BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 27, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
In D5, Ryan Alter hopes to bring momentum to city operations (Austin monitor)
Ryan Alter will bring a state-level perspective to City Hall next year when he takes over representing District 5 from Ann Kitchen, the two-term City Council member who was term-limited and unable to run in November.
As a policy analyst and legal staffer for a number of state senators in recent years, Alter said he heard frequently about the frustrations and confusion over the way Austin city government operates and how long it often takes for basic work to get done in many departments. Trying to change that culture is one of his priorities once he’s sworn in next month.
“There is a perception from the Capitol, because you deal with people who also deal with the city, that the city just makes everything overly difficult,” he said.
“It feels like we make it harder than it needs to be.”
Alter said he hopes the two other first-time Council members – Zo Qadri in D9 and José Velásquez in D3 – and new Mayor Kirk Watson will help to change the attitude and expectation for how the city operates in the years to come… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Mackenzie Kelly: ‘Hyper-focused on public safety’ in 2023 (Austin monitor)
Over Mackenzie Kelly’s two years as City Council’s lone conservative, she has made a point of finding common ground with those she often disagrees with and avoiding the charged rhetoric employed by politicians at the state and national level.“That’s really been a mainstay of how I’ve conducted myself here, finding out what priorities other Council members have, that they care about, and trying to find out where we might align,” she said.
This year, Kelly gathered the support of her peers on initiatives around preventing human and sex trafficking among people experiencing homelessness; restarting the city’s biennial point-in-time counts, a census of unsheltered Austinites; and reinstating automated license plate readers for use by the Austin Police Department… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Passengers stuck at Austin's airport for days after Southwest cancellations (KVUE)
Southwest Airlines is in the hot seat after canceling 70% of its flights on Monday, forcing some to sleep days at Austin's airport.
Southwest Airlines statement:
"We are still experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of Winter Storm Elliott’s lingering effects on the totality of our operation. With the weather now considerably more favorable, we continue work to stabilize and improve our operation… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Challenges loom for Austin-area housing market in 2023. Experts experts weigh in on outlook (Austin American-statesman)
Across the five-county Austin region extending from Georgetown to San Marcos, home sales have tanked by double-digit percentages for many months in 2022 compared with the same months of 2021, and the pace of price growth has slowed as well, figures from the Austin Board of Realtors have shown.
From January through November, 31,108 homes changed hands in the Austin region, down 17.1% from the same 11 months last year, according to the board. Half of those houses sold for more than $507,843 and half sold for less, for a 12.9% increase in the median sold price.
Within Austin's city limits, the board reported 9,406 sales year-to-date through November, down 23.2% from the same period last year. The median sold price was $595,000, up 11.2%… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas is now home to 30 million people (TExas Tribune)
Fueled by migration to the state from other parts of the country, Texas crossed a new population threshold this year: It is now home to 30 million people.
New estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau put the state’s population as of July 1 at 30,029,572 following years of steady growth. This makes Texas the only state, other than California, with a population of more than 30 million.
The state’s population has been on an upward trajectory for decades, accompanied by demographic shifts that have reshaped everything from its politics to its classrooms as people of color have powered its growth… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
No signs of a slowdown here: Texas’ GDP growth surges 8.2%, and population spikes (Dallas MOrning News)
The latest job estimates show growth has slowed in Texas, but other metrics are still pointing up – way up. Gross domestic product in Texas grew a whopping 8.2% in the third quarter, up from an annualized rate of 1.8% in the second quarter, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The numbers, which are adjusted for inflation, put Texas second among all states in growth rate, behind only Alaska. Texas also was far ahead of the U.S. growth rate of 3.2%. In addition to its surging GDP numbers, Texas led all states in population growth this year. Texas added 470,708 residents in the year that ended July 1, 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. That’s nearly 54,000 more than runner-up Florida and over 300,000 more than No. 3 North Carolina.
Texas’ total population was 30,029,572 on July 1, becoming only the second state (after California) to cross the 30 million threshold. Texas’ economic momentum appeared to slow after the Federal Reserve jacked up interest rates several times to try to tamp down inflation. Home starts and sales fell sharply, and the Dallas Fed recently lowered estimates for full-year job growth. The latest Texas economic outlook by Dallas Fed economists is titled: “Slowing economic growth.” But the new GDP results show Texas was still growing strong at the end of September, thanks in large part to the oil and gas industry. The mining sector, which includes oil and gas, was the biggest contributor to GDP growth in the six fastest-growing states: Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota and New Mexico. In Texas, oil and gas accounted for about 44% of the GDP increase, according to government data. Wholesale and retail trade, information and manufacturing were the next-largest contributors to Texas’ increase. Activity in the Texas oil patch has grown sharply, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine and sent global energy prices surging. In the 12 months through November, Texas added over 42,000 jobs in the sector that includes oil and gas. That’s an increase of nearly 23%, far higher than any other field… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Scooters could make a return on Dallas streets in early 2023 (Dallas Morning News)
Electric scooters are set to be back on Dallas streets to rent by early next year. Scooters were banned in Dallas in September 2020 after a two-year run amid concerns about public safety and city oversight. They were originally set to return this fall under tighter regulations, but Dallas officials say e-scooter companies are still setting up. The city is also finalizing the permit process and hiring an outside company to collect data on the vendors once they’re active to track where scooters are being used and how they’re complying with city rules. Advocates say renting scooters is an affordable transportation alternative that lowers car travel and can help close the gap for people who don’t have vehicles… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Democrats, feeling new strength, plan to go on offense on voting rights (New York times)
For the last two years, Democrats in battleground states have played defense against Republican efforts to curtail voting access and amplify doubts about the legitimacy of the nation’s elections. Now it is Democrats, who retained all but one of the governor’s offices they hold and won control of state legislatures in Michigan and Minnesota, who are ready to go on offense in 2023. They are putting forward a long list of proposals that include creating automatic voter registration systems, preregistering teenagers to vote before they turn 18, returning the franchise to felons released from prison and criminalizing election misinformation. Since 2020, Republicans inspired by former President Donald J. Trump’s election lies sought to make voting more difficult for anyone not casting a ballot in person on Election Day. But in the midterm elections, voters across the country rejected the most prominent Republican candidates who embraced false claims about American elections and promised to bend the rules to their party’s advantage… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Time is running short for McCarthy to lock up Speakership (The Hill)
It’s crunch time for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Members of Congress departed Washington on Friday with the group of House Republicans voicing opposition to McCarthy for Speaker showing no signs of wavering, setting up a dramatic Jan. 3 Speaker’s vote — or series of votes — on the first day of the 118th Congress… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Bingham Group Week in Review (12.21.2022)
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. catch-up on the short holiday week including:
Council staff picks; Official runoff election results (LINK TO FINAL RESULTS: bit.ly/3FMlZEv); and this week’s winter storm advisory
Episode 178
The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Spotify
Enjoy this episode? Please like, share, and comment!