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- BG Reads 2.3.2025
BG Reads 2.3.2025
🟪 BG Reads - February 3, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
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February 3, 2025
➡️ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Council vows to make homelessness a top financial priority (Austin Monitor)
🟪 Abbott vows pay raises for teachers and more property tax relief (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas agencies to eliminate diversity policies (Dallas Morning News)
🟪 Trump, facing two crises in his second week, spreads the blame around (Wall Street Journal)
Read On!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
Archived Live Stream (5h 12m)
ℹ️ Helpful City Links:
Updated List of Council Committees and Appointments -> View the latest proposed list (1.25.2025)
BG Blog: Austin City Hall Week in Review (Week of January 20th, 2025)
Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin in 2025
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
➡️ Council vows to make homelessness a top financial priority (Austin Monitor)
City Council last week reaffirmed its commitment to tackling Austin’s homelessness crisis, pledging to use a recent data-driven report to guide housing and services investments over the next 10 years.
City officials will work with Travis County, service providers and other regional partners to finance upward of $350 million to strengthen the local homelessness response system as funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act is expected to run dry by 2026.
In introducing the resolution, which originated in the Public Health Committee, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes noted the significance of passing the item in the first Council meeting of the year, underscoring homelessness as a top priority “not only for this upcoming budget cycle, but also as a priority for us in how we comprehensively and holistically address homelessness.”
In doing so, Council formally adopted the State of the Homelessness Response System report produced by the nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, known as ECHO… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Austin is increasing security at city parks and greenbelts following string of car break-ins (KUT)
After recent vehicle break-ins at parks and greenbelts, the City of Austin is looking to improve security. Each year thousands of car breaks-in are reported in Austin.
In 2024 alone, more than 8,200 cars were broken into, according to crime data from the Austin Police Department. Cpl. Jose Mendez, a spokesperson with APD, said car break-ins are a crime of opportunity and tend to happen in areas where cars are grouped together and are housing potentially valuable belongings.
Visible items like charging cords, GPS holders or even loose change might entice someone to break into a vehicle.
City officials said it is now taking extra steps to address the issue. “Austin parks are the crown jewels of the city and it’s important that everyone who visits them feels safe and secure,” a city spokesperson said in an email.
“This is a priority for the City Manager and, at his direction, leadership from the Austin Police Department and the Parks and Recreation Department have been meeting to create short- and long-term plans to address security and other safety concerns.” Several changes are already underway, including increased Austin Police patrols, stationing police vehicles in parking lots, adding more signs, and adding more security cameras in high-target areas… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
➡️ Abbott vows pay raises for teachers and more property tax relief (Texas Tribune)
In a speech with something for everybody, Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated Texas’ economic strength and set an agenda focused on keeping the state a national leader by continuing its business-friendly policies, cutting down on property taxes for homeowners and passing a school voucher-like program in his sixth State of the State address on Sunday evening.
Abbott, a Republican in his 10th year as the state’s chief executive, touted the state’s pro-business reputation, saying it has been named the best state to do business in for two decades and is the national leader in creating new jobs and starting new businesses.
In a speech held in front of 1,100 people, including members of the House and Senate, at Arnold Oil Company in Austin, he highlighted the newly created Texas Stock Exchange and said it will make the state the financial capital of America.
“Clearly, God has blessed Texas, and the state of our state has never been better,” he said.
Casting his vision forward, Abbott laid out seven emergency items that he said would help Texas remain a national leader: cutting property taxes, a “generational investment” in the state’s water infrastructure, increasing teacher pay, beefing up vocational career training programs for students after high school, allowing the use of public dollars for private education purposes, stiffening the state’s bail laws and creating a cybersecurity hub in San Antonio… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Texas legislative detente? Here's why Dan Patrick, Dustin Burrows say they'll
work together (Austin American-Statesman)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the third-term Republican who presides over the Texas Senate, says he hopes to have a strong working relationship with Rep. Dustin Burrow, the new House speaker, even though he has been highly critical of the process that brought the Lubbock legislator to power.
"My job is to give him an opportunity to succeed, and I'm hoping to do that," Patrick told a conservative audience in Austin at a townhall-style forum Tuesday evening. "But if it doesn't work, I'm not going to sit quiet." Patrick's remark came two weeks after Burrows defeated Republican state Rep. David Cook of Mansfield in a hard-fought race to run the 150-member chamber where the GOP has an 88-62 majority over Democrats.
Cook received support from most of the House GOP Caucus while Burrows was elected on the strength of a bloc of Democratic members pushing him over the top during the two-ballot vote on the opening day of the 2025 legislative session. "Speaker Burrows was handed the speakership by Democrats," Partrick said in a Jan. 14 news release. "This may be the first time in our nation’s history where the minority party openly elected the speaker of a legislative body instead of the majority party."
Last month on the social media platform X, Patrick warned that rank-and-file Republicans would exact revenge on any speaker candidate who would owe allegiance to House Democrats. "Any Republican Speaker candidate who attempts a coup d'e´tat to steal the Speaker’s gavel with a majority of Democrats and only a handful of Republicans will never be accepted by Republican voters," Patrick posted. In fact, Patrick's frustration with former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, over vouchers and the House's decision to bring 20 impeachment charges against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2023 were triggering factors in setting up the speaker's race ahead of the start of session.
On Wednesday, the two top legislative leaders sat down for a private breakfast with Gov. Greg Abbott. Such occasional breakfasts among Abbott, Patrick and Phelan were discontinued last session as the speaker-lieutenant governor feud spilled into public view. Burrows, who earlier on Tuesday spoke to the same conservative audience as Patrick, downplayed any perceived ill-will from the lieutenant governor… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas agencies to eliminate diversity policies (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Friday directing state agencies to be “color-blind” and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The order instructs Texas agencies — such as the Department of Public Safety and Texas Education Agency — to ensure all “rules, policies, employment practices, communications, curricula, use of state funds, awarding of government benefits, and all other official actions treat people equally, regardless of race.”
Abbott’s order says state and federal constitutional protections require governments to treat people equally, “refusing to place a thumb on the scale for or against anyone based on race.” The order describes DEI, critical race theory and affirmative action as “blatant efforts to divide people” and “new forms of racism.” The order dismisses ideas such as “inherent bias” and “cultural appropriation” as racist efforts that are antithetical to the declaration that “all men are created equal.” “DEI agendas divide us rather than unite us and have no place in the state of Texas,” Abbott said in a statement. “These radical policies deviate from constitutional principles and deny diverse thought.”
Abbott said every Texan is equal and that government discrimination based on race is unconstitutional at the state and federal levels. “That is why I directed all state agencies to eliminate any form of DEI attempting to divide Texans,” Abbott said. “We must always reject race-based favoritism or discrimination and allow people to advance based on talent and merit.” Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said the governor’s order shows his “disregard for hardworking Texans.”
“In a state as diverse as Texas, it is a massive disservice to our workforce to exclude DEI protections that employ veterans, people with disabilities, women, Black and Brown Texans and demographics from all walks of life,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “Instead of supporting policies that uplift our diverse workforce, he is choosing to play political games — putting ideology over opportunity and leaving countless families without a paycheck.”
The governor’s office did not respond to an email seeking clarity on the extent of the order and whether it applies to state universities. In 2023, Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 17, which prohibited DEI policies in state colleges and universities, including diversity offices and employees. President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 21 directing federal agencies to enforce civil rights laws and “combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Texas under consideration for more Stargate projects, prompting hopes of AI rush (Houston Chronicle)
For months Texas developers have been watching bulldozers move back and forth across a sprawling industrial site north of Abilene, building a data center complex large enough to cover almost 70 football fields.
The tenant was kept a secret until last week, when President Donald Trump announced that tech giants Open AI and Oracle, along with the Japanese investment firm Soft Bank, were leading a consortium of technology companies to build Stargate, a $500 billion artificial intelligence network, with the Texas site to be their first project. And there could be more to come for Texas, with Open AI executives flying to Austin late last week to meet with staffers for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, along with state Sen. Tan Parker, a north Texas Republican.
“Our discussions focused on how Texas — renowned for its go-big ethos — can become the powerhouse of the AI revolution much like Michigan was for the auto industry in the early 20th Century,” Chris Lehane, chief global affairs officer at Open AI, wrote on LinkedIn.
“What was clear right off the bat, as I sat under an epic painting of the Alamo: These folks play to win!” What degree of the Stargate project will be built within Texas remains to be seen. A spokesman for Open AI said this week the company was looking at a number of sites in Texas but declined to discuss details, saying only that the state’s business friendly environment, workforce and supply chains were part of their calculation in focusing on Texas. In the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, already one of the country’s largest hubs for data centers, developers have been rushing to figure out how they can get a piece of the Stargate project.
“How did Abilene end up wrangling this? That’s what everyone wants to know,” said Paul Bendel, president of Tech Titans, a trade group representing data centers in North Texas. “It’s a great community. Plenty of space and good energy resources. And we’re trying to figure out what other parts of the state might be able to land a facility like this.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
➡️ Trump, facing two crises in his second week, spreads the blame around (Wall Street Journal)
President Trump’s handling of two crises this week—one, a bureaucratic mess and the other, a horrific tragedy—quickly shifted the White House from inaugural euphoria to the realities of governing. His defiant stand in the face of nationwide confusion and fear left some aides scrambling to fortify the image of a White House that could do no wrong.
But he handled both problems with the same approach: deflecting blame and attacking Democrats, the media and his predecessors. His message was an amplified version of what he has tried to exude since taking office: He is in charge. The country also received its first live-action glimpse of a White House and cabinet that is being hastily assembled and crafting policies on the fly that in one case had to be quickly reversed.
On Monday, a memo written by an acting director of the White House’s budget office caused a widespread panic and might have inadvertently led the Medicaid system to freeze in less than 24 hours. On Thursday, Trump’s new Defense and Transportation chiefs were thrust in the middle of investigating the worst domestic airplane crash in two decades.
“It’s not your fault, and I know you agree with me very strongly on intellect and even psychological well-being of the air-traffic controller,” Trump said as he introduced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. It was there, at the press briefing, when Trump announced the appointment of a new acting Federal Aviation Administration director, less than 24 hours after an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. It was also there that he speculated the accident could have been caused because of “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies stretching back to the Obama administration. When asked to explain what he was basing this on, he said “because I have common sense and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.“
On camera and on Truth Social all week, Trump governed with his usual confidence and bravado. But behind the scenes, there was evidence of frustration and breakdowns in communication in an administration that has moved with lightning speed to try to shake up the government.
“In his second week in office, President Trump has shown resolute leadership in the face of tragedy and robustly pushed through on enacting the agenda that the American people gave him a historic mandate to implement—and Americans can count on President Trump to continue delivering,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Trump, facing two crises in his second week, spreads the blame around (Wall Street Journal)
President Trump’s handling of two crises this week—one, a bureaucratic mess and the other, a horrific tragedy—quickly shifted the White House from inaugural euphoria to the realities of governing. His defiant stand in the face of nationwide confusion and fear left some aides scrambling to fortify the image of a White House that could do no wrong. But he handled both problems with the same approach: deflecting blame and attacking Democrats, the media and his predecessors.
His message was an amplified version of what he has tried to exude since taking office: He is in charge. The country also received its first live-action glimpse of a White House and cabinet that is being hastily assembled and crafting policies on the fly that in one case had to be quickly reversed. On Monday, a memo written by an acting director of the White House’s budget office caused a widespread panic and might have inadvertently led the Medicaid system to freeze in less than 24 hours.
On Thursday, Trump’s new Defense and Transportation chiefs were thrust in the middle of investigating the worst domestic airplane crash in two decades. “It’s not your fault, and I know you agree with me very strongly on intellect and even psychological well-being of the air-traffic controller,” Trump said as he introduced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
It was there, at the press briefing, when Trump announced the appointment of a new acting Federal Aviation Administration director, less than 24 hours after an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. It was also there that he speculated the accident could have been caused because of “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies stretching back to the Obama administration.
When asked to explain what he was basing this on, he said “because I have common sense and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.“ On camera and on Truth Social all week, Trump governed with his usual confidence and bravado. But behind the scenes, there was evidence of frustration and breakdowns in communication in an administration that has moved with lightning speed to try to shake up the government. “
In his second week in office, President Trump has shown resolute leadership in the face of tragedy and robustly pushed through on enacting the agenda that the American people gave him a historic mandate to implement—and Americans can count on President Trump to continue delivering,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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