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BG Reads 3.8.2024

BG Reads 3.8.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - March 8, 2024

March 08, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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March 8, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Sources say one city manager candidate dropping out

🟣 Austin infrastructure academy gets green light

🟣 Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he voted for Donald Trump in Texas primary

🟣 State of the Union: Biden chooses a hammer over an olive branch

Read on!

Click on here for this week’s Austin public meeting times and agendas.

[BINGHAM GROUP]

✅ BG Blog - City of Austin org chart red line (as of 2/9/2024)

[AUSTIN CITY HALL]

The Austin City Council met Thursday its Regular Meeting.

✅ Click Here to review action taken by the City Council during the meeting.

✅ Council will next meet on March 19 for its Work Session and March 21 for its Regular Meeting.

✅ Review call meeting dates here.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

KCMO City Manager Brian Platt has agreed to a negotiate a contract extension (KSHB Kansas City)

Kansas City, Missouri, City Manager Brian Platt has agreed to a negotiate a contract extension and will withdraw his name from consideration for the city manager job in Austin, Texas, multiple sources at City Hall told KSHB 41 News.

The KCMO City Council voted to offer Platt a contract extension after returning from a closed session Thursday evening.

The city council authorized KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas to negotiate a contract extension through Aug. 1, 2027, a source told KSHB 41.

The KCMO City Council voted to offer Platt a contract extension after returning from a closed session Thursday evening.

The city council authorized KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas to negotiate a contract extension through Aug. 1, 2027, a source told KSHB 41.

His current contract is set to expire at the end of 2024… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

With $25B in projects on tap, new Austin infrastructure academy gets green light (Austin Business Journal)

A plan to establish a new Austin infrastructure academy is taking shape, with the aim of ensuring the city's workforce is equipped to meet the demands placed upon it by $25 billion in transportation-related projects over the coming years.

City Council approved a resolution March 7 that directs city staff to begin laying the groundwork for the new school and training network. The list of transformational projects on tap for Austin includes a 10-mile light rail route, a new concourse at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of the city.

A detailed proposal for the program could now return to council as early as May. Based on that timeline, the city also could take steps to determine a location for the new academy by the end of this year. It remains unclear if the city or an independent entity would run the academy.

The academy is envisioned as having a physical campus, as well as being part of a training network that supports Austin's existing skilled trades and apprenticeship programs, including the Skillpoint Alliance, Austin Area Urban League, Austin Community College and the University of Texas.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area, a nonprofit workforce development organization, also is set to play a central role in the founding of the new institution... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

City Council adopts historic water reuse regulations (Austin Monitor)

City Council on Thursday unanimously and enthusiastically approved mandatory water reuse for most large new developments, with some provisions to exempt affordable housing from the requirement. They also approved an agreement with Travis County to provide reclaimed water connections for the Travis County courthouse, a step forward in partnering with the county on similar projects.

Council approved a new fee of 15 cents for every thousand gallons of water used to give Austin Water some additional funding to expand the reclaimed water system. Austin Water says this will raise the average customer’s bill by $1.47 a month. The “GoPurple” charge does not apply to Customer Assistance Program (CAP) customers.

Council Member Alison Alter, who was wearing purple, pointed out that Thursday was Purple Pipe day. Purple is the industrywide color for pipes carrying reclaimed water. The GoPurple program is projected to save a combined 16 million gallons of drinking water per day by 2040 through reclaimed water and on-site water reuse.

Code changes that are part of GoPurple mainly affect larger developments greater than 250,000 square feet. Projects of that size built within 500 feet of the city’s purple-pipe reclaimed water infrastructure must connect to it or install an on-site water reuse system… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Defeat of Texas House incumbents a watershed moment in state politics (Dallas Morning News)

The defeat of nine Texas House incumbents and the potential downfall of eight more in Tuesday’s GOP primary could be a watershed moment that redefines the state’s legislative politics. In addition to discouraging lawmakers from crossing the Republican Party’s most powerful leaders, the result could be a significant step toward transforming the House from a moderating force to a body that embraces the hard-right conservatism of the Senate. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former President Donald Trump were actively involved in numerous House races — each for various reasons. With primary victories against House incumbents, they all had reason to celebrate. Abbott was the biggest winner, spending more than $6 million to target incumbents who last year blocked his school choice proposal.

The governor’s advisers predicted Tuesday’s wins by nine pro-voucher candidates — and the potential for May runoff victories in two more — will give Abbott the support to coax a private school voucherlike plan through the House. “He’s made it clear that if you cross him, you’re going to have to fight for your reelection,” Austin-based lobbyist and political consultant Bill Miller said. “For some people, that’s like, ‘Bring it on.’ For others, it means, ‘I quit.’” Paxton’s political clout was not as pronounced but still significant. All three candidates he endorsed for the Court of Criminal Appeals won, though Trump’s support for the challengers likely carried more weight. Paxton endorsed challengers to 35 House incumbents with mixed results, although his greatest revenge could be yet to come.

House Speaker Dade Phelan is fighting for his political survival after being pushed to a runoff by David Covey, the Republican backed by Paxton, Patrick and Trump. If Phelan loses the May 28 runoff, it would throw House leadership into disarray and potentially alter operations in the lower chamber, which has served as an obstacle against some policies favored by the more conservative Senate. Phelan will have to face the runoff without support from Abbott, who endorsed his candidacy in 2022 but is expected to remain neutral. “The winners from last night are the governor, who did better than people expected, and the attorney general, who did better than people will give him credit for doing so,” Miller said. “Those guys look pretty darn good today.” As for Trump, he remains the dominant force in Texas politics... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says he voted for Donald Trump for president in 2024 primary (Dallas Morning News)

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who declared himself a Republican last fall, steered clear of partisan politics during his first term in the nonpartisan position, and refused to publicly endorse President Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Johnson says he voted Tuesday for Trump as president in the Texas Republican primary because he believes the former president cares more about the issues that matter to him than Biden.

He has, during his second and final term as the city’s top elected official, also promoted other Republican mayors and declared in a virtual speech before the Republican National Committee that he was committed to “retiring Joe Biden.”

In a statement sent Wednesday to The Dallas Morning News, Johnson indicated he would continue to support Trump over Biden in what is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 general election.

“I voted with 100% certainty that Donald Trump cares more about the issues that are most important to me and my family — such as fighting crime, reducing tax burdens on hard-working people and businesses and enhancing border security — than Joe Biden,” Johnson said. “I also trust that Donald Trump will be much more receptive than any liberal Democrat administration to on-the-ground ideas about how to actually improve America’s cities by making them safer, greener and more prosperous.” Johnson waded deeper into party politics in separate remarks Wednesday, blasting a failed recall effort against him as “ridiculous” and an attempt pushed by “self-promoting partisan opportunists” and the media.

City Secretary Bilierae Johnson confirmed the recall petition will not move forward after lead organizer Davante Peters didn’t submit any documentation by Tuesday’s deadline. Peters told The News in February that he estimated having less than 10% of the required 103,595 valid signatures from voters and didn’t believe he’d get close to the tally he needed. Johnson called the effort a “waste of time, energy and ink.”…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas installed more solar than any other state in 2023, report finds (Houston Chronicle)

Texas installed more solar capacity than any other state in 2023, surpassing California for the second time. More than 6,500 megawatts of solar generation were installed in Texas last year, compared with California’s 6,171 megawatts, according to a report published Wednesday by energy research firm Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association, an industry trade group. One megawatt can power around 200 Texas homes during the hottest summer days, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator. Texas last beat California in 2021 and took second in 2022, according to the analysis.

Though the two states have switched off on leading solar growth in recent years, in the long term, Texas may emerge as the victor: In the next decade, Texas is projected to add nearly 100 gigawatts of solar capacity, outpacing the next closest state by a 2-to-1 margin, according to Morgan Lyons, SEIA’s director of communications. Solar power records are nothing new for Texas. Last year, the state surpassed California in having the most solar capacity installed on its dominant power grid. The contribution of power to the ERCOT grid from solar farms has already set 10 records this year.

There has been a dramatic increase of utility-scale solar in the last couple of years as the cost of building solar farms has dropped and as Biden administration incentives encouraging their development have taken hold. In 2023, the U.S. added 32.4 gigawatts of solar capacity, a 51% increase from 2022, according to Wood Mackenzie and SEIA’s report. Solar accounted for 53% of all new electricity generation added to the U.S. grids last year, surpassing 50% for the first time, the two groups said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Biden chooses a hammer over an olive branch (Politico)

President Joe Biden turned his State of the Union address into a muscular campaign kickoff, never once uttering Donald Trump’s name but repeatedly invoking the threat posed by his likely general election foe.

The overtly political tone underscored the stakes of the night for the president. And it was set from the beginning, as a fiery Biden laid out three challenges — the war in Ukraine, the Jan. 6 insurrection and reproductive rights — that would be further imperiled if his predecessor returned to office.

It was a president recognizing the campaign crunch he faces. His speech was not an act of reconciliation or an effort to forge political unity. It was the opening salvo in what seemed certain to be a historically long and unprecedentedly ugly rematch between him and Trump… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Alabama governor signs legislation protecting IVF providers from legal liability into law (Associated Press)

Facing pressure to get in vitro fertilization services restarted in the state, Alabama’s governor swiftly signed legislation into law Wednesday shielding doctors from potential legal liability raised by a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill after it was approved in a late-night session by lawmakers scrambling to address a wave of criticism after services were halted at some of the state’s largest fertility clinics. Doctors from at least one clinic said they would resume IVF services on Thursday.

“I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF,” Ivey said. Republicans in the GOP-dominated Alabama Legislature opted to back the immunity proposal as a solution to the clinics’ concerns. But they shied away from proposals that would address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs, action that some said would be needed to permanently settle the issue… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Ronna McDaniel shows why nearly every alliance with Trump eventually Frays (Wall Street Journal)

Ronna McDaniel stayed on former President Donald Trump’s good side longer than most.

But on Friday, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee since 2017 will step down, the freshest evidence that almost every political alliance with Trump comes with an expiration date. She and her co-chair are expected to be replaced with North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law.

McDaniel, a niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) who famously dropped her family name when she assumed the RNC leadership, managed to navigate a complex dynamic with Trump for years, according to members of the RNC and other GOP strategists. In the end, the RNC’s role in facilitating a neutral GOP primary sparked tension with Trump advisers, who soured on her more than Trump himself, according to people familiar with their relationship.

“It’s hard to see anyone in Trump orbit that has a permanent relationship,” said former GOP operative Terry Sullivan, a partner at Firehouse Strategies, a public-affairs firm. “All relationships with Trump are one-way transactional and the day he decides that it’s no longer beneficial to him, folks are out the door.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)