BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 10, 2022)
[HEARINGS]
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[AUSTIN METRO]
City of Austin, Travis County Declare Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency (City of Austin)
The City of Austin and Travis County declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Tuesday as the number of cases in Austin-Travis County continues to rise. Immediate action must be taken to curb the spread of the disease in our community.
The declarations will be found here:
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it was declaring the spread of monkeypox as a public health emergency. Austin and Travis County join Dallas County in the list of Texas jurisdictions to declare monkeypox a health emergency.
“We have the opportunity to stop the spread of monkeypox in our community. While we await more vaccines from the state, we’re asking the community to do what they know works,” said Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County Health Authority. “Limiting close contact with those you don’t know, covering as much of your skin as possible when going to events and wearing well-fitting masks will help to protect yourself from this disease.”
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) allocated 3,000 JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine doses to Austin Public Health (APH). As the JYNNEOS vaccine requires two courses, the limited supply provides enough vaccine for only 1,500 people… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin leaders push for electric buses in Austin ISD (KXAN)
Mayor Steve Adler, Congressman Lloyd Doggett and other leaders have asked the Austin ISD Board of Trustees to switch the district from diesel buses to electric buses.
The request letter went out to trustees president Geronimo Rodriguez on Monday. The letter asked trustees to make it a goal to replace the over 500 buses in AISD's fleet with electric buses by 2030.
Adler, Doggett and others acknowledged AISD's pilot project involving three electric school buses, but with the negative health impacts of diesel exhaust, they said more needs to be done quickly.
According to the letter, diesel exhaust is a likely carcinogen that "can cause respiratory diseases and worsen existing conditions like asthma," especially in children.
The letter also said that though electric buses are more expensive upfront, they are often cheaper in the long-term, and rebates from organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can assist with cost… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin is 'squandering opportunity' to partner on airport expansion, South Terminal operator says in lawsuit (Austin Business Journal)
The operators of the South Terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are pushing back on City Hall’s decision to file eminent domain proceedings for the facility.
LoneStar Airport Holdings LLC on Aug. 1 filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming breach of contract.
The lawsuit marks the continued escalation in a clash between the city and the South Terminal, which caters to low-cost airlines.
LoneStar — represented in court by the Austin-based eminent domain law firm Barron Adler Clough & Oddo LLP — filed the suit in federal court. In it, the company argues the city’s decision to file eminent domain directly conflicts the 40-year lease it granted to LoneStar in 2016 to operate the South Terminal.
The suit describes the city’s effort to pursue eminent domain as an "unlawful attempt to avoid the obligations of the contract it only recently entered" and an "unconstitutional taking in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution."… (LINK TO STORY)
Equity Action submits police oversight petition ahead of November election (Austin Monitor)
Austin voters may get the chance to decide whether to expand police oversight in the November election.Equity Action, a local political action committee dedicated to public safety reform, submitted 33,000 petition signatures to the city clerk on Monday in support of the Austin Police Oversight Act.
Under the city charter, eligible voters can pass laws via initiative petitions, bypassing City Council. Petitions must have at least 20,000 eligible voter signatures validated by the city clerk. Council must then adopt the petition as written or put it on the ballot for voters to decide.
If passed, the Austin Police Oversight Act would create a local law governing the city’s Office of Police Oversight and Community Police Review Commission, removing them from the purview of the city’s labor contract with the police union. The law would grant the office and the commission access to any police records they require, including confidential personnel files, and allow the office to recommend disciplinary actions in cases of police misconduct.
“We renegotiate our civilian review of police conduct, our whole process for accountability … every four years,” Kathy Mitchell, Equity Action treasurer and Just Liberty policy coordinator, told the Austin Monitor. “Sometimes it’s worse, sometimes it’s better. But overall, that constant renegotiation has not worked out well for the office or for the community.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New water quality rules aim to promote green infrastructure (Austin Monitor)
In a presentation to the Environmental Commission last Wednesday, staffers from the Watershed Protection Department presented a bundle of code updates aimed at improving water quality and making drainage infrastructure more environmentally friendly.“We couldn’t be more excited about the potential impact of these updates on the future of Austin’s environmental resilience,” Environmental Officer Katie Coyne told the commission.
One of the more significant updates will require green stormwater infrastructure in many new developments – things like rain gardens, biofiltration ponds and rainwater capture systems.
Staffers say these elements are better than typical concrete stormwater infrastructure. In addition to managing flooding, they provide “ecosystem services, improved filtration, wildlife habitat, heat island mitigation, water conservation,” said Liz Johnston, environmental program coordinator.
Conventional stormwater systems “do very well what they’re designed to do, but they only do that one thing,” Johnston said, adding, “They’re just not inviting.”
Green stormwater infrastructure will be required for sites with less than 90 percent allowable impervious cover. Staffers may still allow conventional infrastructure, provided developers make a case for why green infrastructure won’t work for their project… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas added nation-leading 82.5K jobs in June (Austin Business Journal)
Texas’ unemployment rate continues to edge down toward pre-pandemic levels, indicating the state’s economy continues to require more people at work.
Joblessness hit a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.1% in June in the Lone State State, down one-tenth of a percentage point from May, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released in late July. That was also a decrease from 5.9% unemployment in June 2021.
Prior to the pandemic, in February 2020, unemployment was at 3.5% in Texas. It peaked that April at 12.6%.
Texas added more jobs in June than any other state, 82,500.
“Texas leads the nation once again, creating more jobs and unmatched economic opportunities for Texans in a variety of critical industries,” Gov. Greg Abbott stated.
A total of 598,000 Texans were unemployed in June and 122,000 unemployment insurance claims were filed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
A new era of industrial policy kicks off with signing of the Chips Act (Washington Post)
President Biden on Tuesday signed legislation providing $52 billion in subsidies to the semiconductor industry, kicking off what will be one of the largest industrial development programs the federal government has ever administered.
The long-pursued bipartisan legislation looks set to spur construction of more than a half-dozen big semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States, providing more secure supplies of the tiny components that are so important to modern electronics that they are viewed as essential to national security.
The bill also authorizes tens of billions of dollars to support federal research and development and regional tech start-ups, which the administration hopes will lead to commercial breakthroughs in new fields such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Congress must still appropriate those funds, however.
“Today is a day for builders. Today, America is delivering,” Biden said just before signing the legislation in a White House ceremony. “I honest to God believe that 50, 75, 100 years from now, people will look back on this week, they’ll know that we met this moment.”
The funds appropriated for subsidies come amid acute global shortages of computer chips, caused by soaring demand and a lack of investors willing to build the multibillion factories needed to make the components. The lack of supply has hobbled automakers and other manufacturers that use chips, forcing them to cut production.
The federal funds won’t solve those shortages in the short term but will incentivize big construction projects by Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Micron, GlobalFoundries and others that aim to build chip factories in the coming years.
The United States today depends heavily on Asia and particularly Taiwan for its chips manufacturing, a reliance that has worried U.S. officials as the self-governing island’s tensions with China rise… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 160: Talking Public Relations, Career advice, and Austin with Kristin Marcum, CEO of ECPR
Today's special weekend episode (160) features Kristin Marcum, owner and CEO of ECPR, Austin's preeminent public relations firm.
Kristin and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss her path into PR and her career leading to the C-suite and ownership of the firm.-> EPISODE LINK
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