BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 2, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Public workers are being priced out of the city. Affordable housing can’t help many of them. (Austin Monitor)
As wages for public sector workers fail to keep pace with housing prices, some city employees have turned to income-restricted housing for relief. But because finding an affordable home and meeting the qualifications isn’t always easy, many workers are forced to pay unaffordable market-rate rents or leave the city entirely.
Jessica Simmons has been a medic with Austin EMS for five years. Tired of working overtime to make rent, she decided to search for income-restricted housing. She found a home for purchase in Mueller, and on first blush, she qualified. But during the application process, things got complicated.
“I had to work overtime in order to afford where I was living already, so my overtime rate basically disqualified me from being able to afford affordable housing,” she said. What’s more, she couldn’t qualify for a mortgage to purchase the affordable home.
Simmons gave up on the search and decided to live with a roommate in East Austin, near work. She regularly works 60-72 hours per week to make her $1,800 a month rent. This past week, she worked 108 hours.
“I feel like I don’t have a real sleep schedule,” she said. Time off during busy weeks is filled with catching up on sleep, running errands and cooking.
Another EMS medic, who agreed to speak to the Austin Monitor on condition of anonymity, said that the cost of housing is becoming too much to bear. “I don’t see being in EMS as sustainable anymore,” he said, after a failed search for affordable housing left him paying half of his income in rent.
“I don’t get out much. I don’t go experience much of the city because I just can’t afford it.”
The experience of EMS workers exemplifies the predicament facing many working- and middle-class Austinites. While the poor have borne the brunt of rising housing costs, public sector workers are increasingly unable to find housing they can afford – income-restricted or market-rate – anywhere in Austin… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Privacy, public safety in focus as Austin officials push off vote on police license plate readers (Community Impact)
City officials' final say on the possible return of police license plate readers was once again pushed off amid discussions of the program's public safety value and effects on Austinites' privacy.
Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, had been in use on Austin Police Department vehicles prior to City Council's 2020 shift of more than $100 million out of the police department. While a new state law effectively forced council to return that money to APD's budget the following year, license plate readers remained on the shelf.
District 6 Council Member Mackenzie Kelly proposed the return of ALPRs with a price tag of nearly $115,000 for the city's upcoming fiscal year. Kelly said her request stemmed from a desire to give police the resources needed to quickly respond to crimes such as auto theft and kidnapping. The program's reinstatement is supported by APD, its union, the Greater Austin Crime Commission and both Travis and Williamson county law enforcement offices.
“Given the staffing shortages, you’d think we’d give the police department back a cost-effective and targeted tool that disrupts criminal activity, locates stolen vehicles, solves crimes and saves lives. Let’s allow the police chief to lead the department instead of second-guessing him," said GACC executive director Cary Roberts… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Rise of unions in Austin restaurants, stores explained (Austin Business Journal)
The phrase "unprecedented times" became synonymous with the pandemic and it has been applied to nearly every facet of daily life. One prominent place where it applies is in the rise of unions, especially in the world of restaurants and retail.
The trend, seen both nationwide and in Austin, has the potential to reshape labor relations between employers and employees for years or decades to come.
Texas is not known as a union state. About 4% of workplaces are unionized here, compared with a national average of about 10%, said Dirk Mateer, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin. But a flurry of unionization efforts in recent months, including at some prominent local businesses, represents the changing labor dynamic in the Lone Star State.
This round of unionization stands out because more restaurant and retail workers are joining the effort. Restaurant workers are among the least likely to organize, with a 3.1% unionized rate in the nationwide food preparation sector, which includes jobs like bartender, cook and waiter.
Food prep workers have historically been less likely to unionize because they are often short-lived jobs that might last only a few years, Mateer said.
But the pandemic changed the game for workers in this sector.
"A lot of workers were treated poorly or had to work as an essential worker when they didn't feel comfortable working, but knew they might lose their job," Mateer said. "So some of that is animosity against whoever was the manager at these different facilities."
With a 3.1% unadjusted unemployment rate in Austin in July, finding employees is not an easy task. Combined with rising wages, workers have more leverage than normal, Mateer said. If Starbucks had 10 candidates seeking a job for every open position, the unions would have no negotiating power — but the situation is exactly the opposite… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin-Travis County EMS, City OK new raises, contract for medical first responders (KUT)
Austin-Travis County’s emergency medical personnel are getting a raise. The City of Austin reached a deal with EMS negotiators late last month, and the Austin City Council Thursday unanimously approved the one-year contract with medics.
The deal is a stopgap, but it does address pay inequity issues EMS’ union has been fighting for since the start of the pandemic. EMS employees could see raises of anywhere from 4% to 11%, depending on their position.
Emergency medical technicians and higher-ranked paramedics have been run ragged since the start of COVID-19, and that’s led to high turnover. Austin-Travis County EMS Association President Selena Xie told KUT ahead of the Thursday vote that EMS has seen historic attrition this year.
"We kind of just ended up settling on this stopgap contract just for a year," she said. "It really just kind of stops the bleeding. It slows our staffing crisis, but that's all we could really agree to right now, and we knew we needed some action quickly."
Xie said so far 60 employees have left ATC-EMS in 2022, compared to the previous record-high last year of 57. The deal aims to retain newer employees by boosting junior-ranking EMTs’ pay up to $22 an hour. Higher-ranking paramedics get an increase to $30 an hour… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD data shows district progress on addressing disproportionate discipline, Black students continue to be over represented (Community Impact)
On Sept. 1, Austin ISD officials presented disciplinary data to the board of trustees showing the district lags behind in reducing the disproportionate discipline of Black students but is making progress with special education students.
Black students in Austin ISD, 6.5% of the district's student population, accounted for 17.5% of all disciplinary actions in the district during the 2021-22 school year. Students receiving special education services, 13.4% of the district's student population, accounted for 29.7%.
Disciplinary actions result in either home suspension, in school suspension or discretionary removal.
The board set discipline rate goals for 2021-22 at 15% and 34% for Black and special education students respectively. The board set a long-term goal for the district of entirely eliminating discipline disparity for both student groups by the end of the 2025-26 school year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott, Beto O’Rourke agree to debate Sept. 30 in Edinburg (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott and his Democratic opponent, Beto O’Rourke, have agreed to a Sept. 30 debate in the Rio Grande Valley.
Abbott announced last month that he had accepted an invitation to the debate, which will be hosted by Nexstar Media Group at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg. O’Rourke responded at the time by saying he would be happy to debate Abbott in the Valley but did not commit to the specific event — and pushed for more debates. On Thursday morning, O’Rourke’s campaign revealed it had committed to the Sept. 30 debate while announcing he had also accepted invitations for four other town hall-style debates hosted by news organizations.
Abbott’s campaign has indicated the Sept. 30 debate is the only one he is willing to do before the November election.
“Beto is looking forward to these four town hall-style debates where he can continue taking questions directly from voters in English and Spanish while also holding Governor Abbott fully accountable for his indefensible record of incompetence and extremism,” O’Rourke spokesperson Chris Evans said in a statement.
Among the invitations O’Rourke accepted is a debate hosted jointly by The Texas Tribune, the Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and KVUE-TV.
Abbott’s campaign responded to O’Rourke’s announcement Thursday by appearing to confirm that the Sept. 30 debate is the only one the governor will do.
“In between television appearances in New York and fundraising in Hollywood, we are pleased Beto O’Rourke is taking the time to debate Governor Abbott in the only statewide televised debate,” Abbott spokesperson Mark Miner said in a statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Oil rich Permian Basin sends $11.8 billion in taxes to Texas, report shows (Houston Chronicle)
The counties that make up the oil and gas rich Permian Basin of West Texas sent more than $11 billion in taxes to the state of Texas last year and helped support more than 500,000 jobs, according to a new industry group report. Fueling the Permian’s financial contributions to the state is record high oil and gas production this year at more than five million barrels per day, making up nearly half of all oil produced in the country and more than 72 percent produced in Texas. The Permian Strategic Partnership – a group of 17 oil and gas companies operating in the region – commissioned the impact report from economic consulting firm The Perryman Group. It found that Texas received $11.8 billion in taxes from the Permian in 2021. Including the value of goods and services of businesses that support the oil industry, the Permian generated about $129 billion and supported 508,800 jobs in Texas, the Perryman Group's report said.
“Texas should continue to invest in and expand the infrastructure of the region,” said Don Evans, chairman of Permian Strategic Partnership, in a statement. “This will enhance the ability for the energy industry to provide the energy resources necessary to keep our nation’s economy strong and country secure.” The Partnership was created, in part, to help steer investment to the Permian’s education, health care, and transportation systems. The report points specifically to roads worn down by heavy equipment used in oil and gas drilling, estimating that if $1 billion were spent on improving the region's roads, thousands of injuries could be prevented and traffic delays could be reduced. Nationally, the Permian Basin accounted for $153.2 billion of the estimated $23 trillion U.S. GDP, according to the report, and helped support as many as 673,900 U.S. jobs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
N.M. plans $10M abortion clinic near Tex. border, expecting post-Roe demand (Washington Post)
New Mexico will earmark $10 million to set up a reproductive health clinic in a county that borders Texas, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said Wednesday, to prepare for a possible increase of abortion seekers from nearby states that have restricted access in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The new clinic, to be set up in Doña Ana County under an executive order, will provide “the full spectrum of reproductive health care,” including preventive services and postpartum support, Grisham’s office said. Doña Ana is just north of El Paso and about 100 miles east of the Arizona border. Texas law heavily restricts abortions, while Arizona has a pre-Roe abortion ban that may be enforced, prompting many clinics there to halt procedures on June 24. “As more states move to restrict and prohibit access to reproductive care, New Mexico will continue to not only protect access to abortion, but to expand and strengthen reproductive health care throughout the state,” Grisham said.
Grisham’s directive reflects a political divide that has been widening since June, when the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 decision that established a right to abortion across the United States. Since the ruling, conservative states have pushed for stricter rules against abortion, while liberal states have sought more explicit protections for abortion rights. In New Mexico, Elisa Martinez, a former Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate, said Grisham’s order will force taxpayers to fund “a new abortion business.” Kayla Herring, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the move will expand access to reproductive health care in a part of the state where such services had been lacking. New Mexico has attracted interest from out-of-state abortion clinics since the overturning of Roe. In Texas, Alan Braid, a provider who has resisted his state’s antiabortion restrictions, has said he’d open a clinic in New Mexico. In Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the clinic at the heart of the Supreme Court decision in June, has announced similar plans… (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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