BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 9, 2022)
[HEARINGS]
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[AUSTIN METRO]
Decision to hike pay to $22/hour will cause future budget deficits (Austin Monitor)
The upcoming wage increases for city staff will cause budget deficits in coming years and force leaders to identify new revenue sources, according to analysis by the Human Resources Department.A memo released last week presents a number of scenarios prompted by City Council’s recent direction to increase the minimum wage for all workers to $22/hour — or as close to that number as possible given the funds available. The June resolution provided a number of parameters for addressing the pay gap experienced by some 5,000 city staffers who currently earn less than $22/hour, with the minimum wage stuck at $15 since 2018.
The memo presents two options for increasing staff pay: reaching $22/hour in the 2027 fiscal year via $1/hour yearly increases after an initial across-the board bump to $18/hour, or increasing to $27/hour over the next five years… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin economy forges ahead as recession fears loom nationally (Austin American-Statesman)
If you’re looking for evidence that the U.S. economic slowdown is having an impact locally, you won’t find it at Bobby Jenkins’ company, ABC Home & Commercial Services.
ABC’s revenue in July climbed nearly 17% compared with the same month a year ago, and Jenkins said he’s trying to fill about three dozen open positions to keep up with demand.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not monitoring the weakening national outlook.
“I’m definitely worried about it,” said Jenkins, owner of Austin-based ABC. “But while I am concerned about the big picture, I can tell you currently in Austin, business is very good and demand is still high.”
It's a common refrain in the Austin business community. Local economic indicators remain strong for the most part, despite wariness about the possibility that a broad nationwide downturn could put a damper on activity in the metro area… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD administration outlines its vision for potential 2022 bond package (KUT)
The Austin ISD board of trustees is voting this week on what to include in the 2022 bond. The package the board OKs will be on the ballot in November, and voters will decide whether to approve some or all of the proposals.
On Monday, Austin ISD’s administration released its recommendations for what should be included in the bond package. The district’s vision is largely aligned with proposals the bond steering committee has spent months developing. But there are some differences, and AISD has suggested moving around tens of millions of dollars.
The steering committee is made up of 17 members: Nine members are appointed by trustees, seven are from the long-range planning committee, and one is a student. The group put together two draft proposals using a methodology that prioritizes historically underserved students and communities.
One of the proposals totals $1.75 billion and does not require a tax rate increase. The other totals $2.25 billion and would require a 1 cent hike to Austin ISD’s debt service tax rate. The district’s overall tax rate is slated to decrease, however… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Law Department predicts challenges ahead for equity-based preservation programs (Austin Monitor)
The Historic Landmark Commission was in an unusually gloomy mood last Wednesday, as the meeting kicked off with an ominous briefing from the city’s legal department.
At the request of Commissioner Blake Tollett, Assistant City Attorney Neal Falgoust dropped by to discuss the shifting federal court landscape and its implications for city policy. In light of the recent Roe v. Wade ruling, and other high-profile cases in the pipeline, Falgoust warned that municipal anti-discrimination programs could soon become a legal target.
“I think that the legal landscape we face right now in the federal court system is not one where we’d want to end up in court,” Falgoust said. “This upcoming term we have a lot on our watchlist in the areas of civil rights, nondiscrimination and racial equity. I don’t think it will be a particularly good term for any of those cases.”
The news comes just a month after the commission celebrated a year’s worth of progress developing its equity-based historic preservation plan, the first effort to update the city’s preservation policy since 1981. The new plan, which explicitly addresses racial bias in the historic zoning process, was intended to roll out sometime next year… (LINK TO STORY)
Canadian venture capital firm Framework plans Austin office (Austin Inno)
Toronto-based venture capital firm Framework Venture Partners is looking south for investment opportunities, and it has selected Austin as its first U.S. office.
The firm, led by co-founder and Managing Partner Peter Misek, is in the process of selecting an office space in downtown Austin. It anticipates moving in by the start of November. In the meantime, Misek and other team members will be making regular visits to the city as it adds senior associates and principals to lead its local efforts.
"We think Austin is frankly the gateway to the United States for us," Misek said. "And why we say that is we think it has the right number of startups, right number of partners, right number of growth funds and right number of LPs. Our focus is on what we would call the middle of the Midwest, southeast and southwest. We are looking for opportunities outside of the Bay Area, outside of New York and outside of Boston."
Framework is in the process of raising its second fund, which it anticipates will be over $200 million… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Republicans, Democrats prioritize legislative races targeting Collin County and South Texas seats (Texas Tribune)
Former President Donald Trump is the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024, according to attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. In the unscientific CPAC straw poll conducted during the three-day conference and released Saturday, 69% of about 1,000 attendees who voted said they would choose Trump if the election were held today, while 24% said they would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump had 59% of support in a straw poll conducted during a CPAC event in Orlando in February. During his speech Saturday, Trump didn’t mention DeSantis by name, saying that “second place” was 24%. If the former president is not on the ballot, CPAC attendees’ support for DeSantis grows to 65%, according to the poll.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, most CPAC attendees said they believe the Republican Party is DeSantis’ to inherit, but not until the former president steps aside. The two Texas Republicans with presidential aspirations, Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, fared poorly in the straw poll. Cruz got 2% of the vote, while Abbott and several others didn’t register beyond 0%. Former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump and his base heavily criticized for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory on Jan. 6, scored higher than Abbott at 0.3%. On the ballot without the elder Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., had 8%, Cruz 6%, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 5%… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas remains a powerhouse in job growth even though hiring could slow later this year (Houston Public Media)
Whether on storefront windows or restaurant doors, "help wanted" or "now hiring" signs are still a common sight across many parts of Texas. At the same time, large companies with footprints in Texas have laid off hundreds of employees over recent months, while others contemplate trimming staff.
So, are the only jobs available in Texas low-skilled or service jobs? Are larger companies preparing for another quarter of negative growth? Is Texas about to feel the brunt of a recession?
The answers aren't simple, but the consensus from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is that the state's economy is strong. And hiring trends are likely to continue for some time, said Pia Orrenius, a vice president and senior economist and the bank.
She cited as proof last month’s jobs report for Texas, which showed that 82,500 jobs were added in June. The job growth put the state's unemployment rate at 4.4%. (The unemployment rate in the United States was 3.5%, according to a report issued Friday.)
"That’s like the labor market on steroids," she told The Texas Newsroom. "We’re seeing jobs added in every industry. So, it’s not true that it’s just the low-skill industries or the low-wage industries. It’s every industry adding."
At first glance, that appears to contradict recent reports about some companies in Texas announcing sizable cuts to their workforces. In July, the Dallas Morning News reported that 20 Texas-based companies had laid off about 3,700 employees during the first six months of 2022… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New NIL collective to pay SMU football, men’s basketball players $36,000 per year (Dallas Morning News)
The Name, Image and Likeness era has had different ways of showing itself over its one year of existence. Donors at SMU have shown a willingness to engage with each of them. The latest engagement might be the biggest. Boulevard Collective, a NIL collective with alumni and donors but not associated directly with SMU, launched over the weekend. The group, operated by longtime compliance expert Chris Schoemann, expects to pay football and men’s basketball players $3,000 per month and $36,000 per year — according to three school representatives with knowledge of the deal — amounting to a total commitment of roughly $3.5 million per year. Schoemann didn’t go into details on the financial agreement, but he did say, “with what we have looked at in terms of a budget for Boulevard, I feel comfortable saying this puts SMU student-athletes on par or exceeding their Power Five contemporaries.”
On3 was first to report the financial details. Schoemann also added that the Boulevard Collective doesn’t plan on stopping with football and men’s basketball. “Our plans here are more expansive than that,” he said. Dallas businessmen and SMU alumni Chris Kleinert and Kyle Miller were credited with leading the efforts to create Boulevard Collective, according to a release. “This is just the beginning,” Kleinert wrote in a statement. “The purpose of the Boulevard Collective is to create opportunities for SMU athletes that enhance their athletic career, while preparing them for wherever their professional aspirations might take them at SMU and beyond. Our goal is to ensure this Collective becomes the gold standard for NIL efforts across the country.” Boulevard Collective will be the second NIL collective working with SMU student-athletes. Pony Sports DTX has already dished out over $1 million in NIL deals since its inception. Boulevard Collective will be operated through Opendorse, a popular NIL marketplace that works with 20 NIL collectives across the country. The Boulevard Collective is set to be one of the “largest” entities in the NIL marketplace, per a release… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
More Texas teachers on verge of quitting than at any time in the last 40 years, survey finds (Houston Chronicle)
More Texas teachers are considering leaving the profession than at any point in the last 40 years, according to new polling from the Texas State Teachers Association. The survey found that 70 percent of teachers were seriously considering quitting this year, a substantial jump from the 53 percent who said so in 2018, the last time the typically biennial survey was conducted. Teachers attributed their grim outlook to pandemic-related stress, political pressure from state lawmakers, less support from parents and stretched finances. The survey represented all grade levels and regions of the states. It was skipped in 2020 amid of the pandemic.
Like much of the nation, Texas is already grappling with a massive shortage of teachers. Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott convened a task force within the Texas Education Agency to study the problem and craft solutions. But as the school year fast approaches, there remain thousands of unfilled teaching jobs across the state, and the problem could only get worse if more and more teachers leave the profession. In the survey, which was completed by 688 Texas teachers, 94 percent said the pandemic increased their professional stress, and 82 percent said financial stress was exacerbated. Experts have pointed to better pay as a key way to recruit and retain teachers. Respondents taught for about 16 years on average, and their average salary was around $59,000. That’s about $7,000 below the national trend, according to the teachers association. Besides salary, Texas teachers on average also receive some of the worst retirement benefits of those in any state, a separate study from June found. Teachers who have retired since 2004 have not received a cost-of-living adjustment, although the Legislature has passed some “13th check” bills that send extra annuity payments. In addition to pay, 85 percent said they felt state lawmakers held a negative view of teachers, 65 percent said the public held a negative view and 70 percent said support from parents had decreased over the last several years. Abbott and fellow Republicans in the Texas Legislature have recently enacted several high-profile education policies, over opposition from teachers groups and education experts… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Trump's Mar-a-Lago home raided by FBI in unprecedented move (Politico)
The FBI executed a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump on Monday as part of an investigation into the alleged mishandling of White House records, including potentially classified material, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The Florida raid, which one of the people said took “hours,” resulted in the seizure of paper records, according to one person familiar with the development, who also noted that Trump attorney Christina Bobb was present during the search. It was a historic step by the Justice Department and FBI to investigate the residence of a former president, who is battling an increasingly complex thicket of legal threats. No former president — particularly one who is openly considering another bid for the Oval Office — has faced such a public law enforcement action, which immediately led to calls among his allies for recriminations and even the elimination of federal law enforcement agencies.
“They even broke into my safe,” Trump himself said in a lengthy statement decrying the FBI search and comparing it to Watergate. Trump, who was the first to confirm the FBI action, said in a statement that his resort was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said.
The former president was not present at Mar-a-Lago. Instead, he was at Trump Tower in New York City, according to a person familiar with the situation. His son Eric Trump informed him of the raid.
The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s offices in Washington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople at Justice Department headquarters in Washington declined to comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Secret Service and the Palm Beach Police Department deferred comment to the FBI. Two sources familiar with the matter said top Biden White House officials were not given advance notice of the raid, which could potentially alter the course of both the upcoming midterms and an eventual Trump-Biden rematch in 2024… (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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