The second phase of the HOME initiative reemerges in the public spotlight this week, accompanied by a series of other proposed revisions to the Land Development Code.

On Thursday, City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a joint hearing to receive public testimony on proposed changes relating to:

Properties zoned single-family, including flag lots (HOME)
Height and compatibility standards for properties within a half-mile radius of a planned Project Connect station, also known as the Equitable Transit-Oriented Development overlay (ETOD)
Citywide compatibility standards
Electric vehicle charging use

While the ETOD component of the revisions has captured a large share of proponents and detractors, the HOME initiative – also known as the Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment ordinance – is considered the mother of the raft of code revisions that Council will vote on at its May 16 meeting. The Planning Commission will deliver its final vote April 23… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Democrats vs. Republicans: First election coming for Travis Central Appraisal District board (Austin Monitor)

Even though their party affiliations will not be on the ballot, three Democrats, three Republicans and a Libertarian are running for three seats on the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors. That election on May 4 will be the first such election since passage of a law requiring that three of those directors be elected.

The three who are elected next month will join five appointed members. A new state law dictates that at least two of the three elected members of the TCAD Board of Directors agree on all Appraisal Review Board (ARB) appointments. Travis County Democrats are concerned that this low-key election could result in the election of Republicans who will try to influence decisions that could end up hurting school districts in particular by appointing people who want to lower property values.

The Travis County Democratic Party has endorsed the three Democrats in the race: Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang and Dick Lavine – in Places 1, 2 and 3, respectively… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

‘They are going to kill somebody’: Whistleblowers raise safety concerns at Elon Musk’s Boring Co. (San Antonio Express-News)

Before The Boring Co.’s machines made the journey to Nevada to work on the Vegas Loop, employees of Elon Musk’s tunneling company were aware of the life-threatening risks. They’d seen it all while building test tunnels in Texas: new hires operating massive machinery without training or proper certifications, long hours underground without bathroom or meal breaks and tunnels sometimes awash in chemical-laden muck that burned their skin or with dust so thick they could see only a few feet in front of their faces. “I fully believe they are going to kill somebody,” Texas-based technician Myles Ortiz said in a complaint to federal labor officials.

Others complained of chemicals bursting through the tunneling machines’ hoses onto their skin, clothing and into steel-toed boots and causing skin irritation, sores and burns. Towering cement block structures that hold mud from the tunnel collapsed — more than once. Despite multiple employees’ complaints about such conditions, there’s no record that Austin-based agents of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration ever visited the test site near Bastrop to investigate. Eventually, Ortiz received a letter saying Boring Co. officials told the agency it had investigated his complaints and OSHA believed no hazards were present. “I felt like they just didn’t care,” he said. “It was deflating.” Ortiz wasn’t just worried about his own safety.

His experience at the tunnels — including operating a piece of equipment that malfunctioned and went out of control, sending concrete pieces of tunnel wall tumbling not far from a coworker — made him question whether anyone was safe on the job. As a former Army tank commander, he said, it was engrained in him to get everyone home at the end of the day. But he went home that day last June horrified about how close he’d come to crushing someone. While stationed at the company’s test site about 30 miles outside Austin, employees said they quickly learned the company’s culture emphasized speed over safety. One remembered Boring Co. President Steve Davis telling them, “If it was up to me, you guys would just sleep here.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas House GOP hardliners issue list of demands for a next speaker (Texas Tribune)

Nearly two dozen GOP state lawmakers and candidates are pushing to overhaul the Texas House’s rules in a bid to further diminish the influence of Democrats and weaken key levers of power used by the speaker to control the chamber.

In an open letter, titled “Contract with Texas,” the Republican signatories called on the next House leader to commit to their list of conservative demands that served as a repudiation of Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who they’ve accused of handing too much power to the Democratic minority. It marks the first move by the House’s growing rightmost faction to formally define how they want the chamber to function, a typically arcane debate that emerged as a central theme in this year’s primary contests.

The proposed changes included ending the practice of appointing Democrats to chair House committees. Phelan last year appointed Democrats to oversee eight of the chamber’s 34 standing committees, while reserving most of the high-profile assignments for Republicans... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

See the letter, and who signed it, from Republicans setting demands for the next House speaker. DOWNLOAD

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Harris County to block program that would give cash to poorest households (Texas Tribune)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County on Tuesday to block a new guaranteed income pilot program that would provide financial assistance to families in the county’s poorest neighborhoods.

Under the federally funded program, roughly 1,900 Harris County households would receive monthly cash payments of $500 for 18 months. The county put $20.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to launch the program, known as Uplift Harris, which is intended to help households in the county’s 10 poorest ZIP codes who are living 200% below the federal poverty line with no strings attached. Those families had already been selected and payments were slated to begin this month.

Conservatives balked at the program after Harris County commissioners approved it in June and have since tried to stop it. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston-area Republican who frequently has sought to undercut the county’s Democratic leadership, asked Paxton earlier this year to declare the law unconstitutional.

Paxton blasted the program in a legal filing Tuesday, calling it an “illegal and illegitimate government overreach” and dubbing it the “Harris Handout.” Paxton argues the pilot program violates a section of the Texas Constitution that says no local government can “lend its credit or to grant public money or thing of value” to individuals… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION/WORLD NEWS]

Book-ban campaigns hit 4,240 titles last year: Here are the top 10 targets (Wall Street Journal)

A Nobel Prize-winner’s debut novel and works about race and gender were among the books most targeted by ban campaigns last year. “Gender Queer,” an autobiographical graphic novel written by nonbinary author Maia Kobabe, was the most challenged library book in 2023, according to a report released Monday by the American Library Association. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson came in second, and “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson was third. There were 4,240 different titles targeted for bans in schools and libraries last year, a 65% increase from the previous year, said the American Library Association. That’s the highest level documented by the group.

By comparison, the number of book titles challenged annually from 2000 to 2020 was fairly stable and never exceeded 400 targets in a given year. Conservative groups and parents have in recent years led a movement to exert more control over books in public libraries and school libraries. Many of the books that draw challenges are written by LGBTQ authors and people of color.

“Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read,” said Emily Drabinski, the library group’s president. Some book challenges were denied and didn’t result in a removal from library shelves, the American Library Association said. The group doesn’t track that data. Book-ban efforts have spread across the U.S. A few states stood out for the number of books being targeted. In Florida, 2,672 titles were challenged in 2023. In Texas, that figure was 1,470… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

The Arizona Supreme Court allows a near-total abortion ban to take effect soon (NPR)

Abortions will soon be outlawed in Arizona except in cases where a pregnant person's life is at risk. The state Supreme Court has ruled Arizona should follow a restrictive abortion law dating back to the 1860s.

Since Dec. 2022, Arizona doctors have been allowed to provide abortions up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, based on a lower court's interpretation of state laws. But the state Supreme Court now says Arizona should follow a law banning abortions in almost all cases. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest and makes performing an abortion punishable by two to five years in prison.

Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state's largest abortion provider, says it plans to continue providing abortions until the decision is enforced.

In the ruling, justices wrote that they will stay enforcement for 14 days, possibly longer, allowing abortions to continue during that time. Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state's largest abortion provider, says it plans to continue providing abortions as long as allowed... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

US has seen no evidence that Israel has committed genocide, Austin says (Politico)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday rebuffed arguments that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, saying he’s seen no evidence to suggest it.

“We don’t have any evidence of genocide being [committed]” by Israel in Gaza, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a budget hearing, where his testimony was interrupted several times by protesters.

Austin’s comments come as pressure builds on the Biden administration and Democrats over U.S. support for the conflict.

They also come after a committee member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said last week that international officials could determine that the war in Gaza legally constitutes genocide.

Pressed by the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Austin stopped short of labeling the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas a genocide, though he called it a “horrific terrorist attack” and said it “certainly is a war crime.”

Austin made the case for a foreign aid package — stalled in the House — that would unlock billions in military aid for Israel, along with Ukraine and Pacific allies. At the same time, the Pentagon chief underscored efforts to free up humanitarian aid to Palestinians… (LINK TO FULL STORY)