#NEWS // BG Reads | March 31, 2023
[AUSTIN METRO]
City audit finds lag in efforts to measure affordability, economic opportunity in Austin (KXAN)
In March 2018, the City of Austin adopted its Strategic Direction 2023 (SD23) plan, a five-year initiative to find and determine “advance equitable outcomes across Austin.”
Economic Opportunity and Affordability (EOA) is one of six areas incorporated into the SD23 plan. The premise for the EOA component focused on “having economic opportunities and resources that enable us to thrive in our community.”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin American-Statesman Editorial: New city-state policing agreement is a win for Austin (Austin American-Statesman)
From the Austin American-Statesman Editorial Board - With a severely understaffed Austin Police Department needing help meeting our city’s growing public safety demands, the mayor and police chief did the right thing in forging a new partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety to add state troopers to patrols in Austin. The agreement announced Monday by Mayor Kirk Watson is far from ideal; we’d much prefer that APD effectively manage our city’s public safety on its own. But gun violence and traffic fatalities are up sharply in Austin at the same time APD’s roster is short roughly 250 officers. The staffing crisis is due in part to retirements, a police contract impasse and cadet training classes that were postponed to revamp a poorly designed curriculum that critics said contributed to a militaristic and overly punitive police culture in Austin. In the meantime, the average APD response to the highest priority calls in Austin rose from seven to 10 minutes between 2020 and 2023. That could be the difference between life and death in a dangerous situation.
If the DPS is willing help APD bridge that gap and help keep Austin residents and visitors safer, we should all be grateful. Watson, a moderate Democrat, said he reached the agreement with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both conservative Republicans, late last week with the assent of Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon. The deal could result in as many as dozens of state troopers and special agents patrolling high-crime areas in Austin at no cost to the city within days, Chacon said Monday. Their assignment locations and hours will be based largely on crime data, he said. The DPS officers will remain on assignment in Austin for an indefinite period of time. While our Editorial Board applauds the agreement, we urge Abbott — a frequent Austin critic who threatened to transfer control of the APD to state police in 2020 — and other conservatives who delight in bashing liberal-leaning Austin to resist the temptation to crow about it as if our city can’t manage its own affairs. Staffing shortages are common in police departments across the U.S., not just in Austin. Despite an overburdened police force, Austin remains a highly desirable place to live, evidenced by its status as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin's overall cost of living is higher than the national average, data shows (KVUE)
The overall cost of living in Austin is above the national average, according to data gathered and analyzed by?Apartment List.
Apartment List?analyzed prices of specific goods and services?in Austin compared to the average prices across the country. From there, the prices were aggregated and weighted into six groups, which were again aggregated into a single top-line cost of living stat.
The analysis found that the overall cost of living is 1% higher in Austin than the national average.?
"In the case of Austin, overall cost of living is on par with the nation as a whole. But it appears to be a bit of a tradeoff between high housing costs (which are 18% higher in Austin than the rest of the USA) offset by lower costs for other day-to-day items. In particular, groceries are cheaper in Austin than in all but 5 other cities," said Rob Warnock, senior research associate for Apartment List…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Audit claims fraud by contractor for city health department (Austin Monitor)
In a report released Thursday, the Office of the City Auditor detailed its investigation into allegations that a nonprofit contractor for Austin Public Health “committed fraud by misrepresenting over $1.1 million in financial transactions across three contracts” with the health department between December 2020 and September 2021.
The Central Texas Allied Health Institute (CTAHI) had one contract for Covid-19 testing, one for workforce development and one for administering Covid-19 vaccines.
Auditors found that the health department paid CTAHI about $417,000 related to fraudulent contract claims. In addition, auditors said the group “appears to have overstated its total vaccination numbers and fabricated patient information under its contract to provide Covid-19 vaccines.”
The group had a fourth contract with the Economic Development Department. Auditors did not find any problems with that contract.
The contractor denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Its lengthy and convoluted defense?is included in the report…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
San Antonio Spurs games at Austin's Moody Center fit into NBA team's plan to grow fan footprinT (Austin Business Journal)
Ahead a?pair of games at the Moody Center, an Austin-based executive for the San Antonio Spurs said the team's first regular-season games here are part of a concerted effort to expand its footprint in Central Texas and Mexico.
While based in San Antonio, Spurs Sports & Entertainment LLC has long been influential in Austin: in addition to owning the NBA Spurs,?since 2007?the organization has owned the Austin Spurs, which compete in the lower-level G League and play home games at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
But for the past two years, Spurs Sports & Entertainment has essentially been setting up a hub in Austin, with staffers in departments from marketing to communications, sales to legal. Employees number about 40, counting those working with both teams.
The local team is led by?Brandon James, Spurs Sports & Entertainment deputy counsel and senior vice president of strategic growth, who said "Austin has always been an area of interest for us." He added that "being more intentional and purposeful about our Austin growth" is an organizational priority as the Spurs celebrate their 50th anniversary in San Antonio.
"We've essentially created a model where we have all those verticals and stakeholders based here in Austin, doing the things that we do in San Antonio, but doing it authentic and meaningful and purposeful to Austin," James said…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Republicans target Harris County in push to rein in local election officials (Houston Chronicle)
Texas Republicans are weighing several election reforms that would expand their oversight of local elections and stiffen legal penalties for election workers who violate the law. The measures, all aimed squarely at Harris County, are being spearheaded by the same lawmakers who two years ago led a crackdown on voting methods pioneered by Texas’ largest county, like drive-thru and 24-hour voting, in the name of preventing voter fraud. This time, Republicans are focused less on the mechanics of the voting process itself, proposing broader changes that would empower the secretary of state’s office to oversee local elections, dictate which county officials run elections in large metro areas, and punish election judges and workers with felonies or other tough penalties for running afoul of the Texas Election Code.
Most of the proposals are from state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who once served as the county’s tax assessor and has sharply criticized Harris County’s handling of recent elections. Bettencourt argues that the county needs to be more closely scrutinized and controlled after its recent stumbles, including last year’s March primary, when the county was the only one in Texas that took more than 24 hours to fully report results. Nearly a week after polls closed, election officials discovered an additional 10,000 mail ballots they had failed to tally. During the November midterm election, elections officials reported ballot shortages at some locations and delayed openings that led to a court order requiring polls to stay open an hour later than normal. In a hearing this week on several of the bills, Bettencourt said Harris County had run "a third world election." Harris County Elections Administrator Cliff Tatum has acknowledged a “dire need” to improve how the county conducts elections. In a report issued several weeks after the midterm, Tatum said the operational systems behind the county’s elections are in “immediate need of upgrades or replacements” and floated the idea of an election-worker evaluation system to make sure the teams running the polls are all up to the task. Bettencourt’s bill would take a different approach, hiking legal penalties for election officials who intentionally obstruct or fail to deliver election supplies in a timely manner. The same measure would also make it a felony, up from a Class A misdemeanor, to reveal election results before the polls close. That's a response to Harris County’s release of early voting results before the 8 p.m. court-extended deadline in November…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas lawmakers’ attempts to ban school library books deemed inappropriate for kids spur confusion — and concerns (Texas Tribune)
Legal experts, librarians and some parents have raised concerns that the bill’s language is vague and broad enough to ensnare books that are not inappropriate. They worry those titles’ absences from shelves could restrict the learning and growth of students whose experiences may not be reflected in the books that would remain.
Among other things,?House Bill 900?—?deemed a priority?of Speaker?Dade Phelan?— would require a mandatory school library standard, ratings by book vendors before they sell them to schools and banning some books that portray sexual conduct, as well as parental consent to access library materials that include sexual content that is allowed under the bill. The Public Education Committee advanced the bill Wednesday, the same day a?Senate bill that limits school library books?was debated in a committee meeting in the upper chamber…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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[NATION]
After mass shootings, Republicans expand access to guns (AP NEWS)
After a mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas last year prompted calls for new gun restrictions, Republican-led states around the country moved in the other direction. One of them was Tennessee, where the governor insisted that tighter firearms laws would never deter wrongdoers. “We can’t control what they do,” Gov. Bill Lee said. Tennessee lawmakers have instead moved to make firearms even more accessible, proposing bills this year to arm more teachers and allow college students to carry weapons on campus, among other measures. Then came the attack on Monday at the Covenant School in Nashville, where a shooter carrying multiple weapons killed six people, including three children. The same day, a federal judge signed off on a state settlement allowing people as young as 18 to carry a handgun without a permit.
Amid the ghastly cadence of multiple mass shootings that have prompted calls for more comprehensive controls on guns, Republicans in statehouses have been steadily expanding access to guns. In Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, Republicans have pushed this year to limit gun-free zones, remove background checks and roll back red-flag laws that seek to remove firearms from those who are a danger to themselves or others. “I think it’s gotten progressively worse over the years,” North Carolina’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, said in an interview. On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Legislature in his state overrode his veto and eliminated a century-old pistol permitting system. In 25 states, no permits are required to carry a handgun — nine more than in 2020. “That has been the most rapid expansion of gun rights at the state level that we have seen,” said Jacob Charles, an associate professor who specializes in firearms law at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. Perhaps nowhere represents the shift to expand gun access more than Tennessee, a state at the crossroads of Appalachia, the upper South and lower Midwest whose politics on guns typify Red America’s rapid movement rightward on gun regulations…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Pentagon prepares for space warfare as potential threats from China, Russia grow (Wall Street Journal)
The Pentagon is gearing up for a future conflict in space as China and Russia deploy missiles and lasers that can take out satellites and disrupt military and civilian communications. The U.S. military long ago dropped the notion of crewed, orbiting space weapons in favor of satellites because the logistics of supporting people outside of Earth’s atmosphere were formidable. The physics of space also make it impossible to sneak up on an enemy or quickly change orbit or direction. And earthbound tactics don’t work in space, where the U.S., China and Russia are all turning to satellites and sensors to wage and win any conflict. “You can’t dig trenches in space,” said Marty Whelan, senior vice president of the Defense Systems Group at The Aerospace Corp., a federally funded research group.
“If deterrence fails, you can’t wait until something bad happens to get ready. You have to have the full infrastructure together,” said Mr. Whelan, a former Air Force major general, who led a strategic review of space systems for the Pentagon and the intelligence community. The White House this month proposed a $30 billion annual budget for the U.S. Space Force, almost $4 billion more than last year and a bigger jump than for other services including the Air Force and the Navy. The Space Force was created in 2019 as the sixth arm of the military, carving out responsibilities once embedded in the Air Force. A key aim of a stand-alone force was to plan, equip and defend U.S. interests in space for all of the services and focus attention on the emerging threats. For the first time, the spending request also includes plans for simulators and other equipment to train Guardians, as Space Force members are known, for potential battle. The 16,000 Guardians are charged with running rocket launches, satellites and ground-based communication and sensor equipment. That training will be critical. The physics and the mechanics of steering objects through space at more than 17,000 miles an hour give attackers the advantage they lack on the ground. Space is also becoming crowded, with the number of tracked objects in orbit now topping 48,000, more than doubling over the past four years…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCASTS]
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. discuss Friday's announcement from Jesús Garza, Interim Austin City Manager regarding a second round of significant City Hall leadership.
This marks the most significant overhaul to City staff leadership since Mr. Garza was appointed on February 15th of this year. It comes on the relative heels another reorganization on March 1st of this year.
LINKS:
? Interim Austin City Manager Jesús Garza Announces Significant Leadership Reorg -> BG Blog:?bit.ly/3FT3uPN
EPISODE 194
ABOUT THE BINGHAM GROUP, LLC
Bingham Group works to advance the interests of businesses, nonprofits, and associations at the municipal and state level.
View our services here ->?bit.ly/3H7xyXC
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
Contact us at:?[email protected]
We are a HUB/MBE-certified Austin lobbying firm.
Released by:BG Media Group (2023)
Also check out:
BG Podcast Weekly Recap (3.24.2023)?(EP. 193)
BG Podcast - A Conversation with José Roig, Interim Director, Austin's Development Services Dept.?(EP. 192)
Bingham Group works to advance the interests of businesses, nonprofits, and associations at the municipal and state level.
CONTACT US FOR A FREE DISCUSSION ON YOUR MATTER AT:?[email protected]