#NEWS // BG Reads | December 13, 2022
[2022 RUNOFFS]
TODAY IS ELECTION DAY - Polls are open 7AM to 7PM
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council passes transparency changes to transit partnership board (Austin Monitor)
Last week, City Council voted to recommend changes to the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors that would add two additional seats to the five-member board and establish transparency standards for their appointments.
The resolution directs the city manager to consult with community stakeholders to address and consider eligibility requirements, which has been?a controversial aspect ?of the proposal, as well as application and appointment processes for the new directors, and return to Council with recommendations by February 2023.
The transparency considerations include making the nominating committee process and criteria for selection publicly available at the time that the committee publishes its solicitation for applications. The nominating committee must seek feedback from the stakeholder committee on the criteria for selection before those criteria are finalized…? (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas suspends coach Chris Beard over family violence charge (Associated Press)
Chris Beard, who coached Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA championship game and was hired away by Texas with expectations that he would elevate his alma mater to the same level, was arrested early Monday on a felony family violence charge after a woman told police he strangled and bit her.
The school suspended Beard without pay “until further notice,” and assistant?Rodney Terry directed No. 7 Texas to an 87-81 overtime win over Rice on Monday night …?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin City Council moves to tighten reins on short-term rentals (Austin Business Journal)
Austin City Council is ratcheting up efforts to clamp down on the widely unregulated short-term rental market, with a plan to essentially make it illegal to do business with an unlicensed host.
Council on Dec. 8 approved the drafting of a resolution that would make it unlawful to collect or receive a fee, directly or indirectly, from unlicensed short-term rental operators. If implemented, the changes could have a major impact on the operations of companies such as Airbnb Inc. and Austin-based Vrbo, for whom the Texas capital is a lucrative market. Plus, millions of dollars in fees and taxes are at stake for the rental property owners and the city.
The action indicates City Hall is returning to a subject that?made waves in 2016 ?but?became tangled up in state court …?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
DACA deal for “Dreamers” fizzling as Texas Republicans prioritize border security (Texas Tribune)
Over 100,000 DACA recipients live in Texas, and their status in the United States continues to be subject to legal challenges, including from the state of Texas itself. But the Texas Republicans who were previously open to a DACA deal say time is running out, and the state’s Democrats fear no progress will be made in the next legislative session when Republicans will have control of the U.S. House. The interest from the state’s Republicans to work out a deal on DACA is also quickly waning in favor of legislation to harden border security…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Power companies rush to install batteries in Texas, California, amid concern over grid reliability (Houston Chronicle)
Within three years, a surge of new large-scale battery projects is expected to come online on Texas and California's power grids, as developers seek to store electricity produced by those state’s sprawling wind and solar farms. The Department of Energy estimates that 21 gigawatts of storage capacity will plug into U.S. power grids before 2026, more than two and half times the amount now in operation. Almost 8 gigawatts of batteries are expected to be built in Texas. The boom in battery development comes as weather dependent wind and solar energy becomes an increasingly large part of the U.S. power grid, requiring an alternate power source when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
领英推荐
Texas to use Tesla Powerwall customers to test 'virtual power plant' (San Antonio Express-News)
If you own a Tesla Powerwall, a battery pack sold for homes by the EV automaker, you may soon become part of what the company is calling a "virtual power plant." Tesla received the green light to create a "statewide market design pilot" policy for a virtual power plant, or VPP, according to Tesla's U.S. markets policy lead Arushi Sharma Frank on LinkedIn.?
This means Texas owners of Powerwalls, which serve as a backup power supply by storing energy, would allow the state power grid to pull energy from the batteries when the grid has need,?according to Tesla and tech industry publication electrek . Tesla launched a?VPP program last year in California, where customers would be compensated $2 per kilowatt hour when power is shared during?times of peak demand …? (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Biden to sign Respect for Marriage Act, reflecting his and the country's evolution (NPR)
President Biden will sign into law Tuesday a bipartisan bill that will codify same-sex and interracial marriages with a large celebration on the South Lawn of the White House.
"Today, Congress took a critical step to ensure that Americans have the right to marry the person they love," Biden said in a statement Thursday after the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would recognize marriages federally and across state lines. The Senate passed it earlier…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[HEARINGS AND MEETINGS]
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
[BG PODCAST]
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. recap the week (and the week ahead) in City of Austin Politics. (Episode 173)
Also available on?Apple Podcasts ?and?Spotify
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