BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 6, 2022)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
Austin City Hall staff moves // Amy Everhart has joined Austin Energy as Director of Local Government Affairs. Most recently Chief of Staff to Council Member Paige Ellis (D8), Amy previously served as Director of Public Affairs for the Austin Board of REALTORS® and the Office of Mayor Steve Adler. Julie Montgomery, formerly CM Ellis’s Policy Director, is now Chief of Staff. We congratulate them both!
[HEARINGS]
TODAY
Tuesday, 6/7
Thursday, 6/9
[AUSTIN METRO]
New report dives into the details of housing in Austin (Austin Monitor)
HousingWorks Austin has released its latest annual report on Austin’s housing market and supply of affordable housing, underscoring not only the drastic increases in home prices and rents many have experienced but also disparities in affordable housing supply across the city.
“The high cost of housing and short supply of affordable housing in certain parts of the city make it very difficult for many households to have the ability to choose to live in all parts of Austin,” Nora Linares-Moeller, executive director of HousingWorks, said in a press release.
The nonprofit’s market analysis shows that housing prices for both renters and homeowners have outpaced income growth. From 2020 to 2021, the median home sale price increased 26 percent from $424,900 to $536,311, and over the same period, average monthly rent increased by $359 to $1,658 – a 27 percent jump. Meanwhile, median family income grew by 12 percent, less than half of the growth rate of housing costs. Nearly every City Council district saw sales prices rise by at least 26 percent and rents increase by at least 15 percent.
The report also illustrates, with the help of an interactive map, the distribution of affordable housing across the city. New for this year, the report includes not only existing affordable housing but affordable units in development… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Endeavor plans 9-story building on South Lamar Blvd. (Austin Business Journal)
Endeavor Real Estate Group aims to build a nine-story mixed-use tower along South Lamar Boulevard just south of Lady Bird Lake.
The Austin-based full-service commercial real estate firm currently has 517 S. Lamar Blvd. — just south of a McDonald's and Peter Pan Mini-Golf — under contract and is seeking a change in zoning and local environmental regulations to build the planned tower at the 1.87 acre site.
Located southeast of the intersection of Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard in the West Bouldin Creek Watershed, the site is currently home to a single-story plaza housing Trek Bicycle Lamar and Care Now Urgent Care.
To move forward with a plan to build 400 proposed residential units, 10,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and underground parking, the firm is seeking to rezone the tract from general commercial services-vertical mixed use (CS-V) to planned unit development (PUD) zoning. The project will formally be brought for a vote in the coming months… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New omicron subvariants detected in Travis County (KUT)
Austin Public Health confirmed two new omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, were detected in six samples taken in and around Travis County in May.
While more data is needed to determine if the new subvariants produce more severe symptoms, they have been found abroad to be more highly transmissible than the predominant BA.2 subvariant, said Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin-Travis County health authority.
“It’s really important that people stay up to date on their vaccinations and get those booster shots,” Walkes said.
Walkes said these new variants can evade immunity, meaning even those who have had COVID-19 before could get it again. Those with waning immunity who are due for a booster shot could also get a mild case of COVID-19, she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
TxDOT wants cops to crack down on speeders, but APD's traffic enforcement units are understaffed (KUT)
With traffic crashes killing about 10 people a day across the state, the Texas Department of Transportation is launching its first-ever safety campaign focused on the leading cause of road deaths: speeding.
The new campaign includes an increase in speed limit enforcement by police across Texas from June 7 to June 21, officials said at the unveiling Thursday outside TxDOT's Austin District headquarters.
"It often takes the threat of an expensive ticket or other legal consequences to get drivers' attention and to motivate them to make adjustments to their driving," TxDOT's director of traffic safety Michael Chacon said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Taxpayers will likely pay millions in incentives to fuel Buc-ee’s expansion plans in Luling (San Antonio Express News)
Buc-ee’s is such a popular travel destination that the city of Luling and Caldwell County will likely fork over millions of dollars to increase the local footprint of the chain. However, specific details about how much taxpayers will be on the hook for are unclear. What is clear is that Caldwell County will cough up 50 percent of sales tax revenue for a proposed expansion of the Luling travel center along Interstate 10, according to an agreement approved by elected officials in April. The 20-year agreement ensures that the county will refund Buc-ee’s half of its sales tax revenue for everything sold at what is anticipated to be one of the world’s largest convenience stores, records show. The city of Luling in April also approved a similar economic development agreement with Buc-ee’s for the company to build a new 74,000-square-foot travel center at the same I-10 location. A portion of Luling is in Caldwell County and is about 58 miles northeast of San Antonio.
In May, Caldwell County denied an Express-News public records request for economic impact statements related to Buc-ee’s expansion in Luling, citing an exception in the state’s open records statute that allows governments to withhold records related to discussion in an “executive session,” which is closed to the public. Buc-ee’s, which boasts 35 Texas travel centers around the country, opened its first location in Luling in 2001. The store has been renovated several times in recent years and there are plans for it to double its current size. Generous tax incentives for Buc-ee’s are nothing new. Communities across Texas and the U.S. often salivate at the prospect of new jobs, further economic development and increased tax revenue that a Buc-ee’s could bring to their communities. The Buc-ee’s agreement with Caldwell County is similar to economic development agreements signed in Hill County and the city of Hilsboro for a proposed location along Interstate 35… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants Texas to spend $50 million on bulletproof shields after Uvalde shooting (Houston Chronicle)
With Texas lawmakers out of session until January, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday said state leaders should immediately spend $50 million to equip school police, and ultimately all law enforcement, with bulletproof shields in the hopes of staving off future mass shootings. Patrick, a Republican who presides over the state Senate, called on House Speaker Dade Phelan to join him next week in approving the funds, which he said would be used to buy shields for “every school district officer in the state who does not have one.” Patrick’s request comes 10 days after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. State authorities have since revealed that police officers waited for nearly an hour outside the classroom where the massacre unfolded, before a team of Border Patrol agents — armed with ballistic shields — entered the room and fatally shot the gunman.
“If all responding law enforcement had bulletproof shields last week, lives may have been saved,” Patrick said, calling his plan a “straightforward solution [that] can begin right away.” State law allows the lieutenant governor, speaker and the chief budget writers in each legislative chamber to transfer existing funds within an agency, or from one agency to another, when the Legislature is not in session. The next session is scheduled to begin in January 2023 unless Gov. Greg Abbott calls a special session in the meantime. The Republican governor earlier this week asked Patrick and Phelan to form temporary committees to come up with school safety proposals before next session, signaling he is unlikely to order a special session despite calls from Democrats and activists to do so. With companies reporting spikes in demand for bulletproof gear, Patrick acknowledged the state could run into initial supply chain delays if they attempt to buy a mass quantity of shields. But, he said, “we should buy every quality shield we can find and order the rest so we are at the front of the line when more become available.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Some Texas GOP donors urge Congress to act on gun control measures like red flag laws, expanded background checks (Texas Tribune)
Major Republican donors, including some that have contributed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaigns, joined other conservative Texans in signing an open letter supporting congressional action to increase gun restrictions in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead last week. The letter, which is expected to run as a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, endorses the creation of red flag laws, expanding background checks and raising the age to purchase a gun to 21. More than 250 self-declared gun enthusiasts signed it. “Most law enforcement experts believe these measures would make a difference,” the letter reads. “And recent polls of fellow conservatives suggest that there is strong support for such gun-safety measures.” The letter voices support for Texas’ senior senator, John Cornyn, who has been tapped to lead bipartisan negotiations in Congress over possible gun reform measures.
“We are grateful that our Senator John Cornyn is leading efforts to address the recent tragedies in Uvalde and elsewhere across our great Country,” the letter says. “He’s the right man to lead this bipartisan effort, as he has demonstrated throughout his career.” In an interview with Politico, Cornyn stressed that he was not interested in “restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens under the Second Amendment,” but said it would be “embarrassing” if Uvalde didn’t spark Congress to reach some sort of bipartisan legislative response. The letter was paid for by Todd Maclin, a former senior executive at J.P. Morgan Chase who now runs the Dallas-based finance firm Maclin Management. Maclin said he is a conservative gun owner who has been stirred to action by the shooting in Uvalde. “These events have really motivated me and really gotten under my skin and encouraged me to support the effort that’s underway,” Maclin told The Texas Tribune. “I just felt like I needed to do something, and I also believe that there are reasonable things that can be done.” He said he is still hearing from more conservative gun owners who are feeling a “great sense of urgency and a great need to support [Cornyn] as he does his best to address these issues.” Among the signatories are deep-pocketed Abbott supporters, including billionaires Robert Rowling, whose holding company owns Omni Hotels, and Ray L. Hunt, executive chairman of Hunt Consolidated Inc… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Crypto lobbying hits fever pitch as Bitcoin's favorite senator finishes bill (Politico)
The most highly anticipated legislation in the history of cryptocurrency is about to make its debut, after months of hype drummed up by Sens. Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Lummis, the first-term Wyoming Republican who’s enthralled the Bitcoin faithful with appearances at crypto festivals across the country, has been teasing the contents of her comprehensive digital currency regulation plan in a series of podcast appearances, industry gatherings and high-profile media appearances for much of the past year. Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, hopped on the hype train as a co-author in March, giving the effort a new sheen of bipartisanship.
The campaign has fueled a lobbying bonanza on the part of digital asset startups, venture capitalists and consumer watchdogs. They want to put their stamp on a sweeping bill that Hill aides and industry insiders believe will set the tone for how Congress writes the rules for crypto in the coming years, even if it likely stands no chance of becoming law in the form that Lummis and Gillibrand plan to release Tuesday.
“This is the starting point for discussions about what the law should look like,” said Miles Jennings, crypto general counsel and head of decentralization at Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture firm that’s a major investor and lobbying force in the world of digital assets. “I think that is one of the reasons we’re excited about it.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Rick Caruso’s Millions Upend Los Angeles Mayoral Race (Wall Street Journal)
Earlier this year, the mayoral race here looked like it might be a cakewalk for Democratic U.S. Rep. Karen Bass.
Then came Rick Caruso and $40 million.
Since entering the race in February, the billionaire real-estate developer has spent his almost entirely self-funded war chest blanketing television, radio, YouTube and mailboxes with advertisements arguing that a shake-up is needed to address persistent homelessness and rising crime.
The prior record for total spending on a mayoral campaign in Los Angeles was $10.2 million by current Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2013, according to city records dating back to 2001.
Ms. Bass, a six-term U.S. representative and former speaker of the state assembly who would be Los Angeles’s first elected female mayor, has spent about $3.2 million… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 158: Managing Growth in the City of Kyle - A Discussion with Council Member Dex Ellison
Today’s episode (158) features City of Kyle Council Member Dex Ellison. He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the growth and associated challenges with one the fastest growing cities in Texas.
According to the U.S. Census, the city grew from a populations of 5,000 in 2000, to just over 52,300 (and growing) in 2020.
First elected to Kyle City Council in November 2019, Council Member Ellison was re-elected in November 2019. -> EPISODE LINK