BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 6, 2022)
[HEARINGS]
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[AUSTIN METRO]
Black dispossession study starts to quantify cost of city’s 1928 master plan (Austin Monitor)
The city’s 1928 master plan, which effectively legalized segregation in Austin and limited public services for Black residents to a newly created “Negro District” east of what is now Interstate 35, has cost Black homeowners in just five neighborhoods – Clarksville, Wheatville, Red River, East Campus and South Austin – more than $290 million.
Acting Chief Equity Officer Kellee Coleman told the Austin Monitor this is a preliminary finding of an ongoing study of the “cumulative dispossession of Black land ownership between 1920 and today,” as she described it in an Aug. 26 memo to City Council.
The study stems from a March 2021 ordinance that formally apologized for the city’s role in the enslavement of Black people, the perpetuation of segregation and systemic discrimination, the exacerbation of racial divides, and multiple “urban renewal” programs that decimated Black communities.
The ordinance also directed city staff to commission a study “outlining the economic value of the … harm caused through economic, health, environmental, criminal justice, and other racial disparities and declination of resources,” which Coleman attributed to advocacy by the Black Austin Coalition.
Edmund T. Gordon, associate professor of African and African diaspora studies at UT Austin, leads the research team conducting the study, which so far has focused on the land ownership piece of this broader mandate.
“At the end of all this, I think the lost potential value of Black communities and other communities of color is going to be very, very substantial,” he told the Monitor… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT research study finds social media posting makes people overconfident in knowledge (KXAN)
A new research study from the University of Texas at Austin found that sharing on social media makes people overconfident in their knowledge.
According to the study, sharing news articles with friends and followers on social media can prompt people to think they know more about the articles’ topics than they actually do.
“Social media sharers believe that they are knowledgeable about the content they share, even if they have not read it or have only glanced at a headline,” the study suggested. “Sharing can create this rise in confidence because by putting information online, sharers publicly commit to an expert identity. Doing so shapes their sense of self, helping them to feel just as knowledgeable as their post makes them seem.”
The research was published online in advance in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
The study included recent data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism that showed 51% of consumers who “read” an online news story actually read the whole article, while 26% read part of the story and 22% looked at just the headline or a few paragraphs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto expanding water, wastewater treatment capacity as need increases (Community Impact)
Summer 2022 in Williamson and Travis counties is quickly becoming one of the driest in recent history, according to Brad Brunett, Brazos River Authority Lower/Central Basin regional manager.
The BRA is responsible for development, management and protection of the Brazos River Basin, and contracts with local municipalities—including Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto—for water supply. Brunett said the 2011 drought that left more than 80% of Texas’ land area in extreme drought at the height of the summer was severe.
“[2022 is] certainly a significant drought and for sure the worst that we’ve seen since 2011,” Brunett said.
Despite recent late August rains in the area that temporarily improved local dry conditions, state experts project a drought status will likely continue in Texas, though they cannot say for how long. Because of this and rising need in general, city officials maintain it is crucial to ensure local water resources can keep up with demand that is projected to more than double within the next decade.
To that end, major local projects are underway to expand water and wastewater treatment systems to meet demands of a growing population and address any issues of access in the case of severe drought… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City prepares to announce community-led anti-displacement projects (Austin Monitor)
The details are coming into focus on proposed partnerships between the city and community organizations to prevent displacement along Project Connect transit lines.Nefertitti Jackmon, the city’s community displacement prevention officer, described the efforts during a joint meeting of the Planning and Zoning and Platting commissions on Tuesday.
“Community-based organizations and people who are closest to the problems often have the solutions in terms of how to address their needs,” Jackmon said. “So it’s a very different approach; it’s a more bottom-up approach.”
As part of Project Connect’s $300 million in anti-displacement funds, the city will give a total of $20 million to 16 local nonprofits. The organizations will then pursue strategies to keep people who live near existing and future transit lines in their homes.
“The goal is to really help prevent the displacements of households specific to transit-induced displacement pressures, and really looking at what we can do in the short term to address displacement pressures,” Jackmon said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Electronics manufacturer Flex nominated for Texas Enterprise Zone tax rebates (Austin Business Journal)
The Austin City Council on Sept. 1 nominated an Austin manufacturer for funds from the state to help expansion plans. The manufacturer helped build thousands of ventilators to help Covid-19 patients, city officials said.
Flex, an electronics manufacturing services provider and one of the top global manufacturers of medical devices, was backed by the Austin City Council to be eligible and apply for a refund of more than $1 million.
The Texas Enterprise Zone nomination means the company is now eligible to apply for up to $1.25 million from the state in sales and use tax refunds. The final decision on the allocation of refunds will be made by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism, per the release… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Far East Austin may boom more if FM 973 is expanded (Austin Monitor)
The state's plan to expand and realign FM 973 in eastern Travis County could have major implications for the region's landowners and businesses.
They could include sparking a new wave of development in one of the county's last large swaths of open land.
The project, which remains unfunded, is expected to cost taxpayers about $167 million and includes plans to expand the two-lane road to six lanes, creating a more substantial link between far East Austin and Manor. As proposed, the Texas Department of Transportation plans to reroute a 5.7-mile stretch FM 973 farther east between the State Highway 130 toll road and U.S. Route 290.
That excites Manor Mayor Christopher Harvey, who expects an expanded FM 973 would significantly boost the city’s economic development and could also foster additional economic growth in Pflugerville, Taylor and other nearby communities… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Comptroller Glenn Hegar is reminding voters he’s a Republican ahead of his November election (Texas Tribune)
While other elected leaders battle over divisive issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights and gun policy, Republican Glenn Hegar has mostly avoided the drama, keeping a low profile as the state’s chief financial officer for nearly eight years.
But Hegar, 51, who is running for his third term as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, has made increasingly provocative moves in recent weeks, challenging financial companies he says are anti-oil and gas and threatening budget sanctions against Harris County over law enforcement funding, among other attention-grabbing actions that align with GOP party planks.
The uncharacteristically high-profile moves come as the November election nears. Hegar is seeking reelection against Democrat Janet Dudding, an accountant. The race for comptroller is widely considered to be a low-information race for a powerful position overseeing a state budget that reached $265 billion for the 2022-23 biennium… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Baylor College of Medicine wins $48.5 million in lawsuit alleging COVID caused property damage (Houston Chronicle)
Baylor College of Medicine won a $48.5 million award after a Harris County jury found that losses incurred by the medical school in the early phases of the coronavirus pandemic should have been covered by its property insurance. The verdict comes as businesses of all kinds battle with insurers to cover losses incurred from lockdowns, social distancing restrictions and other disruptions as COVID-19 rapidly spread in 2020. In the case of the Baylor College of Medicine, that medical school stayed stay open to treat patients, and develop research around treatments, vaccines and the virus, but incurred losses to buy personal protective equipment, constantly clean and disinfect facilities and equipment, and cover other extraordinary expenses. Baylor filed an insurance claim in April 2020 to recover its losses, but was denied. The medical school then sued underwriters at Lloyd’s Syndicate, a property insurance marketplace headquartered in London that insures large or unusual risks.
The underwriters argued that the virus can’t cause property damage because it can be wiped off with disinfectant and doesn’t cause any tangible or structural change. The lawyers for the underwriters did not respond to requests for comment. Baylor’s lawyers made the case to the jury that the physical presence of the virus on Baylor's property caused the loss of income and the extra expenses incurred during the pandemic, said Robert Corrigan Jr., senior vice president and general counsel at Baylor College of Medicine. “We were able to do that because the common understanding of what loss or damage means includes more than some structural change to the property -- it's anything that impairs the ability to use the property or impairs the value of the property,” Corrigan said. “The jury certainly believed that the presence of the virus did cause the property to be less functional, less usable, less valuable.” Companies have filed thousands of claims related to the pandemic under property insurance policies that provide business interruption coverage, but few have succeeded, said Murray Fogler, a trial attorney for Baylor College of Medicine. Baylor’s case was the first of its kind, to Fogler’s knowledge, that made it to a jury trial… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas’ tax collections for the fiscal year exceed projections by $841M (Dallas Morning News)
Economic growth and inflation contributed to Texas collecting $841 million more in taxes this fiscal year than what was projected, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Thursday. The state collected $77.2 billion in taxes, a 25.6% increase from the previous fiscal year, the comptroller’s office said in a news release. Sales tax revenue totaled about $43 million, a 19.3% increase from fiscal year 2021. “Over the last many months, economic growth and inflation have driven higher sales tax collections as demand remains strong and businesses and consumers continue to pay elevated prices for goods,” Hegar said in a written statement. Although the comptroller’s office also reported significant increases in revenue from motor vehicle and franchise taxes, collections from natural gas and oil production saw the largest percentage-increase from the last fiscal year.
Tax revenue from oil production was $6.4 billion, an 84.4% increase. The state collected $4.5 billion in natural gas production taxes, which represented a 185% increase from the previous fiscal year. Revenue from natural gas and oil production feed into the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund and its highway fund. The comptroller said $3.64 billion will be put into each of the funds, a 60% increase from fiscal year 2021. The state also saw a 13% year-to-year increase in sales tax last month, according to the comptroller’s office. Sales tax revenue for a given month largely consists of sales made in the previous month. Last month, the comptroller’s office reported that it had collected $3.88 billion in sales tax in July, setting a record for monthly sales tax collections. Sales tax in August was slightly less than $3.8 billion. “The strong growth in August came from receipts remitted by the oil and gas mining sector, which were up by nearly 80 percent compared with a year ago,” Hegar wrote, adding that construction, manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors have also seen continued growth… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 164: Discussing the CHIPS Act and Mexico Incentives with Sergio Chavez-Moreno
Today's episode (164) features returning guest Sergio Chavez-Moreno.
Sergio is the Founder of Nextshore Partners, a legal affairs and government relations firm with offices in the United States and Mexico, and a Principal at Intermestic Partners, an international business investment and consulting firm.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the CHIPS Act in relation to an the August (19th) Bloomberg article: Mexico Considers Incentives to Attract Semiconductor Investment -> EPISODE LINK
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