On Jan. 15, months after votes from the November election were tallied, all City Council members and candidates filed reports showing how much they had in their campaign bank accounts as of Dec. 31.

Mayor Kirk Watson is clearly the big spender from the November City Council ballot, having spent more than $1 million to get reelected. In his Jan. 15 report, Watson reported just a little more than $6,500 in the bank. He had an outstanding personal loan of $25,000.

Watson’s runoff opponent, Carmen Llanes Pulido, reported that her campaign still owes her more than $42,000 in outstanding loans. Another mayoral candidate, Doug Greco, reported no cash on hand and no outstanding loans. Reports from downballot city candidates show who might be getting ready early for the 2026 elections… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Push to consolidate city boards and commissions draws criticism from UTC (Austin Monitor)

The Urban Transportation Commission (UTC) voiced opposition to a City Council-backed proposal to consolidate several of Austin’s boards and commissions, including a plan to merge the Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) and Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC) into the UTC.

The proposal, aimed at streamlining city operations and reducing administrative burdens, could come back to Council for consideration this spring. During the meeting, commissioners expressed concerns about the merger effort as a whole, highlighting the unique citizen-led nature of the BAC and PAC and potential conflicts that could arise from integrating these advisory councils into a sovereign commission.

After considering objecting to the consolidation as a whole, the commissioners voted to recommend against the merger and the renaming of the UTC to the “Urban Mobility Commission.”

They also committed to collaborating with the BAC and PAC to enhance communication and better define their relationships. The proposed restructuring stems from a December 2024 City Council resolution and an earlier city auditor’s report identifying commissions with persistent vacancies, frequent cancellations or overlapping responsibilities.

Three dozen boards and commissions under consideration for consolidation or dissolution include several that are idle or no longer relevant and others that have significant overlap… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Hundreds of Texans gather at the Capitol in Austin to protest Trump policies, Project 2025 (KUT)

Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday at the Capitol to protest the Trump administration and Project 2025, a conservative plan to enact sweeping change within the federal government.

“Being around people who still believe that immigrants are great, and that we can gather and we’re not gonna get rounded up and arrested for being here is nice,” Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an Austin-based immigration attorney, said. “Do I feel confident that it’s gonna be like that at the end of this term? Not really.”

Thomas Gomez had pulled his children, aged 7 and 9, out of school to attend. He set up a blanket with water, snacks, paper and markers – "all the essentials.” "I think they need to see this. It's important for them to understand what's really important in life,” he said. “Education is important, but I feel like this will teach them a lot more than what they would be learning in school today."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Here's where Austin's light rail plan could displace businesses and eat up real estate (Austin Business Journal)

The business disruptions — and redevelopment opportunities — that can be expected from Austin's new light rail system are coming into focus. Buildout of the 9.8-mile system will require displacement of at least 59 businesses.

It will entail over 300 property acquisitions totaling 85 acres, an estimated 277 of which will be partial acquisitions of parcels and 27 of which will be full-property acquisitions. That’s according to a draft environmental impact statement from the Austin Transit Partnership, the entity overseeing the multibillion-dollar project, that was released in January.

The figures and addresses could still change because they're based on designs from May 2024 and ATP continues to refine the plans, said Jennifer Pyne, ATP's executive vice president of planning community and federal programs. She said ATP is doing what it can to reduce or avoid property impacts as the design work continues over the next year… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ Texas Senate approves ‘school choice’ bill on largely party-line vote (Dallas Morning News)

Moving swiftly on a central Republican priority, the Texas Senate approved a “school choice” bill Wednesday that would put taxpayer dollars toward private school education. The 19-12 vote was largely along partisan lines with Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, the sole Republican to vote against Senate Bill 2.

All 11 Democrats also opposed the bill. Though passage seemed inevitable, Democrats did not give up without a fight, proposing dozens of amendments that were voted down in rapid fashion, largely on party lines.

Final approval came at 8 p.m. despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s earlier estimate that debate on the hot-button issue could continue into early morning Thursday. “We now look for the House, this being the sixth time we passed school choice, to finally step up and give this opportunity to every child in Texas,” Patrick, who presides over the Senate, said after the vote. Throughout the debate, SB 2’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, faced tough questions from Democrats but dismissed their objections as bordering on “fear-mongering hypotheticals.”

“Who are we fighting for? We are fighting for these students who need help the most,” Creighton said. Republican budget writers have proposed spending $1 billion of the state’s nearly $24 billion surplus to create education savings accounts for Texas schoolchildren. Any student could apply for an education savings account, which could award $10,000 for private school expenses or $2,000 for homeschooled students.

Those in special education would be eligible for an $11,500 education savings account, and the bill was amended Wednesday to allow $2,500 for homeschooled students with a disability. If the number of students applying for education savings accounts exceeds $1 billion, participants would be selected through a lottery system that sets aside 80% of the fund for students who previously attended public school and are either from low-income households or have a disability.

The remaining 20% would be open to any student, including those attending a private school. Gov. Greg Abbott has made passing a school choice bill his chief policy goal for this year’s legislative session, and senators wasted little time moving SB 2 through committee and onto the floor for debate. SB 2, the first bill to come up for a Senate vote in the regular session that began Jan. 14, is among the most closely watched proposals moving through the Capitol this year.

Republicans sought to blunt damage caused by a government analysis that showed the bill’s annual cost ballooning from $1 billion to roughly $3.75 billion after four years. Before the debate began, the Texas State Teachers Association released a statement highlighting the cost projections… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ How much is your Texas home worth? If you pay a lot for insurance, less than you might think. (Houston Chronicle)

Higher home insurance premiums are threatening to destabilize the housing market, as buyers back away from increasingly uninsurable homes and homeowners struggle to keep up with payments in areas more prone to the impacts of climate change.

Real estate analysts and academics are concerned that insurance hikes will crater property values in some communities, sending a shock wave through the country’s economy that, as a U.S. Senate Budget Committee report concluded late last year, could “trigger a full-scale financial crisis similar to what occurred in 2008.”

“Insurance is the primary mechanism by which climate change is pricing its way into the real estate market,” said Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, a company that models climate risk. In Texas, where home insurance has spiked only recently, there’s little data on how property values are being impacted.

In Seabrook, an idyllic city of 14,000 tucked just east of the NASA Space Center, online forums are filled with people’s anxiety over the rising cost to insure their most valuable asset. The city is known for its good schools and natural beauty, but almost every property is in a flood zone. Homeownership has been the primary way that Americans build wealth for nearly a century — paying roughly the same amount on a fixed-rate loan every month for 30 years and retiring with an asset to pass along to their kids. Climate change upends that bargain… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Gov. Greg Abbott says he supports Texas legalizing sports gambling (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott is ready to allow online sports betting in Texas. In an exclusive interview for the Texas Take Podcast, Abbott said he has no objection to the Texas Legislature passing a law to join 39 other states that have legalized online sports betting.

He said he considers sports betting part of the entertainment of watching professional football and other sports. “I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott said in an interview at the governor’s mansion.

“The reality is that I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that do it already.” The comments are some of the governor's strongest in support of an industry that has ramped up its lobbying and political giving in recent years.

A coalition of major sports franchises in the state, including the Dallas Cowboys, the Houston Astros and the San Antonio Spurs, have teamed up with sports gaming companies like BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel to push for legalized betting through the Texas Sports Betting Alliance. They’ve hired more than a dozen lobbyists and tapped big names in politics and sports, such as former Gov. Rick Perry and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, to help make their pitch.

"We appreciate the governor's comments because this echoes what we're hearing from Texans," said Jeremy Kudon, president of the Sports Betting Alliance. "They want the opportunity to vote on legalizing sports betting and putting in place a strong, regulatory framework that protects consumers and boosts revenue in the state." In a video promoting the broader effort, Perry said many Texans are already gambling on games through offshore sites, going to other states or using other unregulated means.

He said that means billions of dollars are leaving the state, and those who use those sites don’t have the same protections that legalizing it would bring. Fertitta — whose business holdings include the Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos – publicly backed a bill in the Legislature in 2023 that would have allowed sports betting in Texas. "Sports betting is a very popular form of entertainment. Sports fans enjoy placing bets on their favorite sports because it brings them closer to the team and puts them in the game," Fertitta said then… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

✅ Homebuyer mortgage demand drops further, a troubling sign for the spring market (CNBC)

Homebuyers are seeing very little reason to get a jump on the all-important spring housing market, even with more listings coming up for sale.

Mortgage rates haven’t moved much in the last few weeks, and home prices continue to rise. Mortgage applications to purchase a home last week dropped 4%, compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Demand was flat compared with the same week a year ago.

“The average loan size for a purchase loan has increased since the start of the year and continued that trend last week with weaker government purchase activity, which reached $447,300, the highest level since October 2024,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) decreased to 6.97% from 7.02%, with points increasing to 0.64 from 0.63 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.

That rate was 17 basis points lower than the same week a year ago. “Mortgage rates moved lower last week, consistent with lower Treasury yields following the FOMC meeting and a volatile week for stock market. The 30-year fixed rate declined to its lowest level in six weeks,” Kan added.

Applications to refinance a home loan responded to that small drop, rising 12% from the previous week and 17% from the same week a year ago. The percentage increases are large, but much of that is due to volumes being so low. Most borrowers today have rates well below what is being offered today…🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Mideast powers reject Trump proposal to take over Gaza (Wall Street Journal)

Major Middle East powers rejected President Trump’s surprise proposal for the U.S. to take control of Gaza, redevelop the enclave and move Palestinians out permanently, pointing to the challenges ahead for a notion that breaks with decades of U.S. and international policy toward the region.

Saudi Arabia, which the U.S. hopes to lead into a deal to normalize ties with Israel, said Wednesday it rejected any efforts to displace Palestinians from their land and reaffirmed support for a Palestinian state. It called its position nonnegotiable and said it wouldn’t establish diplomatic relations with Israel unless that goal was met. The foreign minister of Turkey, a NATO member, called Trump’s idea “absurd” and said the country opposed displacement of Palestinians or any “initiatives that try to take the people of Gaza out of the equation.”

Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Palestinian leaders in recent weeks have also rejected the idea of relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. In addition to raising moral objections, they have pointed to the security risks and instability that could come with moving a population with armed elements into countries already grappling with their own issues.

A handful of Arab governments established diplomatic ties with Israel in the years leading up to the Israel-Hamas war, though the Palestinian cause remains a central issue for many Arab civilians across the region. The war has galvanized the cause’s supporters, leading to some demonstrations in the region and sparking fear of instability among Arab rulers.

Trump’s idea for a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip comes at a highly sensitive moment and risks overshadowing other U.S. priorities in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas are in the middle of a fragile six-week cease-fire, in which mediators are set to begin talks toward a lasting peace.

The U.S. and Israel are also weighing whether to use force to stop Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and both had hoped for a normalization deal to draw Saudi Arabia into a broader regional alliance against Iran, which has vowed Israel’s destruction and in recent years also threatened Riyadh... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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