BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 14, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin government short on workers; thousands needed ASAP (Austin Business Journal)
The number of job vacancies within Austin city departments remains in the thousands, but a new six-month job campaign aims to fill even more gaps.
The job campaign started on Feb. 1 and will run through the summer.
The city, which has a workforce of about 13,500, said that between Sept. 25 and Jan. 14, the number of job vacancies fell 7%, but it still needs 2,554 more employees in a variety of departments… (LINK TO FULL STORY HERE)
City stalled on land use changes intended to preserve creative spaceS (Austin Monitor)
Six months after a pair of unanimous City Council votes, the city has made little progress in adopting changes to the land use code intended to incentivize the creation of music venues and other creative spaces at risk for displacement due to rising land prices.In recent communications with Council members, staff from the Economic Development Department said it could take six more months for the code language to be codified, with the possible incentives likely to take even longer. The wait has caused music supporters to push for a revamp of how the proposed code change is being handled by staff. They’ve also urged Council to have the Planning Department take the lead in conceiving the best incentives that could sway developers to set aside ground floor square footage in new projects for music venues, arts studios, theaters and other creative spaces that add to local character and culture but operate on very small profit margins… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD hosts meeting to provide update on affordable housing for teachers, students (KXAN)
The Austin Independent School District (AISD) hosted a virtual meeting to provide an update on building two sites of affordable housing.
In October, AISD announced that the district was looking to convert two properties into affordable housing for teachers, staff and families of students.
The two buildings in consideration are the Anita Ferrales Coy Facility in East Austin and the former Rosedale School in Central Austin.
On Monday, Feb.13, the district provided the community with an update on the Anita Ferrales Coy site, including a timeline for what is next for the development. The plans provided by AISD show that there are five different scenarios to create a variety of housing options – the first scenario only provides 254 total units whereas the fifth scenario provides 636 total units… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council declines historic zoning for Westgate buildinG (Austin Monitor)
Nine of 11 City Council members voted last week to deny city historic landmark status to the clearly historic Westgate Tower at 1122 Colorado, on a motion by Council Member Zo Qadri, whose District 9 includes the building. Council Member Alison Alter opposed the motion and Council Member Mackenzie Kelly abstained.
The 25-story residential building, which is close to the Capitol, has hosted any number of historical figures and been designated as historic by the state of Texas and the federal government. Several of the building’s residents strongly urged Council to adopt local historic preservation status for the building. The Planning Commission rejected landmark status last year, but the previous Council gave preliminary approval in December… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Mobility vs. community: TxDOT faces pushback on revised Austin I-35 expansion plaN (Austin AMerican-Statesman)
Transportation leaders say that, after listening to community feedback, they've adjusted the plan to widen Interstate 35 through Austin, and say they are convinced the revised vision will not only ease traffic congestion but improve mobility and safety.
But some residents and business owners who could be displaced by the bigger, wider I-35 say the new version of the multibillion-dollar project will still damage the area's character without actually fixing anything.
That dispute is the crux of a yearslong debate, with transit officials saying major changes are needed to one of the state's most-congested stretches of highway, while critics say widening the roadway is the wrong approach… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority bills signal another swing at pushing Texas to the righT (Texas Tribune)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced a list Monday of 30 wide-ranging bills that he has designated his legislative priorities, including providing property tax relief and increasing natural gas plants to improve the reliability of the state’s power grid. He also detailed more specifically his plans to push a socially conservative agenda that would ban certain books in schools, restrict transgender student athlete participation in collegiate sports and end gender-transition treatment for young people.
In a statement announcing his priority bills, Patrick said he believed Texans largely supported his proposals because they “largely reflect the policies supported by the conservative majority of Texans.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Abbott backs transgender ban for college sports (HOuston Chronicle)
Gov. Greg Abbott wants to ban transgender college students from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity, adding momentum to a Republican proposal that's condemned by LGBTQ advocates and progressive groups. “This next session, we will pass a law prohibiting biological men to compete against women in college sports,” Abbott said in a Saturday interview at the Young America's Foundation “Freedom Conference” in Dallas.
The Republican governor said he believes “women, and only women, should be competing [against each other] in college or high school sports.” Transgender K-12 student athletes are already prohibited from competing on teams that don't associate with their sex at birth, under a measure passed by Republican lawmakers in 2021. The author of that bill, state Rep. Valoree Swanson of Spring, is proposing extending the restriction this session to the college level. State Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, has introduced a similar measure in the upper chamber. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has already said he supports the college ban in the Texas Senate, which he oversees. On Monday, he listed it among his 30 top priorities for the session. Patrick was one of the biggest supporters of the K-12 ban in 2021, repeatedly pushing other GOP leaders to revive it when momentum seemed to be waning. Republicans finally ushered the bill through during a third special session in the fall… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
The U.S., Owning a Powerhouse Microchip-making Industry? Fat Chance, Taiwan's Tech King Told Pelosi. (POLITICO)
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan like a juggernaut. She defied threats from the Chinese regime in order to visit the island and ignored American generals who saw the trip as a reckless provocation. Ecstatic crowds greeted her at the airport and her hotel. Nothing, it seemed, could slow her down.
And then she met Morris Chang.
Chang, the 91-year-old founder of the chipmaking goliath TSMC, used a luncheon at Taiwan’s presidential palace to deliver a biting soliloquy to Pelosi and other visiting American lawmakers about the new industrial policy emerging in the United States. In comments that have not previously been reported in detail, Chang took aim at the CHIPS and Science Act and its $52 billion package of subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing.
Pelosi told me in a recent interview that Chang, an engineer trained at MIT and Stanford, began with a light remark.
“Fifty billion dollars – well, that’s a good start,” Chang said, according to her recollection.
Four people present for the meeting, including Pelosi, said it quickly became evident that Chang was not in a kidding mood.
With Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, looking on, the billionaire entrepreneur pressed Pelosi with sobering questions about the CHIPS law — and whether the policy represented a genuine commitment to supporting advanced industry or an impulsive attempt by the United States to seize a piece of a lucrative global market… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
China Tries to Depict Furor Over Spy Balloon as Sign of U.S. Decline (New York times)
While many in the world see the Chinese spy balloon as a sign of Beijing’s growing aggressiveness, China has sought to cast the controversy as a symptom of the United States’ irrevocable decline.
Why else would a great power be spooked by a flimsy inflatable craft, China has argued, if not for a raft of internal problems like an intensely divided society and intractable partisan strife driving President Biden to act tough on Beijing?
The balloon incident “has shown to the world how immature and irresponsible — indeed hysterical — the United States has been in dealing with the case,” read a recent editorial in the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece… (LINK TO FULL STORY)