BG Reads 10.1.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - October 1, 2024 (Happy Q4 2024!)

October 01, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

Presented by:

www.binghamgp.com

October 1, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Delta Air Lines to launch five more new nonstop routes from Austin in 2025 (KXAN)

🟪 Council rejects Texas Gas Service rate hike (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Texas’ economy could take a hit if Houston dockworkers’ strike persists (Texas Tribune)

🟪 As Texas embraces battery energy storage, Hill Country residents push back — ‘Not in our backyard’ (San Antonio Express-News)

🟪 Walz and Vance will meet in their first and possibly only vice presidential debate (Associated Press)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

⚽️ Last Thursday the 4ATX Foundation, Austin FC’s nonprofit arm, held it’s 4th Annual Night in Verde. This year's gala raised over $1,058,000 in support of our mission, closing the opportunity gap and creating Austin's next generation of leaders. That includes Austin ISD’s Bedichek Middle School, which I attended. It’s been a joy to serve as the 4ATX Board Chair this year!

🟪 Bingham Group represents and has represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

🟪 Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🟪 The Austin Council has seven (5) regular meetings left in 2024

  • Mayor - October 3rd

    • Austin City Hall Council Chambers, 301 W. 2nd St. Austin 78701

  • District 6 - October 7th

    • Hope Presbyterian Church, 11512 Olson Drive, Austin 78750

📺 City Council Candidate Forum: District 2 - Video (9.26.2024)

📺 City Council Candidate Forum: District 4 - Video (9.19.2024)

✅ All candidate forums will are scheduled from 6:30pm to 8pm.

✅ All forums will be streamed live and archived on ATXN. 

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Delta Air Lines to launch five more new nonstop routes from Austin in 2025 (KXAN)

Delta Air Lines will launch five new nonstop routes from Austin in the new year, the airline announced Monday.

First up will be service to Panama City, Florida, beginning March 9. Flights to Indianapolis and Memphis will start May 7, while flights to San Francisco and Tampa will launch June 8. All of the new routes will operate year-round with daily flights.

The Panama City, Indianapolis and Memphis routes will be operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection on Embraer 175 aircraft. The San Francisco and Tampa routes will be on Delta’s Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

The announcement comes after Delta previously said it would launch nonstop AUS-New Orleans service beginning Feb. 27. The airline also launched four new routes from Austin this year: Nashville, McAllen, Midland/Odessa and Harlingen.

The new flights mean Delta will have the second-largest market share at AUS based on the number of daily departing flights… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Council rejects Texas Gas Service rate hike (Austin Monitor)

Despite reining in its initial proposal, Texas Gas Service has still failed to win over City Council in its endeavor to raise prices for Austin ratepayers.

The utility faced backlash this summer with news of its plans to aggressively hike fixed monthly fees, prompting Austin and 16 other cities in its service area to join forces in campaigning for a compromise. Though the coalition has reached a settlement, Council voted last Thursday to reject the new proposal, claiming the utility’s concessions were not enough to seal the deal.

TGS’s initial proposal would have seen its $16 monthly service fee rise to $25.50 and $39 for new classes of small and large residential customers, a hike amounting to a 14 percent increase for the average consumer’s bill. Similarly, “small” and “large” commercial customers would have seen their $53.33 fee rise to $85 and $100, respectively, though new rate designs would have ultimately meant bill decreases for the average commercial consumer… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Ken Paxton sues Travis County for approving security funds for DA José Garza behind closed doors (KUT)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed another lawsuit against the Travis County Commissioners Court on Monday — this time over a $115,000 payment the court made to District Attorney José Garza's office behind closed doors.

The payment was approved during a closed session in March to provide home security to Garza after his address was posted on social media, KVUE originally reported. It’s still unclear what, if any, threats were made to warrant private security. 

Paxton’s lawsuit argues the Commissioners Court violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by being overly vague about what public funds were being used for.

The agenda item, listed under “Executive Session,” said the county would “receive briefing and take appropriate action regarding Travis County security.”…

As Texas embraces battery energy storage, Hill Country residents push back — ‘Not in our backyard’ (San Antonio Express-News)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas’ economy could take a hit if Houston dockworkers’ strike persists (Texas Tribune)

Port Houston dock workers could go on strike at midnight Tuesday, a move that could have damaging impacts on the local and state economy, largely depending on how long the walkoff lasts.

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents employers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, and the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents 45,000 dock workers across 36 ports, have reached an impasse in labor contract negotiations. The longshoremen’s current contract expires Monday night, and the union has voted to authorize a strike if a deal is not reached before then.

Longshoremen are the workers who load and unload shipping containers from cargo ships. A strike would mean cargo on ships would remain on ships and cargo on land would remain on land until the longshoremen return to work.

That squeeze on the supply chain could mean higher prices for everyday items like fresh produce, clothing, shoes, car parts and building materials, experts say… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

How Chief Eddie García built trust with the Hispanic community (Dallas Morning News)

Shortly after Eddie García was named Dallas’ first Latino police chief, Juanita Arévalo contacted his office. Arévalo, the leader of Pleasant Grove Unidos, a community group that works closely with city departments to improve the neighborhood, invited García to a community meeting. She hoped it would be an opportunity for residents to voice concerns and get to know the new chief. She wasn’t especially optimistic García would attend.

After all, previous chiefs often declined such invitations. García did more than show up. “He spoke extensively with the community and listened to their concerns. He was honest about why the police took so long to attend the 911 calls, and people felt that García was someone they could trust,” said Arévalo, 67. “The community did not feel afraid or intimidated by him.”

In that moment, it became clear to Arévalo and so many others what it meant to finally have a police chief who looked like them, spoke like them, was one of them. On Nov. 1, García ends his three-year stint as the first Latino and Spanish speaker to lead the Dallas Police Department to take on a new role as assistant city manager in Austin. He leaves a legacy of not only falling crime rates, but of building a bond with a community that has reasons to fear and mistrust law enforcement — that has felt overpoliced and, despite being 42% of Dallas’ population, overlooked.

“It was an honor to have become the first Latino chief in Dallas,” García told The Dallas Morning News Friday. “There is nothing you cannot accomplish. I may have been the first, but I definitely will not be the last.” The question for many in the Latino community is whether the next police chief — and DPD more broadly — can build on the foundation of trust built by García... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

As Texas embraces battery energy storage, Hill Country residents push back — ‘Not in our backyard’ (San Antonio Express-News)

Developers want to build the sites where they’re most needed. That means areas like the Hill Country — where population growth has increased energy demand and added to congestion on transmission lines — are being targeted for more of the projects.

The sites face few regulations, though, and some Hill Country residents are on edge. They’re worried the battery systems will be noisy, increase the risk of fire and do environmental damage. Their message to developers is simple: Not in our backyard. 

The backlash has grown as the industry booms across Texas.

Just four years ago, the state had few sites like the ones popping up in Mason and elsewhere. Now, nearly 8,800 megawatts of battery storage is connected to the statewide grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. More than 2,800 megawatts of that was added since last summer alone. 

Batteries are still overshadowed by traditional and renewable sources. The grid has access to about 67,000 megawatts of gas-fired generation, 39,525 megawatts of wind, 25,961 megawatts of solar and 14,700 megawatts of coal-fired power. 

But the battery boom is just getting started. Operators have applied to connect another 152,000 megawatts of storage capacity to the grid by 2030. It’s coming as ERCOT is projecting record growth in demand for electricity by the end of the decade. 

Developers and grid experts say the surge in battery projects is driven by simple economics. The sites are less expensive and can be built more rapidly than traditional generating plants that might be added to keep up with the state’s increasing demand. Battery sites pair well with power generated by wind and solar, which are also growing. And while they often qualify for federal tax credits, grid experts say the industry would be rapidly expanding even without them in Texas’ independent energy market. 

Another factor is that ERCOT increasingly relies on batteries to keep power flowing through its creaky grid, said Matthew Boms, director of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance.

“I think there’s a story to be told on how batteries have been saving the grid,” he said. “I think most Texans just don’t know how important batteries have been.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

While Bexar County barrels toward fiscal 'cliff,' San Antonio sees smoother landing (San Antonio Report)

The City of San Antonio put the finishing touches on its nearly $4 billion fiscal year 2025 budget on Thursday — and with that, pledged the last scraps of its federal coronavirus pandemic recovery fund. The city allocated its remaining $5.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding on one-time expenses, including expanding senior center hours, relocation assistance for downtown residents and seed funding for a South Side health equity initiative.

Meanwhile, Bexar County adopted a $2.8 billion budget one week earlier that sets the county on course toward a so-called “ARPA cliff” unless serious cuts are made or revenue is generated. The county used its last remaining ARPA funds to plug an $18.8 million hole in its general fund budget — rather than using it for new one-time expenses, as commissioners had previously discussed.

Between the newly established public health department, expanded mental health law enforcement program and other initiatives that require reoccurring expenses, the county has bitten off more than its budget can afford in future years without ARPA support. “How many of those ARPA-funded programs continue in the future” will come down to policy decisions made by the Bexar County Commissioners Court, County Manager David Smith said.

“As soon as next budget, we’re going to have to start examining some of those potential impacts.” The city was careful not to over-extend itself, City Manager Erik Walsh said. It ramped up existing programs that it could wind down once funding ran out. The budget deficit that the city had to deal with this year, for the first time since 2010, was due to slowing revenue growth from both property and sales taxes — not as a result of its dwindling ARPA funds... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Dockworkers go on strike, snarling traffic at East and Gulf Coast ports (NPR)

Union dockworkers along East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began walking picket lines early Tuesday, halting the movement of billions of dollars' worth of goods including furniture, paper, shoes, manufacturing components, farm machinery and much more.

The pickets began just after midnight, after talks between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents ocean carriers and port operators, failed to yield a new contract.

"USMX brought on this strike when they decided to hold firm to foreign owned Ocean Carriers earning billion-dollar profits at United States ports, but not compensate the American ILA longshore workers who perform the labor that brings them their wealth,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement released early Tuesday.

The two sides have not met face-to-face since June. They appear to be far apart on key issues. The alliance asked for an extension Monday, a request that went unanswered by the union… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Walz and Vance will meet in their first and possibly only vice presidential debate (Associated Press)

Republicans have unleashed a flurry of lawsuits challenging voting rules and practices ahead of the November elections, setting the stage for what could be a far

Tim Walz and JD Vance will meet for their first and possibly only vice presidential debate Tuesday, in what could be the last debate for both campaigns to argue their case before the election.

The debate in New York hosted by CBS News will give Vance, a Republican freshman senator from Ohio, and Walz, a two-term Democratic governor of Minnesota, the chance to introduce themselves, make the case for their running mates, and go on the attack against the opposing ticket.

Tuesday’s matchup could have an outsized impact. Polls have shown Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a close contest, giving added weight to anything that can sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by the vice presidential candidates. It also might be the last debate of the campaign, with the Harris and Trump teams failing to agree on another meeting… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

_________________________

We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

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