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October 6, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

✅ Travis County shows starkest child welfare inequities among large Texas counties

✅ All eyes on House Speaker Dade Phelan as school voucher session nears

✅ Biden stuns allies with border wall bombshell

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham sponsored a round of Penalty Kicks on the Austin FC pitch Wednesday night for Verde Leader students from Austin ISD’s Bedichek Middle School.Verde Leaders is the feature program of the 4ATX Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Austin FC.For the last five years, the program has been helping students develop the skills and community of support they need to thrive academically and personally through afterschool soccer training and community-based events.As a Bedichek alum and Foundation chair-elect, A.J. was proud to participate.

🎙️ BG Podcast Ep. 221:

• 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 Economic Development Corporation: General Counsel

• Cruise: Senior Government Affairs Manager, Southern California ($135,700/yr - $199,500/yr)

• Lime: Regional General Manager ($122,000/yr - $163,000/yr)

• Opportunity Austin: Vice President of Policy & Advocacy ($110,000/yr - $125,000/yr)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Travis County shows starkest child welfare inequities among large Texas counties (Austin Monitor)

Black children in Travis County disproportionately are the subject of reports of abuse and neglect, investigated by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and removed from their homes, compared to white children.  

This is according to an Oct. 2 report by the Travis County Child Welfare Race Equity Collaborative analyzing DFPS data from fiscal years 2018 through 2021. A separate report analyzing fiscal year 2023 data and submitted by DFPS to the Texas Legislature on Sept. 29 found “Travis County continues to show the largest disparities of the seven largest counties” in the state.

Aurora Martinez Jones, judge of the 126th District Court presiding over the Child Protective Services (CPS) dockets and co-founder of the collaborative, sees the findings as a call to action. “Travis County must do better,” she said in an Oct. 2 press release. “All of our children deserve actual support and not just reports to CPS.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Here are the best ways to reach ACL Fest 2023 — or avoid it completely (KUT)

Austin City Limits brings music-lovers from across the world to Zilker Park, who in turn bring traffic jams to the city. Lots and lots of traffic. Whether you’re attending the festival, dropping someone off or avoiding it altogether, here’s your guide on how to get around Austin for the next two weekends… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austinites can weigh in on housing density, occupancy proposals Oct. 26 (Community Impact)

Austin’s City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint public hearing on proposed land-use updates in late October, an uncommon step that several city officials pushed for to expand public debate about the policies… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas will have an $18.6 billion surplus and avoid a recession, comptroller projects (Texas Tribune)

Texas is likely to avoid an anticipated recession and, on the contrary, is projected to have more than $18 billion in unspent money at the end of this two-year budget cycle, thanks to an unexpected increase in state revenue in recent months, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Thursday.

“Despite sharply higher interest rates, household budgets stressed by inflation and adverse economic conditions among major trading partners, the national economy has continued to grow,” Hegar said in his Certified Revenue Estimate, updating how much money lawmakers will have to spend. "Meanwhile, the Texas economy has outperformed the national economy, and the economic outlook included with this revenue estimate does not assume a recession in Texas.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

All eyes on House Speaker Dade Phelan as school voucher session nears (Houston Chronicle)

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan will face a crucial political test when state lawmakers kick off a special session Monday focused on private school vouchers that could put the Beaumont Republican further at odds with some of the state’s most powerful GOP leaders. The session comes after months of criticism from right-wing advocates over the House’s vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. They have called for Phelan’s ouster since the state Senate acquitted Paxton of all corruption charges last month, but the speaker has remained defiant, and the House appears to have little interest in electing a new leader right now. “I'm here to become speaker again next session,” Phelan told KFDM, the CBS affiliate in his hometown, earlier this week. “I will put my record against anybody.”

The voucher fight will offer a window into Phelan’s leadership ability and political resilience coming out of the impeachment fight. Though voucher plans — a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott — have long languished in the 150-member lower chamber, the speaker has largely avoided wading into the debate himself. But with top Texas Republicans driving momentum for “school choice” — or proposals that would allow parents to use state dollars to send their kids to private schools — Phelan may be forced to take a firmer stance. Ahead of the session, he offered few specifics on where the House stands.

“You ask 149 House members what is ‘school choice,’ and you get 149 answers,” Phelan told a local GOP group this week. “I hope we’re able to come to some type of agreement on the subject matter and get something done.” He is already at odds with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the state party’s leadership, both influential supporters of private school vouchers who have repeatedly bashed the House’s impeachment process. If a voucher package falters in the lower chamber, Phelan and his GOP allies also risk drawing the ire of Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who have threatened to target anti-voucher Republicans in next year’s primaries. Phelan is facing at least two primary challengers of his own, both of whom are capitalizing on the post-impeachment criticism. And there are also internal House politics to navigate: Some of his allies who have defended the chamber’s impeachment approach are conservative Republicans who want a voucher plan to pass… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Biden stuns allies with border wall bombshell (The Hill)

President Biden’s decision this week to move forward with border wall construction that Democrats have long denounced shocked allies and immigration advocates.

The stunning reversal came just days after administration officials participated in an immigration roundtable at the Capitol featuring Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members and immigration advocates.

The administration’s participation in the roundtable drew praise from CHC members; administration officials did not mention plans to restart border wall construction.

CHC leaders on Thursday called the decision “disappointing.”

“While this border wall funding was signed into law by President Trump under Republican leadership, this decision is not in line with the current Administration’s commitments to end border wall construction. Republicans remain committed to building border walls that are ineffective, a poor use of taxpayer funds, and a strain on the local environment, endangering families and children who are fleeing from dangerous conditions and that seek legal asylum in the United States,” CHC Chair Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) said in a statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Donald Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker (Associated Press)

Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight Friday. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan’s bid and after Trump said he would be open to serving as interim leader himself if Republicans couldn’t settle on a successor following McCarthy’s stunning ouster… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Army plans major cuts to special-operations forces, including Green Berets (Wall Street Journal)

The Pentagon is poised to make controversial cuts to the Army’s storied special-operations forces, amid recruiting struggles and a shift in focus from Middle East counterterrorism operations to a threat from China. 

The Army is cutting about 3,000 troops, or about 10% from its special-operations ranks, which could include so-called trigger-pullers from the Green Beret commando units who have conducted some of the nation’s most dangerous and sensitive missions around the world, from the jungles of Vietnam to the back alleys of Baghdad. 

The reductions would enable the Army to rebalance toward the large conventional ground forces needed in a potential fight in Asia. The trims in the ranks of special forces would also help the Army cope with a recruiting shortfall in a strong labor market. But opponents of the cuts, notably senior special-operations officers, have argued they could hinder training of U.S. partners, including the Ukrainian and Taiwanese militaries, and limit the elite units’ ability to respond to crises… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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