BG Reads 10.10.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - October 10, 2024

October 10, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

Presented by:

www.binghamgp.com

October 10, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Multi-year review found no lead pipes in Austin’s public water system (KXAN)

🟪 Report highlights need for future airport audits (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Elon Musk jumps into Texas election with $1M donation to pro-business PAC (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 OpenAI, Hearst strike deal for newspaper, magazine content integration (Wall Street Journal)

🟪 California’s rent control ballot measure could reverberate across the US (Stateline)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🟪  Last week’s three-day trip to Williamson County, Tennessee—specifically the city of Franklin—for the Round Rock Chamber’s Inaugural InterCity Visit was a fantastic experience. Bingham Group was proud to participate as a sponsor and attendee.

Shout out to Chamber President & CEO Jordan Robinson and the entire team for their efforts.

In 2024, Bingham Group embraced a regional focus and is dedicated to fostering proactive relationships and strategic investments within the Austin Metro for 2025 and beyond.

🟪 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 five (5) regular meetings left in 2024

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 2 - Video (9.26.2024)

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 4 - Video (9.19.2024)

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 6 - Video (9.5.2024)

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 7 - Video (9.5.2024)

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 10 - Video (9.30.2024)

đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: Mayor - Video (10.3.2024)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Multi-year review found no lead pipes in Austin’s public water system (KXAN)

Austin’s public water system doesn’t contain any lead pipes, Austin Water officials confirmed in a Wednesday release.

The update came after a multi-year inspection effort facilitated by Austin Water in an effort to achieve compliancy with guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Officials noted the agency has been working to “prevent exposure and get the lead out of our water” for over 50 years, the release added.

Lead has been prohibited in the city’s public pipeline infrastructure since the 1950s. Austin Water officials noted that, since the 1960s, the agency has “removed any pre-existing lead lines during normal maintenance activity and water line rehabilitation projects,” per the release.

The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions spearheaded Austin Water’s system review, which launched in 2016. That review evaluated all public water service lines as well as public and private side indicators.

Crews completed work on the review last month and verified the city’s public water system doesn’t include lead pipes. Austin Water officials said fewer than 1,000 lines “on the private side of the meter” are galvanized, with those having the possibility of lead contamination.

Officials confirmed the agency is committed to working with homeowners choosing to replace those lines, per the release… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Report highlights need for future airport audits (Austin Monitor)

The city’s Aviation Department faces a variety of risks, particularly related to insufficient staffing, according to a report from the Office of the City Auditor.

Auditor-in-charge Kathie Harrison told the Council Audit & Finance Committee on Wednesday that the three top risk areas facing Aviation include contract and vendor management, asset management and maintenance and emergency management and safety. It will be up to Council, particularly the Audit and Finance Committee, to determine what areas to audit in 2025.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, now known as AUS, opened in 1999 with the capacity to accommodate 11 million travelers each year. That number has risen each year, with a dip during the Covid-19 pandemic, and is now more than 22 million passengers per year, the report notes.

As a result of the growth, the Aviation Department has started a $4 billion expansion project as part of its 20-year master plan. That plan includes enlarging the main terminal building, building a new concourse and adding more gates and checkpoints, as well as other projects. ABIA CEO Ghizlane Badawi said Aviation is participating in 55 airport contracts, plus numerous citywide contracts… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

More bike, transit lanes in Austin? Council could kickstart study on proposal (KXAN)

The city of Austin could kickstart a study to analyze reallocating public right of way (ROW) to support more active and mass transit initiatives.

Austin City Council will consider Thursday a resolution that, if approved, would launch a planning study on the reallocation proposal, known as CityLeap. The nonprofit Safe Streets Austin proposed the concept, which would transform some roadways to add protected bike infrastructure or dedicated transit infrastructure, according to city documents.

The CityLeap concept denoted those possible reallocations would be made on city-controlled roadways with four or more lanes, per city documents. Among those eligible roadways, one lane would be reimagined as a protected bike lane or a dedicated transit lane, with the goal of tackling these efforts within the next five years… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Pedestrian plazas on Congress Avenue? City Hall wants your thoughts (Austin Business Journal)

Vehicle traffic on some blocks of Congress Avenue would be rerouted to make way for pedestrian plazas under a plan being considered at Austin City Hall.

Public input is being sought regarding the so-called Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative, which would make Austin's main street a “more human centered, multimodal, complete street with a clear and attractive identity," according to an Oct. 9 announcement from the city.

The biggest change to Congress Avenue in the proposal would be to convert the blocks between Seventh and 11th streets into pedestrian plazas — blocking vehicles from traveling north and south starting at Seventh. The proposed pedestrian plazas would still allow vehicles traveling east and west to cross Congress Avenue between those two streets.]

Other changes between Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street would include converting existing parking spaces to pedestrian uses and improving bike paths. It's possible some retailers on Congress Avenue could claim some of the newly created space.

According to a study previously commissioned by the city, 94 parking spaces on Congress Avenue would be eliminated by the initiative, which equates to a reduction of 0.27% of publicly available spaces in the area. 

About $22 million in funding for the first phase of the project — which city officials said was inspired by the transformation of the Texas Capitol Mall — would come from a 2020 mobility bond initiative… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

ERCOT, renewable energy developers break stalemate on issues to ward off 'catastrophic grid failure' (Houston Chronicle)

The operator of the Texas power grid said it’s reached “a reasonable compromise” with renewable energy developers after more than a year of stalemate on technical issues with some solar, wind and battery storage resources it warned could conceivably lead to “catastrophic grid failure.”

Clean energy companies fought the initial requirements the Electric Reliability Council of Texas wanted to impose, cautioning they could be forced to shut down large swaths of the fast-growing wind, solar and battery resources on the Texas grid if made to install expensive hardware upgrades.

The parties agreed in August that owners of clean energy resources on the ERCOT grid must instead implement all available software and settings changes to meet the new requirements. This proposal is expected to fix the “vast majority” of problems found in three of the worst failures of the past few years, which prompted the rules change in the first place, according to clean energy developers and an industry consultant who studied those events.

The new rule will “improve reliability over time” as resources comply with its terms, ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster wrote in an email. The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates ERCOT, issued an order approving the new rule last month. “While this will be an enormous lift for (clean energy resource) owners, it is far better than the alternative,” Eric Goff, an industry consultant who emerged as the lead negotiator for renewable developers, wrote in a social media post.

Clean energy resources – particularly solar and batteries – have grown rapidly on the Texas power grid in recent years as the technology becomes less expensive and federal incentives boost domestic manufacturing and development. They’ve been credited with adding a healthy cushion of supply to the grid, especially on the hottest summer days, lowering electricity costs and helping decarbonize electricity generation, the third-largest contributor of climate-warming emissions in Texas… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

A bidding war is brewing for Alex Jones’ media empire (Texas Public Radio)

Both fans and foes are getting in on the bidding war for Alex Jones’ media company -- or at least trying to.

Some harbor hopes of continuing Jones’ brand of conservative rants and conspiracy mongering, while others dream of burying it for good. Ultimately, the winner may take all, including even Jones himself, since the company running the auction says there would be nothing stopping a new owner from rehiring “key employees and talent.”

Jones’ Infowars show and its parent company, Free Speech Systems, are being liquidated through a federal bankruptcy court to pay Sandy Hook families who sued Jones for defamation after he spread lies that they were just actors and their children were not really killed in the 2012 school shooting.

Jones owes the families some $1.5 billion in damages for the pain and suffering they endured after some of his followers harassed and threatened them for years. At best, the families expect to collect just a small fraction of what they’re owed… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Elon Musk jumps into Texas election with $1M donation to pro-business PAC (Houston Chronicle)

Elon Musk appears to be jumping back into Texas politics, making the first state-level political donation under his own name in nearly a decade. The Tesla and SpaceX chief gave $1 million to Texas for Lawsuit Reform PAC, the political arm of a powerful pro-business group known for lobbying against what it sees as frivolous lawsuits.

The September donation, from the Elon Musk Revocable Trust, was reported in the PAC’s quarterly fundraising report filed this week. Musk’s donation accounted for about a third of the $2.9 million the PAC reported raising, and was the largest gift the group reported. The second largest was from Miriam Adelson, a conservative megadonor who gave $500,000.

The Austin billionaire has moved much of his business empire to Texas and has become increasingly active in Republican politics this election cycle, launching a super PAC supporting Donald Trump and appearing at the former president’s rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Musk also gave $289,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect House Republicans, in August.

The state donation comes after Musk secretly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into an effort to unseat progressive Travis County District Attorney José Garza in the Democratic primary race earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The paper reported the Musk-backed group that targeted Garza, Saving Austin, is connected to another group now supporting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection bid, Saving Texas. Texans for Lawsuit Reform is a business-aligned lobbying group co-founded by Dick Weekley, a Houston real estate developer and GOP donor who reportedly helped Musk launch his pro-Trump super PAC… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

OpenAI, Hearst strike deal for newspaper, magazine content integration (Wall Street Journal)

Hearst and artificial-intelligence company OpenAI struck a content-partnership deal, allowing the media company’s newspaper and domestic magazine content to be integrated into OpenAI’s products.

The collaboration, announced Tuesday, spans over 20 magazine brands and more than 40 newspapers, which include the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Runner’s World and Women’s Health.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The companies said the partnership will enhance the utility and reach of both companies’ offerings.

Hearst’s businesses outside of its magazines and newspapers aren’t included in this partnership, it said. The company’s content that is integrated into OpenAI’s products, such as ChatGPT, would include citations and direct links to the original sources.

Hearst Newspapers President Jeff Johnson said it is important that journalism created by professional journalists be at the forefront of AI products, as generative AI matures.

The Hearst-OpenAI deal is the latest in a series of major pacts the ChatGPT-maker has inked... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

California’s rent control ballot measure could reverberate across the US (Stateline)

Among the many ballot questions American voters will consider next month, housing experts are paying close attention to California and a question known as Proposition 33 — a proposed repeal of the state’s restrictions on local rent control. If passed, the measure would give authority back to local governments to enact or change laws on rent control.

For advocates, passing Proposition 33 would be a critical opportunity to address California’s housing crisis head-on. For the real estate industry, defeating Proposition 33 would mean maintaining the status quo in a market that has made billions for corporate landlords. While rent control — caps on rent increases — provides relief to tenants, some economists suggest there are significant trade-offs: Rent control policies can lead to higher rents for uncontrolled units, reduce landlords’ incentive to maintain units, and dampen the creation of new rental housing — exacerbating affordable housing shortages.

Since January 2021, states and localities across the country have implemented more than 300 new tenant protections, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit that pushes for housing affordability. And some housing advocates think that if Californians approve the ballot question, other states could follow suit, expanding rent control in the coming years as a way to prevent large rate hikes that can force out low- and middle-income tenants.

The ballot initiative could have “a reverberating effect across the country” if it is passed, said Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a liberal-leaning advocacy group.

“Renter protections have shown to have a path [to being passed] when put in the hands of voters since the pandemic.”

Rent control has a long history in California. Before 1995, local governments were allowed to impose rent controls, as long as landlords were still receiving reasonable financial returns. But that year, lawmakers, with the support of the housing industry, passed the Costa-Hawkins Rental Act. It imposed new mandates: no rent control on condominiums or single-family homes, and no rent control on properties built after 1995… 🟪 (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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