BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 18, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
City Council to consider expanded arts, music venue code language by June (Austin monitor)
The city’s Music and Arts commissions have given their support to expanded definitions of what constitutes music venues and creative spaces, in the hope that the city will move ahead with building code changes and incentives to encourage those spaces throughout Austin.
The unanimous votes – held during a recent joint meeting of both commissions – came in advance of an effort by city staff to bring the definitions to a series of other boards and commissions in the coming weeks, with City Council expected to conduct a hearing for possible approval in June.
The definitions will come before the Codes and Ordinances Joint Committee this Wednesday, with Planning Commission consideration scheduled for May 23.
City Council requested staff, including the Law Department, to move forward with the new language last year, after years of work by music and arts stakeholders to create language that differentiates music venues and creative performance spaces from the more restrictive bar and cocktail lounge uses currently spelled out in the code… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD requests review of state’s plan to manage its special education department (KUT)
The Austin Independent School District announced Monday it is requesting an informal review of the state’s plan to oversee the district’s special education department. Texas Education Agency officials announced last month that they wanted to install conservators because Austin ISD was failing to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
"We are requesting a delay in the decision about a conservatorship and are instead seeking a TEA monitor to ensure the best possible alignment between our efforts as a district and the efforts of the state for the ultimate benefit of our students," AISD Board President Arati Singh said in a statement Monday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
More than 1,000 apartments set to rise next to Samsung's Austin factorY (Austin business journal)
More than 1,000 apartments are set to rise in the coming years next to Samsung’s Northeast Austin semiconductor factory.
River City Capital Partners LLC is partnering with the Austin Affordable Housing Corp., a subsidiary of the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, along with development firm LDG Multifamily and investment manager Battery Global Advisors to transform property located just outside city limits along East Parmer Lane into workforce housing.
Dubbed Parmer Gateway, the development is set to include 1,076 units across four distinct projects, two of which are expected to break ground in May… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
With no end in sight to electric vehicle boom, Austin Energy embraces the transportation sector (Austin monitor)
As new battery-powered car models from General Motors and Ford roll into the market, Austin Energy is racing to ensure the city’s infrastructure is ready for them.
The utility’s electric vehicle and emerging technologies team stopped by last week’s work session to bring City Council up to speed on pending improvements to its charging network and service programs. Executives Richard Genece and Cameron Freberg said electric vehicle drivers can look forward to an increasingly efficient, affordable and reliable charging experience.
“In the history of this program, the first 10 years we were focused on growth,” said Genece. “We want the next 10 years to be focused on reliability and performance.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Senate passes $308 billion budget plan, kicking off high-stakes negotiations with the House (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Senate on Monday gave final approval to a $308 billion spending plan for the next two years, sending budget leaders into high-stakes negotiations with their counterparts in the House over property taxes and other divisive issues — with just weeks to go before the legislative session ends.
Senators voted 31-0 to spend $141.2 billion in general revenue on major investments in property tax cuts, juvenile justice, mental health, higher education, state parks, historical sites and pay raises for teachers and state employees.
State Rep. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversaw the budget-writing process for the chamber, said “smart fiscal policy” over the last several sessions allowed budget writers to make historic investments thanks to an unprecedented surplus in state coffers. Comptroller Glenn Hegar has said the surplus is from a record amount of sales tax and oil and gas taxes collected from Texans for the past two years… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas mayors: Bill would erode cities’ self-governance (Dallas MorninG News)
House Bill 2127 contradicts our state’s history and is incongruent with many lawmakers’ assertions that “Texans know what’s good for Texas.” For those unaware of the bill’s stated intent, it would increase the state government’s regulatory power, thereby stripping local authority and leaving local governments unable to represent their citizens’ best interests. “Independence” and “Texas” go hand in hand. The “Lone Star State” was so named due to our status as an independent republic before becoming the 28th state. That annexation didn’t dilute the independent streak that still runs through most Texans’ blood. HB 2127 takes the stance that this philosophy doesn’t apply to individual Texas cities. Instead, the bill paints the issue with a broad brush and would leave many to believe that city leaders are out to make it harder for businesses to operate. When the bill author, Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, explained his bill in the House Committee on State Affairs last month, he blamed a “current patchwork of regulations” by cities and counties that thwart economic growth.
The bill is crafted in a way that punishes local governments that are supposedly bad for business and damaging the Texas economy. In reality, local leaders want nothing but the best for their business community because they rely on the private sector to stimulate a thriving economy. And if local governments have as much influence over businesses as the bill implies, then we must acknowledge their role in establishing Texas as the ninth largest economy in the world and for creating 650,000 jobs last year. With numbers to boast like these, it is hard to believe Texas is full of “254 counties and thousands of municipalities that all have their own ordinances that have hurt their businesses” [1:01:44]. While it may be true that, in limited cases, some cities overreach and involve themselves in matters best left for businesses to decide on their own, the correct approach to these individual occurrences would require a narrow resolution. Rather than using a scalpel to remove unnecessary ordinances, HB 2127 takes a wrecking ball to the entire system. Given the bill’s expansive reach and ambiguity, we seek clarification and have requested changes that attempt to tighten the broad language that could lead to the erosion of citizen-granted local control. We, along with 53 fellow mayors who represent the interests of our citizens, firmly stand against HB 2127 in its current form and believe the bill has a long way to go to reach a version that resembles a business-friendly policy without causing harm to residents, however unintended… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Biden to Sign Executive Order That Aims to Make Child Care CheapeR (new York times)
President Biden plans to sign an executive order on Tuesday directing federal agencies to find ways to make child care cheaper and more accessible, seeking to make progress on a promise he made that stalled in his first two years in office.
White House officials, who previewed the order Monday evening, described it as the most sweeping effort by any president to streamline the delivery of child care.
“The child care and long-term care systems in this country just don’t work well,” said Susan E. Rice, the director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council. “The order includes more than 50 directives to nearly every agency to take action on fixing our child care and long-term care system.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
DeSantis leans on GOP-controlled Legislature to thwart Disney (politico)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is escalating his ongoing rift with Disney after the entertainment giant appeared to outmaneuver the Republican governor in the long-running fight for control of its central Florida theme parks.
DeSantis, a likely presidential contender for 2024, on Monday announced that the GOP-controlled Legislature will attempt to change state law to subject the company theme parks to new inspections of its rides and famed monorail in the final three weeks of its annual session.
“They are not superior to the laws that are enacted by the people of the state of Florida,” said DeSantis at an afternoon press conference held near Disney World. “That’s not going to work, that’s not going to fly.”
The threat came after Disney in February quietly, through a bureaucratic vote, wrestled back control of the Orlando-area park — though state officials didn’t learn of it until March. Disney’s maneuvering left DeSantis administration officials scrambling to respond and the governor ordered an investigation into the California-based corporation… (LINK TO FULL STORY)