BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 7, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW // BG PODCAST - Episode 121: Talking COVID-19 Vaccination with Dr. Aliza Norwood
On today’s episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. speaks with Dr. Aliza Norwood, an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School. The two discuss her experience with the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination, the differences between it and the Moderna treatment, vaccine misconceptions and more.
NEW // CEO CONVERSATION
It’s a ways out (maybe not so much IF the strong mayor referendum passes) from candidates openly seeking a run at the mayoral seat in 2022. But the unofficial chatter I’ve been hearing is all from men. Given the discussion playing out now for Mayor Pro Tem (see lead story below) with a majority female Council (8 women to 3 men) , WHO in a category OTHER than male do you think would and/or should run for mayor? //A.J. (Message me directly. Off the record conversations always).
PRE-FILED BILLS FOR THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE:
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (1062)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Newly elected Austin City Council members use swearing-in ceremony to condemn violent protests at U.S. Capitol (Community Impact)
Following a day marred by an unprecedented infiltration of the U.S. Capitol by protesters supporting U.S. President Donald Trump, Austin’s newly elected City Council members used their swearing-in ceremony to condemn the demonstrations and call for a restoring of democratic values.
Southeast Austin’s District 2 and Northwest Austin’s District 6 officially received new City Council members in Vanessa Fuentes and Mackenzie Kelly, respectively, while incumbents Greg Casar in District 4, Leslie Pool in District 7 and Alison Alter in District 10 each took their oath of office for their second four-year City Council terms.
Leading up to the Jan. 6 swearing-in ceremony, conducted over video conference, many in Austin and across the country watched as Trump supporters stormed the nation’s congressional chambers in an effort to disrupt Congress’ official acceptance of the presidential election results. Following their oaths of office, the five City Council members addressed the events as they looked ahead to the work demanded of City Council in the year ahead.
“We can continue to be an Austin that is as divided today as it was nearly a century ago, or we can continue the tough work of addressing these inequalities demanded by our communities,” Fuentes said. “As I think about this moment that we’re in, as a nation, amid the chaos that we’ve witnessed today at the U.S. Capitol, as a state and as a community, I stand committed to the pursuit of justice until justice is realized for all.”
Kelly, the only newly elected City Council member to earn her seat by beating an incumbent, said she wants to represent her Northwest Austin district in a way that reaches across the aisle. Kelly’s victory in the December runoff election against incumbent Jimmy Flannigan puts her as the most conservative voice on a City Council dais that leans heavily to the left. Kelly said she is concerned about homelessness and public safety in the city… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Health officials ready alternate care site at Convention Center as COVID hospitalizations surge (KUT)
Austin Public Health is preparing to use the alternate care site at the city’s convention center to open up beds in local hospitals as COVID-19 admissions continue surging in Central Texas. There were 115 new hospital admissions Tuesday, and the city’s interim health authority says ICUs could reach capacity by next week.
“My guess is that this week or next week, we will start the activation process for the alternate care site,” Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday. “It seems very clear to us that we are going to run out of hospital beds and that we are going to have to stretch out resources in order to meet the needs of our community.”
The rolling average of new daily hospitalizations is 83, the highest at any point of the pandemic. Escott said 17.8% of tests in the Austin area are coming back positive for COVID and that number could rise to 25% soon. He said APH has reached the limits of what it can recommend to reduce transmission under state law and the governor’s executive orders.
“I think we would encourage the state to reassess their plan. ... I don't think the rollback to 50% occupancy at retail and restaurants is doing the trick,” Escott said. “I think it was a good strategy, it was forward thinking to set those benchmarks. But I think we have to assess the situation and identify whether or not the strategy is working or not. It’s clearly not working.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Feeling TEA pressure, AISD goes back to campus (Austin Chronicle)
Earlier this week the Austin Independent School District returned to on-campus classes as planned after winter break.
This semester will be the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic that AISD will have to navigate classes – both in-person and virtual – under Stage 5 of local risk-based guidelines, while also meeting state directives requiring in-person instruction. This puts the district, as Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde frankly admitted, "between a rock and a hard place."
"Our goal is always to want our community to be very satisfied with the decisions that we make," said Elizalde during a New Year's Eve press conference. "There are also constraints [that] absolutely come from the Texas Education Agency." If AISD had pivoted to all-virtual classes this week, as it considered doing once Austin and Travis County entered Stage 5 on Dec. 23, the district would lose state funding.
A third option would have been to cancel both in-person and virtual classes entirely. This delay would mean making up lost days by extending the school year, which Elizalde said would also jeopardize state funding if AISD were unable to complete its required instructional hours before June 30. Teachers' contracts must also end before that deadline.
The district employee union Education Austin blasted the decision to reopen this week. "This is no time for business as usual," EA wrote in a Dec. 31 statement. "The superintendent is actively contributing to unsafe conditions and risking people's lives. We call on members of the AISD Board of Trustees to right the ship, and exercise all available power to delay reopening schools until it is safe to do so." Last month, the union filed more than 100 grievances on behalf of educators who had asked to teach virtually this semester, among the more than 1,000 AISD staffers whose requests for medical accommodations were denied by the district. Union President Ken Zarifis told the Chronicle that some of the high-risk teachers have since received a COVID-19 vaccine as a result of Ascension Seton's partnership with AISD, but that many more vaccinations will be needed… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Outgoing Texas House speaker Dennis Bonnen leaves legacy of political ambition, talent and scandal (Dallas Morning News)
In the end, Dennis Bonnen is leaving the Texas Capitol the same way he came in. Combative. Unapologetic. And unafraid to stick it to those on the other side of a fight. Through a 24-year career in the House, Bonnen made fast friends and political enemies as he pushed conservative, pro-business bills through the Legislature and steamrolled through opposing committee witnesses and lawmakers. After being elected to his Brazoria County House seat at the age of 24, Bonnen immediately flashed the cunning and political savvy that would become his trademark and ultimately help him oversee the passage of a landmark school finance law as speaker of the Texas House. But he also showed the aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach to politics that would characterize his leadership style and ultimately lead to his demise in a secret recording scandal where he targeted members of his own political party. Bonnen declined comment for this story.
As his time in the Texas House comes to an end, his legacy will be defined by that deadly combination of talent and ambition. It will also be remembered by what could have been. At the top of his game after more than two decades in politics, Bonnen almost surely would have secured a second term as speaker — and likely more — if he had avoided a fateful meeting with one of his major political antagonists. “There was no threat to him, he was at the top of the food chain,” said longtime GOP consultant Bill Miller. “He went high, he went fast, and he fell hard.” Bonnen won his first election in 1996, becoming the youngest member in the Legislature at the time just a few years after graduating from St. Edward’s University in Austin. Even then, Bonnen’s hard work and his drive to make a mark on Texas politics was evident, said Chad Wilbanks, a lobbyist and former Republican Party of Texas executive who has known Bonnen since college.
“He outworked his opponents,” Wilbanks said. Back then, Republicans were a minority in the House. But Bonnen learned from Democratic Speaker Pete Laney the mantra he would later adopt as head of the chamber: Let representatives vote in the interests of their district. Bonnen focused on local bills his first sessions but gained clout after the GOP took the chamber in 2003. That year, he was made chairman of the Environmental Regulation committee, where he blocked proposals to clean up Texas’ environment and earned the nickname “Dennis The Menace” for his treatment of witnesses. In 2007, Bonnen authored a bill that blocked an executive order by then-Gov. Rick Perry mandating that sixth-grade girls in the state receive the human papillomavirus vaccine. The bill, which passed both chambers of the Legislature with a veto-proof majority, blocked the requirement for at least four years… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas 'relatively close' to ready for moving STAAR all online in 2022-23, study finds (Houston Chronicle)
Texas school districts are “relatively close” to having the tools they need to start giving state standardized tests online to nearly all students by 2022-23, according to a study published by the Texas Education Agency. The analysis, conducted by TEA and Texas A&M University officials, found recent technological developments — including the purchase of 2.5 million computer devices amid the COVID-19 pandemic — have better positioned Texas to join the 70 percent of states that already administer their standardized tests virtually. Under a law passed in 2019 by state legislators, TEA officials must create plans for moving their exams online by 2022-23.
“In reviewing the intelligence gathered through this study … and other relevant sources of information regarding currently available funding, it is estimated that the state of Texas is relatively close to having the infrastructure necessary, on top of its years of experience, to administer all assessments electronically by 2022-23,” the study authors wrote. A strong majority of school district leaders support the switch, though some opposition remains, according to surveys conducted by state officials. Many education officials also worry about technological hurdles and how the move to online exams will impact student performance. Each year, nearly all of Texas’ 4 million public school students in grades 3 and up take some form of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, commonly known as STAAR. The results are a major factor in calculating state-issued accountability ratings, deciding if students should be promoted to middle and high school, and determining whether high school seniors should receive a diploma… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Capitol reels after pro-Trump mob beaches building; Woman is killed (NPR)
The insurrectionists interrupted proceedings in the House and Senate Wednesday afternoon as members of Congress were tallying Biden's win. The counting of the electoral votes is normally a relatively pro forma session.
But for two months, Trump has falsely and continuously claimed the election was stolen from him, and dozens of fellow Republican allies had planned to object to slates of electors from various states they considered contested.
Lawmakers were debating an objection to Arizona's results — a swing state Trump lost narrowly — when the sessions were recessed as the Capitol Police attempted to put the complex on lockdown.
Violent protesters were seen smashing windows and occupying the House and Senate floors and various lawmakers' offices. Police were seen with guns drawn in the House chamber, pointing their firearms at windows that were smashed… (LINK TO STORY)
Biden to name Judge Merrick Garland as attorney general (Associated Press)
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday. In picking Garland, Biden is turning to an experienced judge who held senior positions at the Justice Department decades ago, including as a supervisor of the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The pick will force Senate Republicans to contend with the nomination of someone they spurned four years ago — refusing even to hold hearings when a Supreme Court vacancy arose — but Biden is banking on Garland’s credentials and reputation for moderation to ensure confirmation.
Biden is expected to announce Garland’s appointment on Thursday, along with other senior leaders of the department, including former homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general and former Justice Department civil rights chief Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general, the No. 3 official. He will also name an assistant attorney general for civil rights, Kristen Clarke, the president of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. Garland was selected over other finalists including Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. The people familiar with the process spoke on condition of anonymity. One said Biden regards Garland as an attorney general who can restore integrity to the Justice Department and as someone who, having worked as both a federal prosecutor and a high-level supervisor inside the agency, will enjoy the respect of nonpartisan career staff. Garland’s confirmation prospects were solidified as Democrats on Wednesday scored control of the Senate majority by winning both Georgia Senate seats… (LINK TO STORY)
Schumer: First priority in new Senate is $2,000 stimulus checks (AXIOS)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that one of his first priorities in the 117th Senate will be to pass legislation that would send $2000 stimulus payments. Why it matters: If Jon Ossoff holds his lead over former Sen. Perdue, Schumer is set to become the next majority leader with the power to steer legislation. The election has not yet been called. What he's saying: "One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated, is deliver the $2,000 checks to the American families," he said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
Schumer said that he looked forward to sitting down with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but that they had to wait until races are certified. "We have a lot of things to discuss," he said. Both Ossoff and Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock ran on boosting aid to Americans. The big picture: Sending increased direct stimulus payments to Americans was one of the major points of contention between Democrats and Republicans as negotiations stalled for months last year, amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The latest coronavirus relief package provided $600 direct payments to Americans, despite President Trump and Democrats pushing for the increased amount of $2,000… (LINK TO STORY)