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- BG Reads 3.6.2025
BG Reads 3.6.2025
🟪 BG Reads - March 6, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
March 6, 2025
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says 'very difficult decisions' ahead amid mounting budget woes (Austin American-Statesman)
🟪 Williamson County sues South Texas housing agency, calls for criminal investigation (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 With Texas facing soaring electricity demand, the politics of energy quietly shift at the Capitol (Texas Tribune)
🟪 ‘Read this e-mail immediately': CDC tells about 180 fired employees to come back to work (Associated Press)
Read On!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🏛️ The Austin City Council meets today at 10AM:
🏛️ City Memo: Preliminary Data for Sixth Street Safety Plan (3.3.2025)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says 'very difficult decisions' ahead amid mounting budget woes (Austin American-Statesman)
In some of his most frank comments to date on the city’s budget woes, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson on Wednesday said municipal leaders would soon have to make some tough financial decisions.
“If the keyboard warriors want to troll through the city of Austin budget to find actual inefficiencies and waste, I'm all for it, because we're going to need everything we can find in this coming budget cycle,” Watson told the Real Estate Council of Austin in a speech Wednesday.
His remarks came as the city is facing a trifecta of major financial challenges: the looming expiration of federal COVID-19 relief dollars, a state-imposed limit on property tax increases and now a possible drop in federal support under the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled U.S. Congress.
More minor, but still significant, factors include uncertainty around sales tax revenue during the temporary closure of the Austin Convention Center and the rising cost of emergency services, including payments associated with a new police union contract.
In his Wednesday speech, Watson described the situation as “budget asteroids that have been on a collision course for some time, and they have finally arrived at the point of impact.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Early data suggest opening Sixth Street to traffic has improved public safety (Austin Monitor)
Early data from the Austin Police Department suggests that a new public safety initiative aimed at reducing crime and violence on East Sixth Street is yielding positive results. The changes, which took effect in December, reintroduced vehicular traffic on weekend nights for the first time in decades, reversing a long-standing pedestrian-only policy in the entertainment district.
According to APD’s preliminary findings included in a memo released this week, key crime and safety metrics have improved in the first six weeks of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Use-of-force incidents on Sixth Street have dropped by 50 percent, and officer injuries are down from 14 to 4.
The memo states the number of arrests on Sixth Street has declined by 11 percent, but the data table included shows a 34 percent drop from 171 arrests in early 2024 to 113 for the same time period this year. Additionally, crimes against persons have decreased by 21 percent, while the category of “simple assaults” has fallen by 33 percent… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Williamson County sues South Texas housing agency, calls for criminal investigation (Austin Business Journal)
Williamson County is suing a South Texas housing agency, contending it’s angling to remove more than $100 million in property from the county’s tax rolls by misusing a state law designed to foster affordable housing.
The lawsuit describes the Cameron County Housing Finance Corporation as what’s derisively known as a traveling HFC, or a faraway housing agency that hires itself out to help private companies obtain tax breaks well outside their own jurisdictions. The Cameron County HFC is based in Brownsville — about 350 miles from Williamson County.
“Williamson County has zero need for the Cameron County Housing Finance Corporation in Williamson County," Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said during a March 5 news conference. "We did not ask for your help (and) we do not want your help.”
According to Williamson County officials, the Cameron County HFC has been attempting to remove two new apartment complexes on County Road 110 — with a combined tax value of more than $100 million — from Williamson County's tax rolls without any input from local government entities. Williamson County has been granted a temporary restraining order to prevent that from happening, officials said, as well as to stop what they said are additional plans by the Cameron County agency in Williamson County… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Appeal filed in legal case related to Round Rock's incentives deal with Dell (Austin Business Journal)
The outcome of a long-running case that appeared to be resolved in December with a final judgment interpreted as safeguarding Round Rock's lucrative incentives agreement with Dell Technologies Inc. has been appealed — but only to make sure the state comptroller's office knows it lost.
Coppell and five cities, including Round Rock, sued Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar in 2021 to stop a policy he proposed that would have upended such incentives deals, and they seemingly won the case with the December judgment.
But Coppell and four of the cities — Humble, DeSoto, Carrollton and Farmers Branch — subsequently appealed the ruling March 3, the deadline to do so. Round Rock isn't listed in the appeal, and a city official couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Still, the appeal only seeks to ensure that the comptroller's office won't try to implement a policy anyway that would "directly contravene (the cities') understanding" of the final judgment… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ With Texas facing soaring electricity demand, the politics of energy quietly shift at the Capitol (Texas Tribune)
Four years ago, after all electricity sources struggled to keep Texans’ lights on during Winter Storm Uri, the state’s top Republican leaders singled out solar and wind energy for scorn as they worked to goose natural gas-powered generation.
After decades of growth in solar and wind put Texas among the nation’s top producers of renewable energy, the state’s leaders turned against renewables as they began to compete more fiercely with coal and gas-fueled power.
At the same time, anti-renewables rhetoric swelled nationally as well as part of a broader fight over combating climate change — which climate scientists say has led to more severe weather in Texas and increased risks to life and property. But with this year’s legislative session underway, the political tides around energy are quietly turning in the country’s biggest oil and gas state… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ The legacy of Sylvester Turner, the Acres Homes native who became a Houston political force (Houston Chronicle)
U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who rose from a child in Acres Homes to serve as Houston’s mayor for eight years and was elected to Congress last year, has died. He was 70. His death was confirmed by Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who said Turner was working in Washington D.C. when he was taken to the hospital and passed away. “Not many people know how close Sylvester and I were," Whitmire said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
“I’ve lost a personal friend, adviser, and we’ve lost an outstanding public official.” Turner was born the sixth of nine children and grew up in a crowded two-bedroom house. He would often recall the heroics of his mother in his childhood; his father died when he was 13. His mother worked as a maid at the Rice Hotel, and Turner called her the CEO of their family. He would frequently cite the advice she gave him growing up: Work hard, and tomorrow will be better than today.
“Life is not always fair, but you still have to navigate it and believe tomorrow is going to be better than today," Turner said while he campaigned for City Hall in 2015. "I've found that to be true more often than not. ... When you no longer believe that, you have pretty much lost all hope and things certainly won't get better." Neither of his parents graduated high school.
Turner was bused to Klein High School, where he was a regional debate champion, student body president and valedictorian. He then attended the University of Houston and Harvard Law School.
After law school, Turner joined Fulbright and Jaworski before starting his own firm in 1983. Gerald Womack, a real estate business owner and decades-long friend of Turner’s, recalled being immediately impressed by Turner’s energy, eloquence and humor when they first met during those early years to work on real-estate deals together. “He was a fireball,” Womack said. “He would always make a special little joke, or he would make a comment bluntly if he thought he was right. You never have to worry about him. If he was for something or against something, he would tell you.” Turner agreed.
“What you see is what you get,” he told the Chronicle in a 2019 interview. “I’m not a fake.” In 1984, Turner ran for an open seat on Harris County Commissioners Court.
He quickly was reminded that Black political power in Houston flowed through the Third and Fifth wards. The 30-year-old from Acres Homes who had attended school in the suburbs, left for Harvard and became a corporate lawyer was cast as an outsider and failed to make the primary runoff… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ The insurance industry pushed back thiFollowing Trump's lead, Abbott orders state workers to return to offices (KUT)
Gov. Greg Abbott's office has quietly directed heads of state agencies to phase out hybrid-work schedules and require all employees to return to the office five days a week "as soon as practicable" under state law, according to multiple accounts from state employees.
Abbott's mandate comes as President Trump doubled down during his Tuesday night address to Congress, saying federal workers will return to offices "or be removed from their job." In a statement, Abbott's press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said "any [state] remote work policies must ensure taxpayer dollars are being utilized efficiently" in light of federal efforts to get employees back to work. "Texans expect their public servants to be present and engaged in the work on their behalf," Mahaleris said.
"With remote federal workers returning to the office where possible, it’s important that state agencies ensure they do the same." Staffers from the governor's office spoke with agency commissioners and directors this week to announce the policy, according to employees who spoke to KUT… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ The home insurance industry pushes back on a plan to require explanations for dropped policies (San Antonio Express-News)
The insurance industry pushed back this week against state lawmakers’ efforts to require an explanation anytime providers cancel or refuse to renew a Texas homeowner’s policy. It comes as a growing number of property owners in the Houston area, and across Texas, report soaring insurance costs or losing their coverage altogether.
"When insurers have to justify their actions, it enables the legislature to better address issues," said state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican who authored the measure, during a committee hearing Tuesday. Under current law, insurance companies have to disclose why they drop or decline coverage to homeowners – but only if consumers ask. Middleton’s bill would make it mandatory.
The insurance industry told lawmakers the new requirements would cause an undue burden with little benefit to homeowners. “If you make that process automatic, then companies are going to have to invest significant resources in developing systems to communicate and aggregate that information,” said Jon Schnautz, the legal and legislative advocacy counsel at the Insurance Council of Texas, a trade group representing insurers.
“And we don't think the time and expense of that is going to provide useful enough information in most cases to justify going that far.” Regan Ellmer, the director of government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, a trade organization, questioned the utility of telling homeowners why they can’t get coverage if it’s a reason out of their control, like a company pulling back from a specific zip code.
“Many times I think it'll be: ‘Does not fit our underwriting guidelines’.” “Sounds like an easy thing to put on a piece of paper and mail to that individual,” said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican. Right now the state doesn’t collect data on how many homeowners are dropped by their insurer or why. But that information can help lawmakers understand where insurance is becoming less available as companies pull back from areas of high climate risk, including wide swaths of Texas.
“I've heard reassurances that the insurance market in Texas is robust and strong,” said state Sen. Charles Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican. “How do we know that? We don't have data regarding declinations, cancellations, and limited data regarding nonrenewals.”
In January, the federal government published a report looking at the impact of climate change on home insurance, including zip code level data on nonrenewal rates. But because the Texas Department of Insurance declined to request that information from insurance providers, the national map included in the report left Texas blank… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
✅ ‘Read this e-mail immediately': CDC tells about 180 fired employees to come back to work (Associated Press)
The nation’s top public health agency says about 180 employees who were laid off two weeks ago can come back to work. Emails went out Tuesday to some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention probationary employees who got termination notices last month, according to current and former CDC employees.
A message seen by the AP was sent with the subject line, “Read this e-mail immediately.” It said that “after further review and consideration,” a Feb. 15 termination notice has been rescinded and the employee was cleared to return to work on Wednesday.
“You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” it said. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”
About 180 people received reinstatement emails, according to two federal health officials who were briefed on the tally but were not authorized to discuss it and spoke on condition of anonymity… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department (NPR)
President Trump is expected to issue an executive action as early as Thursday calling on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education," according to a draft of the action obtained by NPR.
The move has been expected since early February, when the White House revealed its intentions but withheld the action itself until after McMahon's Senate confirmation.
The Senate voted Monday to make McMahon the next education secretary. Democrats uniformly opposed her after McMahon publicly committed to unwinding the department.
The draft action instructs McMahon to act "to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law," an acknowledgement that the department and its signature responsibilities were created by Congress, are protected by statute and cannot legally be altered without congressional approval, which would almost certainly require 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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