BG Reads 10.11.2023

🗞️ BG Reads | News - October 11, 2023

October 11, 2023

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October 11, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

✅ Small businesses are priority for Buda incentives program

✅ Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo talks decision to seek treatment for depression

✅ California becomes the first state to ban 4 food additives linked to disease

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

  • On this episode the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham welcomes returning guest, Ed Latson, CEO, Austin Regional Manufacturers Association (ARMA).

  • He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the Austin City Council's recent approval of Ch. 380 agreement with NXP, and its importance to Austin and Central Texas.

  • The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

🔎 Jobs List

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Garza responds to questions about forgoing national search for police oversight director (Austin American-Statesman)

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza defended his decision to forgo a national search when appointing a new director of the Office of Police Oversight after concerns were raised by several Austin City Council members.

In a memo sent to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and members of the Austin City Council on Oct. 4, that was made public Oct. 10, Garza said, "Had I moved forward with a national search, we would be waiting until next year before being able to name a permanent lead for the Office – a delay that would simply add to the already perceived delay of moving forward with the voters’ will via Prop A."

Garza said in a memo in May the city would conduct a "thorough national search" for the new director after Deven Desai, the previous interim director of the office, resigned. Gail McCant, the interim director appointed after Desai resigned, was made the permanent director in September.

"I recognize that the announcement came as a surprise to you and for that, I apologize," Garza wrote in his memo defending the decision. "It was not my intent to catch you off guard with this very important appointment. However, I stand firm in my reasoning for moving forward and hope that you all also recognize the need to bring that stability to the OPO… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Small businesses are priority for incentives program in city south of Austin (Austin Business Journal)

It's all part of a concerted effort for the economic development wing of the city of Buda to take care of its existing small businesses first. They've set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to help maintain a bustling Main Street in the city, which is about 15 miles south of downtown Austin and has a population of about 16,000.

Most cities in the area do have opportunities for incentives for small businesses, but not many earmark most of their budgets for them. Many cities have used their incentives tools for large corporate wins, such as Kyle attracting Costco Wholesale Corp., San Marcos luring Hill Country Studios, or Taylor bringing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Support for small businesses has escalated recently because of Austin's rapid growth, which has led to a number of longtime businesses shutting their doors as costs go up and people and businesses flock to the suburbs.

The Buda EDC during the 2022-23 fiscal year awarded $200,000 to more than 40 small businesses, including The Carrington, to fund marketing, workforce and building improvements. The EDC has already approved tens of thousands of dollars for businesses toward next year's allocation… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Education, community building among ‘start small’ goals for city’s push for music hubs (Austin Monitor)

The push to establish creative and music hubs in the city’s three ethnic cultural centers could begin with small educational and community-building workshops before a possible bond vote in 2026 to raise money for construction and equipment for the facilities.

Feedback from three open houses held in September – one each for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center and the Asian American Resource Center – showed strong support for the creative hubs, which would be overseen by the Parks and Recreation Department. The primary goal of the hubs would be to provide free studio and rehearsal space for musicians, along with other career-building resources and meeting space to encourage collaboration.

More than 100 people attended the three sessions, which will be followed by focus group sessions for each community center. EQ Austin, the nonprofit group that conducted the open houses for the city, will deliver its recommendations from those sessions to PARD by the end of the year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Speaker Phelan says voucher bill will only pass Texas House with increase in public school funding (Houston Chronicle)

House Speaker Dade Phelan said on Monday the House is likely to pass a voucher bill subsidizing students' private education with taxpayer dollars, so long as it comes with a boost in funding for public schools and pay raises for teachers. The Beaumont Republican’s comments indicate he is playing a more active role in negotiations after his chamber has typically blocked voucher efforts in the past. Phelan said he’s having regular discussions with rural Republicans who have historically been uncomfortable with voucher programs and said he’d be open to negotiating with Democrats in order to get enough votes. “I do feel like we can come to terms. It's going to take not just a path forward on school choice, but on school funding,” Phelan said. “The truth of the matter is that we’re going to have both, we have to have both, and we're in discussions with the governor's office on that.”

Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to Austin this month to advance border security measures and to give students access to an education savings account that they could use to pay tuition at private schools or other related expenses. The Republican’s agenda does not include much-expected public school funding, though some within his party were taking it up anyway. Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who chairs the chamber’s education committee, filed a bill Monday that would increase public school funding by more than $5 billion, and $1.2 billion more than was discussed earlier this year. It would hike the per-student funding amount districts receive by $75, provide bonuses for teachers, expand the merit-pay raise Teacher Incentive Allotment program and increase money for school safety. Creighton described the bill as going “hand-in-hand” with another proposal he has not yet filed that would give students $8,000 to spend on private education. It makes “historic” investments into public education, he said, and will “unleash the potential of education for the 6 million students we serve.”

Democrats were quick to criticize the package as insufficient. They have called for a $1,000 per-student increase to keep up with inflation. House Democrats will vote against any deal that includes public funds for private schools, even if it's part of a package that increases school funding overall, he said at a press conference on Monday. “We’re united. No vouchers. No deals. Pretty simple,” said Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio. But Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, a San Antonio Democrat who runs a charter school, said members of her party should keep “everything on the table” in discussions with Republicans about private school vouchers. She said she opposes any voucher plan but that if one will inevitably pass, Democrats should participate in negotiations in order to win concessions… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

'I was trapped': Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo talks decision to seek treatment for depression (Houston Chronicle)

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she spent years fighting depression and suicidal thoughts but felt too ashamed to ask for help because of the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment. She said she resisted the idea of seeing a psychiatrist despite experiencing these symptoms of depression for nearly a decade. Even when she finally decided to check into an inpatient mental health treatment facility this summer, she said she told a friend that she was scared it would forever be part of her resume. “I was holding myself back, just because I was too prideful and biased to not recognize that I needed that kind of care,” Hidalgo, 32, said in a wide-ranging interview Thursday. “I don't want that for anybody else in the community.” Hidalgo returned to work Monday for the first time since she announced Aug. 7 that she was taking an extended leave of absence to receive mental health treatment. She said in a letter to Harris County residents that she had been experiencing symptoms “for some time” but was not diagnosed with clinical depression until July.

After spending seven weeks in treatment at the Lindner Center for HOPE in Cincinnati, Hidalgo said she wishes she had sought treatment sooner. “I was so ignorant about mental health, and now I’ve been sort of on a crash course about it,” Hidalgo said. “I recognize that there's such a lack of knowledge in the community. I feel like if there's a little bit that I can do by sharing my experience and it will help other people, then I have a responsibility to do that.” Hidalgo has returned to an intensely demanding job that is layered with political battles and legal fights. Reelected in 2022, Hidalgo is chief executive of the state’s largest county and presiding officer of the Commissioners Court meetings. She emerged as a rising star in Democratic politics and has drawn steady and at times sharp criticism from Republicans. Hidalgo said her symptoms have come “in waves” over the years but that she always thought they were a normal part of life. She tried to improve her mood by adopting a cat, buying a bicycle and taking vacations. Nothing seemed to work, she said. “The first half of this year, even though I was in Thailand scuba diving with these incredible fish, I was really feeling empty and sad,” she said. “I was trapped.” Hidalgo saw a psychiatrist in summer 2022, and he diagnosed her with anxiety, she said. She was skeptical of the diagnosis, especially after she had a recurrence of suicidal thoughts this past spring… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas lawmakers again try to prohibit private businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines (Texas Tribune)

Conservative Texas lawmakers are taking another shot at prohibiting private businesses from requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccines.

The new legislation comes after years of Republican attempts to reign in COVID-related restrictions like mask mandates and vaccine requirements.

Senate Bill 7, by Galveston Republican Sen. Mayes Middleton, offers no exceptions to its proposed ban on vaccine mandates by private businesses and would subject employers to state fines and other actions if they fire or punish employees who refuse the shot. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee quickly passed the bill Tuesday, the second day of a special legislative session.

“It’s about protecting individual liberties and medical freedom for all Texans,” Middleton told the committee. “No one should be forced to make that awful decision between making a living for their family and their health or individual vaccine preference.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

California becomes the first state to ban 4 food additives linked to disease (NPR)

California has become the first U.S. state to outlaw the use of four potentially harmful food and drink additives that have been linked to an array of diseases, including cancer, and are already banned in dozens of countries.

The California Food Safety Act prohibits the manufacturing, distribution and sale of food and beverages that contain brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye 3 — which can be found in candy, fruit juices, cookies and more.

Backers of the law say it doesn't mean popular products will suddenly disappear from store shelves, but rather that companies will have to tweak their recipes to be able to offer the same food and drink items with healthier ingredients… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Having ousted Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are hitting trouble trying to nominate a new speaker (Associated Press)

Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is scheduled to convene behind closed doors to launch internal party voting but lawmakers warn it could take hours, if not days, to unite behind a nominee after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.

The two leading contenders Wednesday for the gavel, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, appear to be splitting the vote among their Republican colleagues. They outlined their visions at a lengthy candidate forum ahead of the private balloting.

McCarthy, meanwhile, who had openly positioned himself to reclaim the job he just lost, told his colleagues not to nominate him this time. Instead, at Tuesday’s late evening candidate forum, he read a poem from Mother Teresa and delivered a unity prayer… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

All eyes on VW after Hyundai, Kia adopt Tesla charging standard (Tech Crunch)

Hyundai and Kia have finally announced their plans to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports for their electric vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, joining the swells of automakers that have also promised to do so.

The move will give Hyundai and Kia drivers — as well as drivers of Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Rivian vehicles — access to thousands of Tesla Superchargers across the two countries and Mexico.

As NACS seems to outstrip the Combined Charging System (CCS) as the new charging standard, the question on the auto industry’s mind is when will Volkswagen ante up?… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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