BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 9, 2023)
[BG PODCAST]
EPISODE 210 // Welcome to Episode 210! Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia CEO A.J. Bingham review the week (of 7.31.2023) in Austin politics and more.
>>> SHOW LINK <<<
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
[city of austin]
Austin City Council FY24 Budget Priorities:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Why corporate relocations, expansions are way down in the Austin area (Austin Business Journal)
Corporate relocations and expansions in the Austin area lagged during the first half of the year — jobs created through such moves are on pace to finish 2023 at a decade low. Experts offered differing reasons as to why, from concerns over the economy to competition from other states, as well as worries involving infrastructure and public safety. But if there was one thing they agreed on, it was that there's little reason to worry just yet, as they expressed a "glass half full" outlook for the remainder of the year. It's only natural for a bit of normalcy to return after a period of rampant activity.
Corporate relocations and expansions can create thousands of jobs, energize the real estate sector and seed new industries. Central Texas has long been a hotbed for such activity — historical examples include IBM Corp. coming to town in the 1960s and Samsung picking Austin for a factory in the 1990s. The trend has picked up steam in recent years and hit a fever pitch during the pandemic, with companies such as Oracle Corp. and Tesla Inc. moving their headquarters to Austin.
After record-setting years in 2020 and 2021, relocations and expansions slowed in 2022, and the trend has continued into this year. Through June, Opportunity Austin had tracked 16 relocations and 40 expansions to the metro area, which translated into 4,924 planned new jobs. That includes an additional 2,500 jobs at Tesla, 800 planned by electric vehicle supplier HBPO Plastic Omnium and at least 100 planned by 5F Mechanical Group Inc., a piping construction company. T
The Austin area is on pace to see fewer than 10,000 jobs announced from corporation relocations and expansions for the first time since 2013. For comparison, in 2021, companies announced plans to create more than 26,000 jobs across the five-county metro.
Much of the economic development activity is happening in the suburbs. With more available and cheaper land, Austin's suburbs have seen a boom in development, including multibillion-dollar investments from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Tesla. In the past week, officials in Williamson County noted an automotive supplier could next month announce a $200 million project with 800 jobs; city of Bastrop officials noted negotiations are ongoing with an unidentified company planning to create 100 jobs; and Elgin has approved selling land to a manufactured home company that could create at least 100 jobs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Garza pauses changes for Civil Rights, Equity offices until after budget passage (Austin Monitor)
The controversial plan to reorganize the offices of Civil Rights and Equity and two others is being put on hold and will be evaluated after City Council concludes its work to finalize and approve next year’s budget.
At Tuesday’s budget work session, interim City Manager Jesús Garza said criticism from community groups and objections to the move from many Council members caused him to reconsider the plan, which he’d included as part of the draft budget completed last month. Garza said he was prompted to “take a step back” on the reorganization because of his concerns that the debate could slow the budget process or take Council members’ focus away from other pressing needs.
“Fundamentally, there have been issues that have been raised that touch the history of how the Equity Office, in particular, was established,” Garza said. “And it’s critically important that you be able to focus your attention on the resource allocations for all these departments as you adopt the budget for (2024)… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Police Department Training Academy attrition remains high amid reforms (Austin Monitor)
An Austin Police Department audit revealed high attrition rates among recent cadet classes amid ongoing reforms and persistent staffing shortages.
Police leadership reported the inaugural audit’s findings – based on the 147th cadet class, which graduated in May – to the city’s Public Safety Committee on Monday.
Under internal audit protocols developed by Kroll Associates in March 2022, the department is required to report to City Council the progress of each class and of ongoing academy reforms. District 10 Council Member Alison Alter chided police leadership in June for not yet having taken up this mantle… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
‘Not a bribe’: AG Ken Paxton defends dealings with Nate Paul in motion to toss impeachment (Dallas Morning News)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s defense team is arguing that the various corruption allegations against him should be tossed because they are too vague, misinterpret state law and, even if true, aren’t impeachment offenses. The suspended attorney general never sought or received a bribe, Paxton’s lawyers noted in nearly a dozen legal filings submitted to the Texas Senate since Friday. Bribery would have required him to intentionally swap political favors with the explicit understanding that Paxton would get rewarded, they argued. “The Articles allege at most that the Attorney General received a benefit from a constituent at some point, and that the constituent benefited from one or more actions the Attorney General at some other point undertook. That is not a bribe,” Paxton’s lawyers argued.
The explanation is the most thorough defense Paxton has provided against the allegation that he used his power to help Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer and campaign donor, in exchange for a home remodel and a job for the woman with whom the attorney general was having an alleged affair. Paxton’s lawyers wrote he isn’t accused of having “intentionally or knowingly obtained the renovations in exchange for his influence made pursuant to an explicit or implied agreement.” “One does not even allege — let alone prove — a bribe merely by stating that a constituent furnished an elected official with some gift or advantage, and that the elected official took an action that benefited the constituent,” they added. “Those are merely, at most, a quid and a quo — and usually not even that.” The House voted to impeach Paxton on May 27 on an array of accusations including bribery, abuse of office and obstruction of justice. His trial in the Senate begins on Sept. 5. If he’s convicted by at least two-thirds of senators, he will be removed from office. Paxton has denied wrongdoing. Saturday was the deadline for Paxton and House managers, who will present the case against him at trial, to file any motions ahead of the proceedings. Each side has until Aug. 15 to file rebuttals. Paxton’s filings made public Monday — 11 in total — continue to indicate that he will not challenge many of the facts underpinning the House investigation that led to his impeachment. Instead, his defense team called into question whether the conduct was illegal at all. House managers filed just one request to the court of impeachment seeking to clarify trial rules regarding the amount of time given for argument, the exchange of exhibits and the use of mobile devices during the trial… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
The 'very Texas-centric' way Ken Paxton’s attorneys are trying to kill his impeachment probe (KUT)
Lawyers for suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are pushing for the Texas Senate to drop the impeachment articles against the Republican, whose trial is currently scheduled for Sept. 5. Paxton faces allegations ranging from dereliction of duty to obstruction of justice. Last week, Paxton’s attorneys filed a motion saying the impeachment should be dismissed because of a legal rule they call “prior-term doctrine.” But the rule has a mixed history in Texas and experts say it's up to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and state senators, to decide whether it has merits or not. Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives in May for alleged illegal actions that happened between 2015 and 2020.
There are 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton — some are related to his securities fraud indictment, while others stem from his alleged decision to use his office to intervene in a federal investigation against one of his political donors. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing. “The impeachment articles that have been laid out by the House are bologna,” Tony Buzbee, one of Paxton’s impeachment lawyers, told reporters in Austin shortly after the Texas House voted to impeach. “Just so we are clear: the allegations are untrue. They are false.” Paxton’s defense also said the Texas Senate should toss out the impeachment articles because the allegations happened before Paxton’s most recent election. They call it the “prior-term doctrine.” Paxton’s lawyers cite the Texas Constitution and say only offenses that happened after November 2022 — Paxton’s most recent election — could be grounds for impeachment. But the Texas Constitution is not that explicit. It only says a person cannot be impeached for offenses committed before their election to office. It doesn’t specify if that means their first election to a position or their most recent reelection… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Property tax cut, more money for public safety in proposed city budget (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax wants the city to spend $90 million more on police and fire services while lowering the property tax rate for the eighth year in a row as part of his first draft of Dallas’ upcoming city budget. In his recommended budget plan, which the City Council will begin discussing Tuesday, Broadnax is also proposing raising employees’ minimum wage by 50 cents to $18.50 an hour, increasing residents’ water, sewer and storm drainage fees, and spending around $21 million more to boost Dallas’ information technology data services.
Broadnax is proposing a $4.6 billion spending plan, up from $4.5 billion in the last fiscal year. Those amounts don’t include some internal spending that added up to $241 million last year and boosted the final tally to $4.7 billion. City officials haven’t confirmed what they expect that figure to be in the next fiscal year. Rising property tax revenues are largely behind the increase in Broadnax’s budget plan. Property taxes make up 57% of the city’s general fund, which is set at $1.8 billion in Broadnax’s budget proposal. That amount is nearly $138 million more than the current fiscal year. The budget won’t be final until it receives approval by the City Council in late September. The largest spending increases, as the case in recent years, are being proposed for Dallas’ police and fire departments. Broadnax recommends the police department’s budget go up by about $49 million to nearly $662 million. The proposed police budget includes plans to try to hire 290 new officers by the end of September 2024… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Ohio Voters Reject Constitutional Change Intended to Thwart Abortion Amendment (NeW YORK TIMES)
Ohio voters rejected a bid on Tuesday to make it harder to amend the State Constitution, according to The Associated Press, a significant victory for abortion-rights supporters trying to stop the Republican-controlled State Legislature from severely restricting the procedure.
The abortion question turned what would normally be a sleepy summer election in an off year into a highly visible dogfight that took on national importance and drew an unprecedented number of Ohio voters for an August election.
Late results showed the measure losing by 13 percentage points, 56.5 percent to 43.5 percent. The roughly 2.8 million votes cast dwarfed the 1.66 million ballots counted in the state’s 2022 primary elections, in which races for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House were up for grabs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)