#NEWS // BG Reads | March 10, 2023
[AUSTIN METRO]
Transit leaders preparing new Project Connect scenarios for March open house (Austin Monitor)
With a budget that no longer meets the vision approved by voters in 2020 for an ambitious mass transit system, leaders with the agency charged with carrying out the Project Connect plan say that work continues to decide what the first phase of the system will look like.
The Blue Line portion serving downtown and potentially points to the south and east will likely be the focus of the scenarios revealed on March 21 when Austin Transit Partnership?hosts an open house?at Austin Central Library on West Cesar Chavez Street. At that session, the public will see the possible iterations of the Blue Line and the light rail infrastructure that has to be reimagined due to forecasts putting the system cost at $11.6 billion, or roughly double the cost of the plan approved by voters.
Those in?local transit circles?worry that eliminating a rail line across the river or running rail lines at street grade rather than underground or overhead would reduce the effectiveness of the system because of competition with downtown traffic.
Greg Canally, recently appointed as executive director of ATP, said much consideration is being given to the downtown portion of the system while trying to stay within the budget floated before voters…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin's Project Connect is over budget. Texas lawmakers have a plan to rein it in. (Austin American-Statesman)
New bills in the Texas House and Senate could slam the brakes on Project Connect, the increasingly expensive light rail and mass transportation system in Austin that city voters approved in November 2020. As the cost estimate balloons, swelling from $7.1 billion at the time of the election to over $11.6 billion as of April 2022, a handful of state lawmakers want to circle back to voters to see if they still want to move forward with the project. Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, and Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, filed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit Austin from issuing any future debt for Project Connect without getting voter approval — a potential showstopper if the bill succeeds and a citywide election is held in which voters, if given a do-over, reject further funding for the project. Three years ago, Project Connect cruised to victory with 58% of voters approving a permanent tax increase to fund it.
That was before an ongoing global supply chain crisis took hold, which contributed to the estimated 63% cost jump. The estimate for the light rail portion alone soared from $5.8 billion to $10.3 billion, igniting debate on whether to eliminate a pricey light rail tunnel proposed for under downtown Austin. Austin Transit Partnership — an independent entity the city and the Capital Metro Transportation Authority created to carry out the project — says it's committed to scaling back the project to reach initial cost estimates. The six lawmakers trying to rein in the project are calling their legislation the No Blank Checks Act. In addition to Troxclair, a former Austin City Council member now in her first legislative session as a state lawmaker, House Bill 3899 is co-authored by Rep. Richard Pe?a Raymond, D-Laredo, and three committee chairs, all Republicans: Greg Bonnen, of Friendswood, who chairs the Appropriations Committee; Morgan Meyer, of Dallas, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee; and Dustin Burrows, of Lubbock, who chairs the Calendars Committee. Bettencourt, who chairs the Senate's Local Government Committee, is the lone author for the companion legislation, Senate Bill 1791. “The city of Austin created the Austin Transit Partnership, and has effectively given it a blank check signed by taxpayers,” Troxclair said. “Voters approved the project at $7.1 billion, but the price tag now has increased to $11.6 billion. To make up the difference, ATP plans to issue nonvoter-approved debt, like certificates of obligation, without the city ever going back to voters to ask if that is OK. We cannot allow this in Texas."…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin's had a lot of petition-fueled elections in the last few years. That could change. (KUT)
In the last few years, petitions from Austinites have put big policy changes on the ballot. Issues like police staffing, marijuana decriminalization, homelessness and even whether ride-sharing services can operate in the city all stemmed from signatures on a petition that prompted citywide elections.
That could change next year.
Austin City Council on Thursday approved a proposal to reevaluate the petition process, possibly raising the number of signatures needed and moving all petition-backed proposals to November elections…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Why Doesn't Austin Have More Affordable Housing? (Bloomberg)
Cities across the US are grappling with a lack of affordable housing, but few have it worse than Austin, Texas.
On top of skyrocketing home values, outdated zoning codes have made it difficult to add additional homes,?and more people keep moving to the area —?Tesla Inc. is building a?Gigafactory?there. That’s left?local legislators and activists trying to figure out how to?keep Austin weird, and keep lower-?and middle-income residents from being pushed out of their neighborhoods.?
“The ongoing displacement of our working-class population is a very serious concern,” says José “Chito” Vela, an Austin City Council member. “We need to build housing.”.
Advocates point to rezoning and construction as two major tracks to alleviate housing prices and create more inventory. In 2012, the city launched CodeNEXT to create a more “compact and connected city,” but that effort failed due to resistance from homeowners. Since then, “the housing shortage just seems to get worse, and the city council has not been able to kind of take decisive action to really address it,” says Jake Wegmann, a professor at University of Texas?at Austin’s School of Architecture…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin City Council approves measure to expand public charging stations (KXAN)
Due to the growing interest in electric vehicles, Austin City Council took steps Thursday to ensure the City of Austin has a “robust network” of public charging stations, according to a news release from the city.
The council voted to direct the city manager to develop a plan for the equitable distribution of public charging stations, including direct current (DC) fast charges and Level 2 chargers, which the city said are more common in homes and workplaces, the release said.
The resolution, brought by District 7 council member Leslie Pool, aligns with the goals of the Austin Climate Equity Plan- which calls for reaching net-zero community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 as well as the distribution of a mix of public charging stations throughout the city, the release said…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
S.A. official: Bill 'potentially most damaging piece of legislation' ever introduced in Texas Lege (San Antonio Express-News)
Of more than 5,800 bills introduced at the Texas Legislature so far this session, one is causing particular concern among San Antonio city officials. "This is the biggest, potentially most damaging piece of legislation we've ever seen," Jeff Coyle, assistant city manager for San Antonio, said of Senate Bill 1110 during an Intergovernmental Relations meeting on Wednesday. The bill, introduced in the Texas Senate on Feb. 22, prohibits Texas cities from transferring revenue from municipal utilities to the city's general fund, according to a presentation from Government Affairs Director Sally Basurto. SB 1110 comes during an "onslaught" of bills filed before the deadline on March 10 and is one of nearly 1,000 San Antonio Government Affairs are closely monitoring. "As introduced, it would hit our general fund revenue percentages requiring drastic cuts to city services including public safety," Basurto told city officials, including several members of the city council. "It would also undo our municipal utility model."
Basurto added that the bill as currently written impacts water utilities, like the San Antonio Water System, in addition to energy utilities like CPS Energy. "Once the bill was filed, about a week and a half ago, we immediately did outreach to our entire House and State delegation," Basurto said Wednesday morning. "City Manager Erik Walsh and CFO Ben Gorzell met with 10 of the 13 House and Senate members and staff to immediately flag our concerns." Both Coyle and Basurto said the bill was originally aimed at Austin's energy utility. Basurto noted that Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, the bill's sponsor, read a comment from a former Austin city councilperson who said energy rates would not have risen if the city had foregone or reduced its general fund transfer. Initial conversations between San Antonio officials and Schwertner indicated that the senator didn't realize the broader implications of his bill, and that his own district of Georgetown has a general transfer and had a meeting with him about that last week. Schwertner is the chair of the Senate Business and Commerce committee, to which the bill may eventually get referred, Coyle added…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and senators unveil package of bills aimed at improving Texas’ power grid (texas Tribune)
Texas senators announced their much-anticipated plans Thursday for how to continue to strengthen the state’s electricity grid. The proposals come?two years?after the winter storm that caused millions to go without power in frigid temperatures and killed more than 200 people.
The ideas are meant to get companies to build more of what’s known as “dispatchable power,” which is power that can turn on or off at any time. This typically means building gas-fueled power plants, which are more polluting and costly to operate than solar and wind power but don’t rely on sunny or windy weather to operate.
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“This is a product of hours and hours and hours of testimony, days and months of study, to come up with what we believe is a plan that will secure our future of the Texas grid,” Lt. Gov.?Dan Patrick?said at a press conference, adding, “We have invested heavily in renewables, but now it’s time to focus on dispatchable.”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
HISD trustees say the district is ending its lawsuit with TEA over state takeover efforts (Houston Chronicle)
The Houston Independent School District board voted on Thursday night to end its lawsuit with the Texas Education Agency, effectively ending the district's legal fight against an attempted state takeover. The motion passed with support of eight of the nine trustees following a brief closed session. Trustee Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who represents District II that houses Wheatley High, voted against the measure. Superintendent Millard House II said he does not know what the board's decision will mean for the state's takeover effort because that agency has made no announcement or decision. “That was a board decision in an effort to get to the table to have conversations with TEA,” he said in an interview following the meeting. “There hasn’t been conversations.” Dani Hernandez, board president, said the board remains committed to students and student outcomes…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
McConnell’s hospitalization raises questions for GOP’s future (The Hill)
Senate Republicans found themselves shaken and disoriented Thursday after finding out their leader, Sen.?Mitch McConnell?(Ky.) was in the hospital after tripping at a private event, raising questions about his health and future leadership of the GOP conference.?
McConnell, who in January became the longest serving party leader in Senate history, has led the Senate GOP conference since 2005 and has helped guide his colleagues through some of the biggest moments in recent history — the 2008 financial collapse, the near default of the U.S. government in 2011, the fiscal cliff of 2012, the two impeachment trials of?former President Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Banks Lose Billions in Value After Tech Lender SVB Stumbles (The Wall Street Journal)
Investors dumped shares of?SVB Financial Group?SIVB -60.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle?and a swath of U.S. banks after the tech-focused lender said it lost nearly $2 billion selling assets following a larger-than-expected decline in deposits.
The?four biggest U.S. banks?lost $52 billion in market value Thursday. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index notched its biggest decline since the pandemic roiled the markets nearly three years ago. Shares of SVB, the parent of Silicon Valley Bank, fell more than 60% after it disclosed the loss and sought to raise $2.25 billion in fresh capital by selling new shares.
Banks big and small posted steep declines.?PacWest Bancorp?fell 25%, and?First Republic Bank?lost 17%.?Charles Schwab?Corp. fell 13%, while?U.S. Bancorp?lost 7%. America’s biggest bank,?JPMorgan Chase?& Co., fell 5.4%.
Thursday’s rout is another consequence of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to control inflation. Rising interest rates have caused the value of existing bonds with lower payouts to fall in value. Banks own a lot of those bonds, including Treasurys, and are now sitting on?giant unrealized losses…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
The BG Podcast is available on?Apple Podcasts,?Soundcloud, and?Spotify.
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. review the week in Austin politics.
Today's topic include:
? The March 1st Executive Shake Ups at Austin's City Hall ->?bit.ly/3mgSCEc
? City Council's upcoming meetings next week:
-> (3/7) - Work Session of the Austin City Council Agenda:?bit.ly/41KsXUI
-> (3/9) - Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council Agenda:?bit.ly/41LXeSZ
??The start of SXSW SXSW Conference & Festivals on 3/10 (through 3/19):?www.sxsw.com/
Helpful Links:
? Austin Council Message Board:?bit.ly/3EYUnfP
Episode 189
ABOUT THE BINGHAM GROUP, LLC
Follow Bingham Group on LinkedIn at:?bit.ly/3WIN4yT
Connect with A.J. on LinkedIn at:?bit.ly/3DlFiUK
Connect with Hannah on LinkedIn at:?bit.ly/3RberR3
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