BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 8, 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 // What to Expect in Austin 2021: Thoughts from a Lobbyist (Texas CEO Magazine Q1 Issue)
Check out Bingham CEO A.J.’s recent Texas CEO Magazine article on the coming year.
PRE-FILED BILLS FOR THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE:
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (1091)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Mayor Steve Adler: Reflections on a challenging year (Austin Monitor)
At the start of 2020, Mayor Steve Adler was thinking about how to convince his colleagues to pass a new Land Development Code and how to convince the public to vote for a $7 billion mass transit bond proposal in November. He was not thinking about news from China about the deadly new coronavirus, and he was certainly not contemplating canceling South by Southwest, the multi-industry festival that brought 400,000 participants and $56 million to the city in 2019.
As the Austin Monitor reported on March 4, public health experts were not yet advising that the festival be canceled. But two days later, their advice changed and the mayor told SXSW sponsors that the emergency meant their gig had to be canceled.
“I think that it saved lives here, and frankly probably helped save lives around the country,” Adler said, during a conversation with the Monitor in late December. He pointed out that his role in the community changed when Covid-19 arrived in the country, forcing him to deal with events as an emergency manager. That was a new role for the mayor, who most often likes to work with others to achieve consensus. This time, the burden was on Adler and County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, followed by her two successors in office, Sam Biscoe and Andy Brown.
Adler said he was most proud of the work that Austin and Travis County did to prioritize saving lives, pointing out that Travis County has the lowest Covid death rate of all the big-city counties in Texas. “We have done well. The community has done well. That’s what I’m most proud of this year and what I think the community should be most proud of.”
Adler acknowledged that even though the city set up multiple shelters for the homeless and for people needing to quarantine away from their families, there was still not enough shelter for everyone. “The fact is that in the city we don’t have enough places for people to go that are otherwise unsheltered … and that challenge this year was exacerbated by the virus. That story is part of the larger challenge of homelessness.”… (LINK TO STORY)
City Manager Spencer Cronk: Operating smoothly under extraordinary circumstances (Austin Monitor)
As the person in charge of making sure things run smoothly at the city, City Manager Spencer Cronk has had a year that underscores his gratitude for the people he works with.
Cronk attributes a lot of the city’s effectiveness during the Covid-19 pandemic to the stable, competent leadership at Austin Public Health. He notes that, unlike in other places where public health leaders quit from fatigue or were essentially bullied out of office, interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott and APH Director Stephanie Hayden have been at the helm the entire time. “We really had stable communications and built that trust with our community,” Cronk said. “That’s the most important thing in a pandemic or any health crisis.”
“We can’t enforce our way out of this. … It really has to be that social contract we have to keep ourselves and each other safe,” he said.
Also important was basing the city’s reaction on the data, and making sure responses were appropriate and effective to serve the different populations impacted by the pandemic.
“Our community really wants to learn more and is a very engaged and educated population,” he said. “As much information as we were able to provide, we wanted to get that out there. … There is that self-monitoring and tracking and the community really being involved in this response.”
As for running the city, Cronk said that there was a “baseline” to work with in terms of telecommuting and other adjustments that had to be made because of the pandemic. “What I’m really proud of is that there was really no service disruption to city operations.” In fact, he said, the pivot to online operations was sometimes more efficient, and thankfully, embraced.
Even public meetings, he notes, “were as smooth as possible of a transition” and a testament to how the city was able to shift quickly and cover the basics under extraordinary circumstances.
“We didn’t miss any Council meetings,” he said. “Other cities were scrambling to figure out how they could do this and what would it look like. … Within a couple weeks of the pandemic, we were already back to talking about some mundane zoning cases.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Rising Central Texas hospitalizations could trigger tighter business capacity across 11 counties (KXAN)
Rising hospitalization rates in the Central Texas trauma service area — which includes Travis, Williamson, Hays and eight other counties — could trigger tighter capacity limits for businesses as soon as this weekend.
This means businesses operating at 75% would have to rollback their occupancy limit to 50%, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s October executive order. Bars that have also been allowed to reopen by county judges wouldn’t be able to operate indoors, but can offer drive-thru, pickup or delivery options, as outlined by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
The order states a “high hospitalization rate” means any region that has had seven consecutive days where the number of patients hospitalized for the coronavirus as a percentage of total hospital capacity has exceeded 15%.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has broken the state up into different trauma service areas. The Capitol Area Trauma Service Area, also called Trauma Service Area “O”, has 11 counties:
Bastrop
Blanco
Burnet
Caldwell
Fayette
Hays
Lee
Llano
San Saba
Travis
Williamson
Region O’s hospitalization rate surpassed 15% on Sunday and has increased since then, according to Williamson County. A rollback hasn’t been passed yet, but business owners should be preparing due to hospitalizations trending upward, the county said.
That rollback could come as soon as this Sunday if the hospitalization rate stays high for a few more days… (LINK TO STORY)
Now is not time to cut back on state's economic development tools, chambers argue (Austin Business Journal)
Area chambers are always looking for opportunities to strengthen the local economy, and it's even more of a priority this year coming off the heels of major economic wins for the Austin area.
Several chambers — including the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and Round Rock Chamber — have come out in favor of legislation that preserves and strengthens economic development tools such as the Texas Enterprise Fund, the state's "deal-closing" fund that awards incentives grants to big corporations. And in an effort to prepare for these incoming companies, the Austin chamber is putting an emphasis this year on efforts to strengthen education opportunities.
"The No. 1 issue that is raised to us as companies look, not just across the state or the nation but around the world, on where they can locate, they want homegrown workforce," said Laura Huffman, president and CEO of the Austin Chamber. "So, our ability to educate and train people to be ready for the jobs that are coming is important to our agenda."
The Austin and Round Rock chambers also want to preserve Chapter 313 tax incentives, which are tax breaks agreed upon between school districts and investors, and Chapter 312, the portion of the state tax code that outlines tax abatements between businesses and local governments. Other economic incentive tools like Chapter 380 and 381 agreements are front of mind at the Round Rock Chamber.
“Texas must be prepared to compete with other states as the nation emerges from the economic slowdown caused by coronavirus,” Round Rock Chamber President and CEO Jason Ball said in a statement. “We know that companies are seeking to locate to Texas because of its supportive business climate and highly skilled workforce. Now is not the time to back away from the strategies that have worked so well for decades.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Harris County confirms first reported case of more contagious COVID-19 variant in Texas (Dallas Morning News)
Harris County on Thursday reported Texas’ first known case of the new, more contagious COVID-19 variant. The new variant of the virus, known as B.1.1.7., was confirmed in a man between the ages of 30 and 40 in southwestern Harris County, who had no travel history, according to the county. Because the man had no travel history, it is believed the variant is already circulating in the state, according to Dr. John Hellerstedt, Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner.
“Genetic variations are the norm among viruses, and it’s not surprising that it showed up here given how rapidly it spreads,” Hellerstedt said in a written statement. “This should make us all redouble our commitment to the infection prevention practices that we know work: masks any time you’re around people you don’t live with, social distancing, and personal and environmental hygiene.” The man is reported to be in stable condition, and would be isolated until he was cleared by public health officials, the county said. “The health and safety of everyone in our community remains our top priority. Though mutations of a virus are expected, we are closely monitoring this case and any potential contacts to prevent the ongoing spread of the virus at all levels,” Dr. Sherri Onyiego, health authority for Harris County, said in a written statement… (LINK TO STORY)
Ken Paxton told Trump supporters to "keep fighting." When they breached the Capitol, he falsely claimed it wasn't them. (Texas Tribune)
On Wednesday morning, Ken Paxton stood in front of a roaring crowd, reminding a sea of President Donald Trump’s supporters that the president “is a fighter” and his backers must be, too.
“We’re here. We will not quit fighting,” he said, slamming Republican officials in Georgia who have stood by President-elect Joe Biden’s victory there. “We are Texans, we are Americans, and we’re not quitting.”
But by the evening — after members of the crowd he had invited to Washington, D.C., stirred up with false claims about election fraud, resorted to violence, smashing windows and scaling walls to breach the nation’s Capitol in a mob that forced members of Congress to flee and left at least one woman dead — he had claimed they were not his ilk at all… (LINK TO STORY)
As Texas boots Planned Parenthood, Medicaid clients get 30 days to find new providers (Houston Chronicle)
Thousands of low-income Texans have less than a month to find new providers of birth control, cancer screenings and other non-abortion services as the state moves forward with plans to boot Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, according to a letter sent from the state health agency. The nonprofit had asked for at least a six month extension to help recipients transition to new providers, following a November court ruling that allowed Republican officials to stop reimbursing it for Medicaid services. In the letter sent Monday, however, the health agency said it has only until Feb. 3, and is prohibited from accepting any new Medicaid patients.
Planned Parenthood served about 8,000 Medicaid recipients last year. The program helps low-income Texans, but many health providers don’t participate because of low reimbursement rates from the state. “The Medicaid network needs more providers, not fewer,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement denouncing the decision, adding that it will harm people of color and women most.
“Gov. Abbott knows full well that other providers can’t just absorb Planned Parenthood’s family planning patients — a well-documented fact explained by the experts, including the American Public Health Association.” Republican officials including Gov. Greg Abbott have been trying to remove the organization from Medicaid since 2015, following the release of an edited video purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials selling fetal tissue. No wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood officials was ever substantiated in that case. A lower court blocked the state’s move in 2017, but the decision was overturned in November by the conservative U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Planned Parenthood does donate fetal tissue from abortions for medical research and other legal uses… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Congress affirms Biden’s presidential win following riot at U.S. Capitol (Washington Post)
Members of Congress, shaken and angry following a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Trump’s supporters, put a final stamp on President-elect Joe Biden’s victory early Thursday morning and brought an end to a historically turbulent post-election period. Republicans had at one point planned to object to the electoral college votes in a series of states won by Biden, but after the storming of the Capitol, several GOP senators changed course, disputing only Arizona and Pennsylvania. Both challenges failed. Shortly after Congress affirmed Biden’s win, Trump pledged an “an orderly transition.” The statement, tweeted by White House social media director Dan Scavino as Trump remained locked out of his own Twitter account, stops short of conceding or congratulating Biden.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said, noting that Congress’s action “represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history.” In the final moments of the joint session, Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black said a prayer lamenting “the desecration of the United States Capitol building, the shedding of innocent blood, the loss of life and the quagmire of dysfunction that threaten our democracy,” and Vice President Pence gaveled the meeting to a close, as the Democrats present gave only a half-hearted show of applause. The lawmakers convened Wednesday evening, after hours of delay, in a show of defiance.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had consulted with fellow congressional leaders, the Pentagon, the Justice Department and Vice President Pence before concluding that Congress should move ahead with the ceremony interrupted earlier in the day by rioters provoked to action by Trump at a morning rally. “Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden,” wrote Pelosi (D-Calif.)… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump acknowledges election result in first tweet after ban lifted (CNBC)
President Donald Trump shared his first message on Twitter since being locked out of his account following Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump shared a video message that was as close to a concession speech as the public has heard from him, acknowledging a new administration would soon take over and urging calm. Trump said he had pursued “every legal avenue to contest the election results” with the sole purpose of ensuring the integrity of the election. While he said he believes election laws must be reformed, he recognized Congress had certified the results and that there would be a transition of power.
“Now tempers must be cooled, and calm restored. We must get on with the business of America,” Trump said. “A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.”
Trump also condemned the rioters who stormed on the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as lawmakers finalized the tally representing Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
“To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay,” Trump says in the video… (LINK TO STORY)
Republican senators now regret not doing more to contain Trump (The Hill)
Republican senators say they feel a sense of growing regret over not standing up to President Trump sooner — a day after a violent mob ransacked the Capitol building in one of the darkest and most humiliating days in U.S. history.
One Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss his conversations with GOP colleagues acknowledged GOP lawmakers should have served as a stronger check on the president over the past four years.
“We should have done more to push back, both against his rhetoric and some of the things he did legislatively,” said the lawmaker. “The mistake we made is that we always thought he was going to get better. We thought that once he got the nomination, and then once he got a Cabinet he was going to get better, he was going to be more presidential.”… (LINK TO STORY)