#NEWS // BG Reads | May 25, 2023

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Housing and Planning Committee grapples with how to prioritize code amendments (Austin Monitor)

Members of City Council’s Housing and Planning Committee grappled during a Tuesday briefing with how to best approach moving forward on a set of amendments to the city’s Land Development Code.

The discussion occurred at the committee’s May 23 special called meeting, during which it received a briefing from staff on a plan for prioritizing the amendments. The group of city departments that put together the plan is known as the Land Development Code Cabinet, and includes representatives from the Development Services Department, Housing Department, Planning Department, Transportation Department, Public Works and Watershed Protection. The committee voted to request a briefing and prioritization plan in April…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Annual count shows small drop in Austin’s homeless population (Austin Monitor)

Data from the city’s first point-in-time count of the local homeless population in three years show a slight decrease in the total number of people living without shelter, with laws against camping in public causing a sharp decrease in the number of unhoused people in the downtown core.

Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) released data from the 2023 count on Wednesday morning during a panel discussion held with Urban Land Institute Austin, with local developers and real estate professionals on hand to discuss the role that a tight housing supply and high cost of living plays in people losing their homes.

There were 2,374 people without homes on the night of the 2023 count in late January, with 1,108 people using temporary shelters and 1,266 unsheltered and living in encampments or hidden away in parks and greenbelts. In 2020, the last count conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 2,506 total people unhoused, with 932 in shelters and 1,574 with no shelter at all…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin ranks among Cvent's top 10 US meeting destinations (Austin Business Journal)

Austin ranks among the top 10 meeting destinations in North America, according to a new report.

The Texas capital came in at No. 8 on Cvent’s 2023?Top 10 Meeting Destinations in North America list , released May 23.

It was Austin's first time on the list, which was last published by Cvent — a meetings, events and hospitality technology provider — in 2019.

"We are honored Cvent has included Austin in their Top Meeting Destinations list," stated?Alysia Roden , Visit Austin vice president of sales. "Meetings and conventions are vital to our community, providing economic impact, supporting jobs, small businesses, restaurants, our music community, hotels and more. We are thankful we get the opportunity to introduce clients and convention attendees to our fun and amazing city. We invite meeting planners to build the agenda, and we’ll bring the excitement."…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin light-rail gets first approval amid looming Texas legislative threat (KUT)

Austin's newest light-rail vision — a $5 billion map set to redefine 10 miles of streets — is traveling two parallel tracks this week. On one track, city decision-makers are flashing the go-ahead signal, setting the stage for the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) to morph blueprints into steel and concrete.

On the parallel track, a bill in the Texas Legislature could obliterate the financial framework of the voter-approved transit expansion known as Project Connect. But only a few days remain for the bill to pass before the legislative session grinds to an end over Memorial Day weekend…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Investigators detail years of alleged misconduct by Texas AG Ken Paxton in stunning House committee hearing (Texas Tribune)

A Texas House committee heard stunning testimony from investigators Wednesday over allegations of a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Attorney General?Ken Paxton , the result of a probe the committee had secretly authorized in March.

In painstaking and methodical detail in a rare public forum, four investigators for the House General Investigating Committee testified that they believe Paxton broke numerous state laws, misspent office funds and misused his power to benefit a friend and political donor.

Their inquiry focused first on a proposed $3.3 million agreement to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four high-ranking deputies who were fired after accusing Paxton of accepting bribes and other misconduct…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas Senate passes new economic incentive program to lure businesses to the state (Texas Tribune)

The Texas Senate on Wednesday advanced a new economic incentives package to help lure large companies to the state, inching lawmakers closer to a deal that would replace an embattled abatement program that expired last year.

But senators, who passed the plan 27-4, cut in half the amount of the tax abatement proposed last month by the House and offered extra incentives for development in economically disadvantaged areas of the state.

They also?did away ?with a major House provision that had garnered some of the most vigorous criticisms of the old Chapter 313 plan by striking direct payments by companies to the schools, which benefited only the schools that landed deals. District officials have argued that the payments were vital to their survival and supplemented state funding that fell short when it came to repairing buildings and raising teacher salaries…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas poised to fund community colleges based on student outcomes (Texas Tribune)

Bipartisan legislation that would overhaul how Texas funds its community colleges is heading to Gov.?Greg Abbott 's desk for approval after the House agreed to accept the Senate's amendments Wednesday.

Last week, the Senate unanimously approved a House bill to fund the state’s community colleges based on how many of their students graduate with a degree or certificate or transfer to a four-year university. Currently, schools are largely funded based on the number of hours students spend in a classroom.

Bill sponsor Rep.?Gary VanDeaver , R-New Boston, had previously told The Texas Tribune the House was likely to accept the Senate additions. VanDeaver served on a commission of lawmakers and community college presidents last year that recommended the changes, along with a long list of ways the state could better support the more than 642,000 students who attend Texas’ 50 community college districts…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Bills to build more homes — and lower housing costs — fail quietly in final days of the Texas Legislature (Texas Tribune)

A?sweeping agenda ?to slow Texas’ substantial rise in housing costs by reining in local regulations that opponents say get in the way of building new homes has died quietly in the Texas Legislature.

And when it came to a crucial vote this week, Democrats — who represent the state’s biggest urban areas, where home prices and rents are highest — accounted for most of the opposition.

Although Texas builds more homes than any other state, it’s not building enough to keep up with its massive population and economic growth, leading to historically high housing costs, according to housing advocates, builders and real estate experts. By some estimates, the state is short hundreds of thousands of homes…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATIONAL NEWS]

Ron DeSantis debuts presidential bid in a glitch-ridden Twitter 'disaster' (NPR)

It was supposed to be a historic moment for Twitter: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would smoothly kick off his presidential candidacy on the social media platform.

An uninterrupted conversation between DeSantis and Twitter CEO Elon Musk would be live-streamed on Twitter Spaces to mark the event.

But instead, the live audio event was beset with technical malfunctions. After some 20 minutes of crashing and echoing and chaos, it abruptly ended…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Baby boomers push nation’s median age higher as fewer children are born (Associated Press)

The United States grew older, faster, last decade.

The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures from the most recent census.

The declining percentage of children under age 5 was particularly noteworthy in the figures from the 2020 head count released Thursday. Combined, the trends mean the median age in the U.S. jumped from 37.2 to 38.8 over the decade.

America’s two largest age groups propelled the changes:?more baby boomers ?turning 65 or older and?millennials ?who became adults or pushed further into their 20s and early 30s. Also, fewer children were born between 2010 and 2020, according to numbers from the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident. The decline stems from women delaying having babies until later in life, in many cases to focus on education and careers, according to experts, who noted that birth rates never recovered following the Great Recession of 2007-2009…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

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