BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 25, 2023)
[BG PODCAST]
EPISODE 207 // Bingham Group Associates Hannah Garcia and Wendy Rodriguez review the week in Austin politics and more.
The discussion covers:
• City Council returned from Summer break for a regular meeting on July 20th, 2023 → services.austintexas.gov/edims/docume…fm?id=411224
• City of Austin Staff released expedited timeline for housing code amendments → www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/0…de-amendments/
• Texas has increased funding for school meals allowing more AustinISD Students will eat free breakfast → www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/0…-school-meals/
• The proposal to reorganize Equity, and Civil Rights offices drawing criticism from community members. Interim City Manager Jesus Garza explained motivations for changes → www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/0…ights-offices/
• Council voted to formalize $200 minimum pay for musicians at city events at their Thursday meeting → www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/0…t-city-events/
Also check out our previous podcast covering the release of The City of Austin FY23-24 Budget → The-bingham-group-llc – Ep206
>>> SHOW LINK <<<
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Get to know Austin's new Capital Delivery Services Department (Community impact)
As part of a series of recent reorganizations across Austin's city government, interim City Manager Jesús Garza established the Capital Delivery Services Department this spring with the goal of getting municipal projects done more quickly and at lower cost.
The capital delivery department is tasked with overseeing every stage of neighborhood-level projects like water pipe installation and park improvements, as well as larger infrastructure initiatives, such as major corridor upgrades, Austin's airport expansion and the Project Connect transit system. A map of the city's capital projects may be viewed here.
The new department gathers staff from the city's transportation, public works and finance functions under one roof. In a statement, Garza said he separated capital delivery services as part of his focus on reliably providing civic services… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Advocates try to revive plan to bring passenger train service to I-35 corridor in Central Texas (Fox 7)
Seven years after a plan to establish commuter train service between Austin and San Antonio was effectively killed by Union Pacific, some advocates are trying to revive the idea, with some indications that Union Pacific may be open to a proposal this time around.
"I think that this is going to make San Antonio and Austin into its own metroplex," said Clay Anderson, founder of the advocacy group Restart Lone Star Rail District.
After rejecting such a proposal in 2016, Union Pacific made a surprising statement recently to Restart Lone Star Rail District.
Clint Schelbitzki, Union Pacific’s assistant vice president of public affairs, said in part: "…we always look at new plans as new plans, not as things from 6 or 7 years ago. We will take a fresh look at proposals as they come up." Schelbitzki went on to say: "UP is not averse to passenger rail. There have been a lot of successful projects that we have worked on, specifically in California…"… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Amarillo College President Russell Lowery-Hart named lone finalist for Austin chancellor position (KAMR/KCIT)
According to Austin Community College, The Austin Community College District Board of Trustees has announced Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart as the lone finalist for the next Chancellor of the district. The ACC Board unanimously approved Dr. Lowery-Hart during its regular board meeting on Monday, July 24.
Dr. Lowery-Hart is currently the president of Amarillo College and has been since 2014.
Dr. Lowery-Hart was among three finalists who visited Austin and participated in 9 community forums at campuses in the district’s North, Central, and South regions. Afterward, Trustees conducted site visits at the finalists’ campuses to learn more about them and their college culture..
The ACC Board of Trustees said the next steps will now begin the negotiation process with Dr. Lowery-Hart and that there is a state-mandated 21-day waiting period before finalizing leadership changes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas A&M suspended professor accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in lecturE(Texas Tribune)
Joy Alonzo, a respected opioid expert, was in a panic.
The Texas A&M University professor had just returned home from giving a routine lecture on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch when she learned a student had accused her of disparaging Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during the talk.
In the few hours it took to drive from Galveston, the complaint had made its way to her supervisors, and Alonzo’s job was suddenly at risk.
“I am in a ton of trouble. Please call me!” she wrote to Chandler Self, the UTMB professor who invited her to speak.
Alonzo was right to be afraid. Not only were her supervisors involved, but so was Chancellor John Sharp, a former state comptroller who now holds the highest-ranking position in the Texas A&M University System, which includes 11 public universities and 153,000 students. And Sharp was communicating directly with the lieutenant governor’s office about the incident, promising swift action.
Less than two hours after the lecture ended, Patrick’s chief of staff had sent Sharp a link to Alonzo’s professional bio.
Shortly after, Sharp sent a text directly to the lieutenant governor: “Joy Alonzo has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation re firing her. shud [sic] be finished by end of week.”
The text message was signed “jsharp.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Greg Abbott signs $18 billion tax cut package for Texas property owners (Texas tribune)
The Justice Department has notified the State of Texas that it will file a lawsuit over Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott's controversial border security initiative. Texas Public Radio confirmed on Friday that the Justice Department sent a letter to Abbott's office outlining that the suit would encompass reports of civil and human rights abuses of migrants at the border and the overstepping of state authority into the federal jurisdiction of border security and control. There was also concern that Texas is violating the national sovereignty of Mexico and U.S. treaties with Mexico. Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 in order to stop illegal migration through the Texas border, claiming the Biden administration was not doing enough.
It started with the deployment of thousands of Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and Texas National Guard members to arrest migrants on state trespassing charges. The Republican governor has since tested the legal limits of a state's ability to enforce immigration policy. The $4 billion program has since been escalated to include high-speed pursuits and the installation of miles of razor wire and other obstacles along the Rio Grande. Most recently, Abbott has installed a floating buoy barrier in the middle of the of the river. Abbott and the state are also facing criticism for an email from a DPS trooper and medic that claims troopers were ordered to push migrants they encounter into the Rio Grande and deny them water in the middle of a heat wave. Abbott denies the allegations. Eighty-six House Democrats sent a letter to the Biden administration on Friday urging intervention… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Trump anxiety among GOP senators grows as indictments appear to help HIM (The hill)
Republican senators who don’t want to see President Donald Trump as their party’s nominee are feeling increasingly anxious that Special Counsel Jack Smith is actually helping Trump’s presidential campaign through his dogged pursuit of the former president.
The fear another round of federal charges against Trump will only further boost his fundraising and poll numbers, solidifying his possession as the dominant frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary field.
They worry that Smith’s effect on the Republican presidential primary is being magnified by prominent House Republicans and conservative media personalities who have rallied behind Trump, effectively blotting out the rest of the GOP presidential field… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Health policy wars consume appropriations bills, risking shutdown (Politico)
House Republicans’ Food and Agriculture spending bill would ban mail delivery of abortion pills and deregulate the tobacco industry. Their Foreign Operations bill would defund the World Health Organization. And multiple bills would bar access to gender-affirming care. Republicans, in coordination with outside conservative groups such as Susan B. Anthony List and the America First Policy Institute, are using must-pass appropriations bills to make their mark on a wide range of health policies, injecting culture wars into the already fraught debate over government spending and raising the chances of a government shutdown. “If it takes a rider on an appropriation bill or language in an appropriation bill to stop the federal funding for transgender therapy for minors, then maybe that’s what it will take,” appropriations committee member Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) told POLITICO… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[WORLD]
Israeli Doctors Go On Strike to Protest Netanyahu’s Judicial Overhaul (Wall Street Journal)
TEL AVIV—Doctors and medical workers in Israel went on strike Tuesday in protest against the passing of the first bill in a judicial overhaul that is being carried out by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The bill, which was pushed through by the ruling coalition despite months of protests, sparked mass demonstrations against the government. The police said late Monday that 15 protesters were arrested for rioting and attacking police, with authorities forcibly removing some demonstrators blocking streets in Tel Aviv. Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in Tel Aviv, police footage showed.
The Supreme Court will now have to decide whether to accept the petitions it has received from the Israel Bar Association and members of the opposition asking for it to strike down the law that limits its own powers.
The bill that passed Monday takes away the court’s ability to nullify government decisions it finds “unreasonable in the extreme,” a standard that is used by the court to ensure government decisions are taken with appropriate considerations. This includes the hiring and firing of key government appointments such as government ministers, the attorney general and heads of the security services.
It is the first in a series of laws the coalition government wants to pass to limit the power of the court system. Next up is a bill that would give lawmakers more power to select judges—a move that is more contentious than the bill passed on Monday. It could be voted on in the fall.
The law’s passage marks a pivotal juncture for Israeli society. It presents a decisive moment for thousands of military reservists, who have said they would quit, while business and union leaders have also threatened mass work stoppages… (LINK TO FULL STORY)