BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 3, 2023)
[BG PODCAST]
EPISODE 209 // Welcome to Episode 209! Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia CEO A.J. Bingham review the week (ending 7.28) in Austin politics and more.
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[city of austin]
[AUSTIN METRO]
Battle strategies: Austin isn't suing Texas over 'Death Star' bill; here's what's next (Austin American-Statesman)
The city of Austin isn't planning to join the lawsuits filed against the state of Texas over the "Death Star" bill that makes many local ordinances, like mandated water breaks for workers and eviction protections for renters, unenforceable starting Sept. 1.
Rather than going on the offensive and suing the state like the city of Houston has, Austin city officials say they are preparing for the battle at home, while supporting other cities that have filed lawsuits.
"Our true participation in fighting this law is going to be in defending our ordinances," District 5 City Council Member Ryan Alter said. "And part of that defense will be that this law oversteps and that it is too big and too broad."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Federal court rules Austin’s short-term rental rules unlawful (Austin monitor)
Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra on Tuesday issued a ruling that overturns Austin’s short-term rental ordinance adopted in 2016.
The plaintiffs, Robert Anding and his wife, Roberta, filed suit against the city after attempting to register one of their properties as a short-term rental. Because they did not occupy the property as their homestead, the city denied their application.
According to the city’s website, owners of short-term rentals (STRs) are required to obtain an operating license annually. The law applies to all properties, including rooms and guest houses, that are rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days.
Austin adopted rules in 2016 that clearly were designed to limit the number of short-term rental properties in the city. The fight between the city and various rental operators and agencies started at about the same time that STRs became commonplace. In its attempt to limit the number of short-term rentals within the city, Ezra ruled, the city violated the Andings’ constitutional rights… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Airbnb brings ‘Airbnb-friendly apartments’ to Austin (KXAN)
Airbnb, in partnership with nine apartment complexes, has brought its program aimed at enabling renters to offer their apartments as short-term rentals (STR) to Central Texas.
The program is “Airbnb-friendly Apartments” and launched in November 2022 in 25 markets. Now, that program has expanded to 40 markets in under a year.
Airbnb Global Director of Real Estate Jesse Stein said that this program is aimed at allowing primary residents to offer their units… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Mueller nears finish line after two decades of development (Community Impact)
After nearly two decades of development, the Mueller neighborhood—Central Austin’s largest master-planned community—is nearing completion.
The 700-acre stretch of land in Northeast Austin has been transformed from the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport to an eco-friendly development with dozens of locally owned restaurants and shops, affordable housing, an H-E-B, the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, Austin Energy’s headquarters and a popular Sunday farmers market that brings in hundreds of residents from across town… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Hill Country Studios secures zoning, annexation approvals to keep massive project on schedule (AUstin business journal)
A quarter-billion-dollar film studio planned south of Austin has secured key approvals that should keep the first pieces on track to open next year.Hill Country Group LLC on Aug. 1 received a second and final approval from San Marcos City Council to annex and zone pieces of what's earmarked to be the $267 million Hill Country Studios project on 209 acres at 6202 W. Centerpoint Road, in the La Cima master-planned community.
Both San Marcos and Hays County have approved incentives for the project in the form of property tax rebates.
At the city level, the incentives would start with a 90% property tax rebate once the studio is fully built and decrease to a 20% rebate by the end of the deal. That five-year deal was estimated to total $3.7 million in property tax rebates over the course of the agreement, while the city would retain $11.5 million over a decade. The city is expected to collect $2.1 million in property taxes before the incentives become active in 2025… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Eagle Pass City Council takes back public park central to Gov. Abbott’s border operation (Texas Public Radio)
In a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, the Eagle Pass City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to rescind an affidavit declaring a local park the mayor’s private property.
The 47-acre Shelby Park sits on the banks of the Rio Grande. It offers walking trails, sports fields, and a public boat ramp for access to the border river.
Under the direction of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas signed an affidavit last June declaring the park his personal property… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas A&M interim president pledges more transparency after accusations of political interference (Texas Tribune)
Texas A&M University interim President Mark A. Welsh III said the university needs to establish clear guidelines to handle allegations against professors like the complaint lodged by Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham against a Texas A&M faculty member this spring that landed the professor on temporary leave as the school investigated.
During a press conference in College Station on Wednesday, Welsh said he did not think there was anything wrong with how the university handled the case involving respected opioids expert Joy Alonzo but that the incident begged for fixes to university policy.
“It was a decision that was not guided by any specific policy and guidance that we have in our system right now,” Welsh said. “We need to fix that so that we can make sure we do this in a thoughtful way with better support for the decision-maker and for Dr. Alonzo.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Suspended Texas A&M professor denies saying Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick believes kids who die of overdoses “deserve to die” (Texas tribune)
The Texas A&M University professor put on leave for allegedly criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during a guest lecture this spring denied Wednesday that she accused Patrick of saying kids who died from opioid overdoses “deserve to die.”
The Texas Tribune reported last week that Texas A&M temporarily suspended Joy Alonzo, a respected opioids expert, after Patrick learned about the alleged comments against him and asked Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp to investigate. The case has raised concerns about political interference in the university’s academic affairs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Fitch Downgrade Won’t Break Washington’s Tax, Spending Habits (Wall Street Journal)
Fitch Ratings chastised Washington policy makers this week for fighting too much, spending too much and cutting taxes too much.
Republicans and Democrats are likely to keep doing all three.
Fitch’s downgrade of its U.S. government debt rating Tuesday only fueled more of the partisan bickering that the firm said was raising concerns about America’s ability to tackle its swelling budget deficits. And as Congress prepares to hash out spending for next fiscal year, the two parties aren’t considering the policies that could meaningfully address the problem: raising taxes or cutting spending on major programs such as Medicare or Social Security.
“There’s no imminent signs of Congress having the political will to address our entitlement programs or the revenue that funds them and the rest of the government,” said Shai Akabas, executive director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “It’s a sign of worse things to come if we don’t get our fiscal house in order.”
Biden administration officials lambasted the Fitch decision, blaming the Trump administration for destabilizing the political system and pointing to their own deficit-reduction efforts. Republicans said Democrats’ spending plans had knocked the economy off the track, doubling down on calls for cuts that the White House has rejected… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Buildup of American forces in Persian Gulf a new signal of worsening US-Iran conflict (AssociatED Press)
Thousands of Marines backed by advanced U.S. fighter jets and warships are slowly building up a presence in the Persian Gulf. It’s a sign that while America’s wars in the region may be finished, its conflict with Iran over its advancing nuclear program continues to worsen, with no solutions in sight.
The dispatch of the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan to the Gulf, alongside stealth F-35 fighters and other warplanes, comes as America wants to focus on China and Russia.
But Washington is seeing once again that while it’s easy to get into the Middle East militarily, it’s difficult to ever get fully out — particularly as Iran now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers… (LINK TO FULL STORY)