the exodus from his office. But so far, members of his party — who control of every lever of state government — haven’t rushed to put one of their top elected officials under a microscope. The ranks of Texas’ GOP legislators include Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who joined her husband on stage at Trump’s Jan. 6 rally that proceeded a deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol…(LINK TO STORY)
Beto O'Rourke says he's thinking about running for Texas governor (Houston Chronicle)
Democrat Beto O’Rourke has left no doubt that he’s weighing a run for governor next year. “You know what, it’s something I’m going to think about,” O’Rourke said in an exclusive interview on an El Paso radio station earlier this week. And in case anyone missed the interview, supporters of a political action committee O’Rourke started called Powered By People is circulating it on social media. The former congressman from El Paso, who lost a close race for U.S. Senate in 2018, told KLAQ host Buzz Adams that Texas has “suffered perhaps more than any other” state during the pandemic and criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for a “complete indifference” to helping local leaders try to save lives.
“I want to make sure we have someone in the highest office in our state who’s going to make sure that all of us are OK,” the 48-year-old O’Rourke said. “And especially those communities that so often don’t get the resources or attention or the help, like El Paso.” Abbott’s spokesman would not comment Wednesday on O’Rourke’s potential bid. “We don’t take anything for granted,” Abbott’s political strategist, Dave Carney, told The Dallas Morning News in an interview two weeks ago.
“There’ll be a general election opponent, and (Democrats) will put a lot of effort in and they’ll raise a lot of money.” While it feels like the 2020 elections just ended, Texas’ early 2022 primary schedule puts potential statewide candidates on a fast track if they have hopes of seriously competing for offices like governor or lieutenant governor. The Texas political primaries are on March 1 — giving candidates just over a year to raise money in one of the most expensive states in the nation for campaigning. The filing period to get on the ballot starts Nov. 14. Abbott, who has already said he’s seeking re-election for a third four-year term, has already been flexing his financial muscle. Abbott has almost $38 million sitting in his campaign account to fend off would-be challengers… (LINK TO STORY)
‘We’re not satisfied’ | 1 in 13 eligible Texans has received COVID-19 vaccine, Texas Health Department says (KHOU)
More than 1.7 million Texans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and more than 350,000 have gotten both shots. But that’s a drop in the bucket in a state creeping up on 30 million people.
“Texas has a strong start, but has a long way to go,” Imelda Garcia with the Texas Department of State Health Services said Tuesday. “There’s still a lot of need out there, and not enough vaccine for everyone.”
Garcia said the biggest issue is the supply of doses being allocated by the CDC.
“We’re not satisfied with the supply that we’re getting and so we continue to push in that regard,” Garcia said. “We’ll continue to fight to get more vaccines to Texas.”
Records show 1 in 6 Texans in the most vulnerable group of age 65 and older has been vaccinated. The number drops to 1 in 13 for eligible Texans ages 16 and older.
Garcia said the DSHS is working to get more vaccinations to Black and Brown Texans -- populations hit hardest by the COVID-19 virus.
That was one of the main goals of the state's 28 vaccination hubs. Those sites are guaranteed a set minimum doses each week, but some have gone to waste… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Democrats ready to bypass Republicans on COVID-19 relief bill (The Hill)
Democrats are moving quickly to lay the groundwork for passing additional coronavirus relief, with or without help from Republicans.
The push comes as Democrats are under pressure to go big amid new data showing the economy shrank 3.5 percent last year with stubbornly high levels of unemployment persisting into 2021.
Democrats can muscle through a budget resolution, the first step for a coronavirus relief bill, with a simple majority in the House and Senate. Under a plan crystallizing on Capitol Hill, they are hoping to pass it through both chambers next week.
“Congress must pursue a bold and robust course of action to defeat the disease, recover our economy, get our country back to normal. ... But if our Republican colleagues decide to oppose this urgent and necessary legislation, we will have to move forward without them,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the House would vote on its budget resolution next week and floated that moving forward could put pressure on Republicans to support the legislation. Senate Democrats haven't formally locked in a schedule, but Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that next week was the “ambition,” and incoming Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he will be ready to go with the reconciliation instructions… (LINK TO STORY)
Robinhood to reopen GameStop buying after $1 billion raise (Mashable)
It's been a wild week at Robinhood.
On Thursday, the company announced it will start allowing customers to buy GameStop shares on Friday.
Robinhood halted buying for several stocks — including GameStop, AMC, BlackBerry, and Nokia — on Wednesday, citing high volatility. Notably, these are the stocks that have gotten in the crosshairs of Reddit investor group r/wallstreetbets, who are buying them en masse and betting against massive hedge funds that have been relentlessly shorting (selling in anticipation of buying cheaper later) these stocks in recent months and years (read the whole saga here).
This didn't sit well with customers, who started leaving the platform and moving to other trading apps. Deliberately or not, Robinhood's move was helping GameStop shorters, as it stopped millions of traders from driving the price of GameStop higher up.
Now, Robinhood explains this was not the case.
"Amid this week’s extraordinary circumstances in the market, we made a tough decision today to temporarily limit buying for certain securities. As a brokerage firm, we have many financial requirements, including SEC net capital obligations and clearinghouse deposits. Some of these requirements fluctuate based on volatility in the markets and can be substantial in the current environment," the company wrote in a blog post. "To be clear, this was a risk-management decision, and was not made on the direction of the market makers we route to."… (LINK TO STORY)
GameStop mania reveals power shift on Wall Street—and the pros are reeling (The Wall Street Journal)
The power dynamics are shifting on Wall Street. Individual investors are winning big—at least for now—and relishing it.
An eye-popping rally in shares of companies that were once left for dead including GameStop Corp., AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., and BlackBerry Ltd. has upended the natural order between hedge-fund investors and those trying their hand at trading from their sofas. While the individuals are rejoicing at newfound riches, the pros are reeling from their losses.
Long-held strategies such as evaluating company fundamentals have gone out the window in favor of momentum. War has broken out between professionals losing billions and the individual investors jeering at them on social media. Meanwhile, the frenzy of activity is stirring regulatory and legal concerns, as well as the attention of the Biden administration. The White House press secretary said on Wednesday that its economic team, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, is monitoring the situation.
The newbie investors are gathering on platforms such as Reddit, Discord, Facebook and Twitter. They are encouraging each other to pile into stocks, bragging about their gains and, at times, intentionally banding together to intensify losses among professional traders, who protest that social-media hordes are conspiring to move stock prices.
“I didn’t realize it was this cultlike,” said short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research, who has become a particular target of some investors on social media. “It’s just a get-rich-quick scheme.”
GameStop, AMC and BlackBerry have received hundreds of thousands of mentions across social media since early January and have vaulted into the ranks of the most traded stocks in the U.S. market.
The mammoth gains have forced money managers to dump bets that the stocks would fall, magnifying the rally. Bearish investors who took short positions have lost $23.6 billion this year through the close of trading Wednesday on GameStop alone, according to financial analytics company S3 Partners, including $14.3 billion on Wednesday when the stock price jumped 135%, its largest percentage increase in history, to a record $347.51… (LINK TO STORY)