BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 4, 2022)
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[FIRM UPDATE]
Andy Cates Joins The Bingham Group, LLC
The Bingham Group, LLC is pleased to announce the addition of Andy Cates, J.D. as General Counsel and Managing Principal - State Affairs.
“Andy is a respected colleague who brings over a decade of experience navigating the Texas Legislative process and has a strong entrepreneurial drive," said A.J. Bingham, firm Founder and CEO. “Along with joining our leadership team, Andy will lead Bingham Group’s expansion into state lobbying before the legislative and executive branches of Texas government.”
Andy most recently served as co-founder and Senior Partner of Austin-based lobby firm, Salient Strategies, where he and his partners ushered House Bill 5, the Governor’s emergency item on Broadband Expansion, to passage. He previously served as General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs for the Texas Nurses Association, where he spent three legislative sessions leading advocacy efforts to secure over $25 million in state funding to end the nurse shortage. Prior to that role, he served as legislative attorney for the Texas Association of REALTORS® as well as lead attorney for the Texas Association of REALTORS® Political Action Committee, the largest PAC in Texas… LINK TO FULL POST
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 157: Discussing the Austin Economic Development Corp. w/Anne Gatling Haynes, Chief Transactions Officer
Today’s episode (157) features Anne Gatling Haynes, Chief Transactions Officer for the the Austin Economic Development Corporation (AEDC). She and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the impetus for its founding and the work ahead.
BACKGROUND:
In October 2020, recognizing the increasing pressures of rising real estate prices on affordability, equity, and the City’s iconic venues and small businesses, the City of Austin created the AEDC.
AEDC is a Public Real Estate Developer, working for purpose instead of profits. AEDC can speed the pace of the public response to decreasing affordability and equity by moving at the pace of the market to blend the best of public and private deal making. -> EPISODE LINK
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin EMS employee quits in response to pay negotiations (KXAN)
The people who show up when you dial call 911 are asking the City of Austin for more money.
The Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Association came back to negotiations Tuesday with a new compromise that the city will review.
Alyssa Magnum has worked with Austin-Travis County EMS since 2015.
During the Austin winter storm, she kept coming to the rescue and pushed through the COVID-19 pandemic on scorching hot summer days.
“I would throw up afterward because it was so hot and you can’t touch your face, you can’t do anything,” Magnum said. “So after each call, we’d have to go back and shower.”
Negotiating new pay for the first time in four years, the City of Austin recently offered entry-level EMTs a 14-cent raise.
“It’s embarrassing,” Magnum said. “It’s a disgrace and it makes me so angry.”
Yet, the city says the lowest-paid employee would receive a 39-cent hourly raise, as others would experience 5%, 7% and even 15% hikes.
Nevertheless, Magnum decided to call it quits on her career last week, taking a new job as a luxury travel agent instead.
“It just got to the point where I want to be able to afford a house,” Magnum said. “I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck anymore.”
Contracts for the city’s three public safety unions expire in the fall, as the Austin City Council ultimately must approve any pay deal… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Lobby ordinance needs revision to cover virtual meetings (Austin Monitor)
City auditors have found that, while the city’s registered lobbyists are largely complying with city regulations, there is one significant gap in the reporting requirements. Although lobbyists are required to report their in-person meetings, no such requirement exists for virtual meetings, according to a report discussed at last week’s City Council Audit & Finance Committee meeting.
Andrew Scoggin, the senior auditor who made the presentation, told the committee his office reached out to three departments and nine Council offices, trying to determine whether the city has an overall strategy for tracking virtual meetings with lobbyists. They concluded there was none. Some offices use an electronic form while others use the electronic calendars to keep up with virtual lobbyist meetings, but nothing in city code requires either the lobbyist or the person being lobbied to keep a record.
Scoggin said both Dallas and San Antonio require reporting of virtual meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter said Council Member Leslie Pool, who did not attend the meeting, was working on a revision to the ordinance that would include reporting virtual meetings. (Pool brought forward the last lobbyist registration ordinance.)… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
People moving to Dallas, Houston, San Antonio at higher rates than Austin, report finds (KVUE)
While nothing seems to be stopping Austin's growth, it appears other Texas cities are now growing at a faster rate.
According to a report from the moving and storage company PODS, Dallas had the second-largest growth change in the nation compared to its rank last year. Meanwhile, Houston came in at No. 12, San Antonio was No. 13 and Austin ranked at No. 16.
"Again, taking a look at moving trends and patterns, it’s no surprise Texas is moving up in the ranks. Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio also offer up the promise of an affordable cost of living, plenty of sunshine, and access to nature and wide open spaces," wrote Alex Keight of PODS. "Like Florida, Texas is also one of the nine U.S. states that doesn’t have state income tax, giving those who move there an additional budget boost."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
How Fourth Street may look if apartment tower moves forward (Austin Business Journal)
A newly released drawing shows how different West Fourth Street could look if an apartment tower is built in the downtown Warehouse District.
The rendering from the Chicago-based architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz provides the first glimpse of a developer’s vision for the block, which would include demolishing a string of LGBTQ bars like Oilcan Harry’s, Neon Grotto and Coconut Club. However, the plans call for the proposed tower to have a newly designed space for Oilcan Harry’s that would push its location down the block next to the nightclub Rain on 4th.
If the plans are ultimately approved, the entrance and the signage for the new Oilcan Harry’s would appear where the now-shuttered Sellers Underground is located. Additionally, the plans call for construction of an open-air plaza and a recessed glass lobby down the block at the corner of W. Fourth and Colorado Streets.
Applications for demolition are scheduled to be heard by the city of Austin Historic Landmark Commission on May 4… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT Austin releases 10-year plan to become 'highest impact' public research university (Austin American-Statesman)
The University of Texas released its strategic plan on Tuesday morning outlining its 10-year blueprint to become the “highest-impact public research university in the world.”
The plan, known as ‘Change Starts Here,’ includes 42 initiative areas across five different pillars: people, place, experiences, education, and research. Some of UT’s goals include boosting its four-year and six-year graduation rates; increasing its housing capacity; and improving the campus experience for faculty and staff members.
UT officials and campus leaders conducted surveys, focus groups and interviews with hundreds of students, faculty and staff members during the 16 months spent developing the plan, which also addresses how UT will increase research, scholarship activity and funding in various fields.
“Our collective ability to change lives, power social mobility, and solve great challenges is extraordinary — and more important than ever given the pace of change and the global opportunities we have ahead of us,” UT President Jay Hartzell wrote in the plan. "To make the most out of our special position, we must audaciously elevate our ambitions while reinforcing our core commitment to UT’s mission and values.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Apple, Amazon among Texas companies that promise to help employees get abortions despite trigger law (Houston Chronicle)
The Supreme Court’s apparent decision to allow state lawmakers to make women’s health care choices puts chief executives in a tough spot, forcing them to choose between their employees’ rights and right-wing backlash. Disney’s recent experience defending LGBT rights against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s demagoguery will sadly encourage cowardice. Millions of Texans are waiting to hear how their employee health insurance will handle abortion coverage when the procedure becomes a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison. Texas Republicans have made banning abortion their marquee issue for decades. In addition to prohibiting government health insurance from paying for abortions, the Legislature also banned state-regulated plans from covering them.
Employers of 60 percent of Americans with company-sponsored health insurance, though, use self-funded plans. These are exempt from state regulations, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care research organization. Only 14 percent of self-funded plans exclude some or all abortions. Polling shows 59 percent of Americans think abortion should be legal under all or most circumstances, according to Pew Research. After Gov. Greg Abbott allowed Texans to privately prosecute other Texans who seek an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, many companies stepped up. Amazon, Citigroup, Salesforce, Apple, Bumble, Levi’s, GoDaddy, Match, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, have all promised to help employees get abortions outside Texas. “We are pro-woman. We will support a woman’s right to make health care decisions for herself, even if that means traveling out of state. It’s an investment that’s not just right, but good business too,” Curtis Sparrer, a principal at Houston-based PR firm Bospar told me in an email… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
‘Not a good sign’: Bexar commissioners split, vote to allow Spurs to host additional home games outside AT&T Center (San Antonio Express-News)
Bexar County commissioners narrowly agreed to amend the Spurs’ non-relocation contract, allowing the team to play twice as many home games away from the AT&T Center. But they supported the change Tuesday for only one year, and commissioners sternly suggested the team bring its leaders back in two weeks when the contract amendment will be up for a vote. The amendment would allow the Spurs to play four home games at different locations — one in Mexico City, one at the Alamodome and two others within a 100-mile radius, rather than on the team’s home court at the county-owned AT&T Center.
The Spurs had asked for a two-year pilot program that could include two games at the Moody Center in Austin. But after discussing the matter during an executive session that ran more than an hour, commissioners felt they needed more time to study the issue. Under the 2000 non-relocation agreement, which runs through 2032, the Spurs can play only two home games away from the arena or face a huge penalty — $130 million this year. Commissioner Tommy Calvert asked pointed questions to Bobby Perez, chief legal counsel of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, about whether the team is increasing its local ownership and is possibly thinking of moving to Austin. Calvert, whose precinct includes the arena, said people are worried that the Spurs are “testing the waters in Austin.” Perez said the Spurs simply want to widen the team’s following and be “crystal clear” that their strategic vision won’t run afoul of the restrictive non-relocation agreement. The team has played regular-season games in Mexico City as a visiting team but has not played there as a host team, responsible for expenses and positioned to collect revenues… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
In Texas, momentum builds for more fees on electric vehicles (Austin American-Statesman)
The satisfaction of cruising past gas stations without needing to pull in for a fill-up is among the joys of driving an electric vehicle. It comes with a downside for the state's finances, however, because taxes on the sale of gasoline foot a big portion of the tab for road maintenance and expansion projects in Texas. The Texas Legislature has noticed. The number of "alternatively fueled vehicles" in the state — including electric vehicles and all types of hybrids — constitutes only about 1.3% of the 25.2 million vehicles registered here. But lawmakers are looking to enact new fees on them to make up for the dearth of gas taxes their drivers pay. Similar efforts have failed during previous legislative sessions, but momentum appears to have reached a tipping point. “This is one of the top issues Texas must address this upcoming session (in 2023), and we will pass a bill" this time, state Rep. Terry Canales said during a recent meeting of the House Transportation Committee, which he chairs.
"At this point the amount of electric vehicles is somewhat minimal, but it is growing exponentially every year," said Canales, D-Edinburg. According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, conventionally powered light-duty vehicles pay an average of $103 in state gas taxes annually and $95 in federal gas taxes, based on typical driving of about 11,500 miles. A portion of the money collected from federal gas taxes also helps fund state transportation projects. With both Canales' House committee and a Senate committee studying the issue of fees for electric vehicles and hybrids in advance of next year's legislative session, the debate is boiling down to how much — not whether — they should chip in. Manufacturers of electric vehicles — including Austin-based Tesla, the best-known maker of electric vehicles — appear resigned that their Texas customers eventually will face such fees, which 30 other states already charge. Instead of opposing them, representatives of Tesla and Rivian, a California-based EV maker, turned out for the recent Texas House committee meeting to urge that the Texas fees be as low and as fair as possible, possibly by calculating them according to annual miles driven, rather than by assessing a flat amount. They also said the state's struggles to find money for transportation projects isn't the result of the relatively small number of electric vehicles and hybrids in operation, because Texas hasn't raised its gas tax over the past few decades as conventionally powered cars and trucks have gotten much more fuel-efficient… (LINK TO FULL STORY)