The Biden administration plans to announce it is awarding more than $6 billion to South Korea's Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab next week to expand its chip output in Taylor, Texas, as it seeks to ramp up chipmaking in the U.S., two people familiar with the matter said.

The subsidy, which will be unveiled by Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo, will go toward construction of four facilities in Taylor, including one $17 billion chipmaking plant that Samsung announced in 2021, another factory, an advanced packaging facility and a research and development center, one of the sources said.

It will also include an investment in another undisclosed location, the source said, adding that Samsung will more than double its U.S. investment to over $44 billion as part of the deal.

The Commerce Department and Samsung declined to comment. Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office did not respond to requests for comment… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

H-E-B's current, future stores mapped out in Austin area (Austin Business Journal)

Retail follows rooftops, and many experts agree that few do that better than H-E-B, a bellwether grocery chain that makes many smaller retailers say: If that area is good enough for H-E-B, it's good enough for me.

As H-E-B grows its operations in Austin, the retail giant’s whereabouts — and more importantly where it will be next — can be difficult to track.

The Austin Business Journal put together a map as a result. The blue pins show where the Austin metro has more than 50 H-E-B stores already. Red pins show the stores the retailer is adding next. Yellow pins mark the properties quietly bought by the company, though no plans for a store have been revealed.

Last year, H-E-B LP opened three stores across the metro while working on other projects in the area. In the past few years, it began expanding existing stores, ventured into the barbecue business and implemented a larger footprint for its stores — typically more than 100,000 square feet. The San Antonio-based company has also begun adding smaller stores, dubbed as H-E-B Fresh Bites.

H-E-B is the largest private-sector employer in the metro with 22,955 employees reported in July of last year, according to ABJ list research. But Elon Musk's Tesla Inc. is neck-and-neck with the grocery giant after filing its most recent headcount at its Austin-area gigafactory… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

City looks to land banks as additional option to curb displacement (Austin Monitor)

The city will explore using the takeover of tax-delinquent properties as one additional strategy for creating more affordable housing and remedying the displacement of longtime residents who are being priced out of Austin.

As part of the consent agenda at Thursday’s meeting, City Council approved a resolution directing the city manager to identify “viable land acquisition opportunities” in service of long-term affordability, with land banking and the establishment of community land trusts (CLTs) as a priority option.

Land banks and CLTs allow municipalities to purchase delinquent properties and hold them in service of long-term community priorities such as affordable housing, farmland preservation or larger economic development efforts.

The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, directs staff to include the Financial Services Department, Austin Economic Development Corporation, Austin Housing Finance Corporation and other relevant entities or community organizations that could be involved in the land bank/CLT initiative...(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Abbott defends sending migrants to New York (Politico)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defended a program he began nearly two years ago to shuttle migrants out of Texas to cities across the country Sunday, accusing President Joe Biden of using asylum-seekers as “political pawns,” amid criticism that he has done just that. In New York, one of several cities Abbott has targeted, the influx of migrants has become unsustainable for city services. The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, has accused Abbott of playing politics with people’s lives.

But “the person who’s actually using illegal immigrants as political pawns is Joe Biden,” Abbott said Sunday during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” claiming that Biden’s border policies are to blame for the program Abbott developed in 2022.

Biden has pushed for immigration reform since he arrived in the White House, but congressional Republicans have refused to support legislation, particularly in recent months as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has publicly urged members of his party not to deliver the important policy win for Biden months out from the presidential election. Abbott also took a swing at Adams on Sunday, saying the mayor “is just aiding and abetting” the migrant crisis in the city “by having a sanctuary city status.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Election vendor hits Texas counties with unexpected surcharge for software (Associated Press)

A California-based election services company is charging several large Texas counties tens of thousands of dollars in additional fees, sending election officials scrambling to pay the surcharges to preserve a crucial system that manages their voter registration. The state’s primary runoff elections are May 28, with municipal elections set for May 4. Multiple Texas counties contract with VOTEC to provide software to maintain their voter registration system, but the company is now asking those jurisdictions to pay more. The San Diego firm did not return requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

The nonprofit news outlet Votebeat reported that VOTEC sent a message to the counties last month saying the “one-time” surcharge was because some counties were behind in payments and that additional problems with the company’s payroll and health insurance provider were causing financial pressure. Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond. Daniel Ramos, executive director of the Office of Management and Budget in Harris County, which includes Houston and is the state’s most populous, said the county received new charges totaling $120,000. Ramos said the county would pay it soon because it relies heavily on the software. Collin County, which includes Dallas’ suburbs, said it was charged $42,341. In a statement, the Texas secretary of state’s office said it was talking with the affected counties and advising them on what to do... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION/WORLD NEWS]

Trump declines to endorse a national abortion ban. He says limits should be left to the states (Associated Press)

Former President Donald Trump said Monday he believes abortion limits should be left to the states, outlining his position in a video in which he declined to endorse a national ban after months of mixed messages and speculation.

“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”

Trump, in the video, did not say when in pregnancy he believes abortion should be banned — declining to endorse a national cutoff that would have been used as a cudgel by Democrats ahead of the November election. But his endorsement of the patchwork approach leaves him open to being attached to the strictest proposed state legislation, which President Joe Biden and his reelection campaign have already been working to do… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

The Vatican says surrogacy and gender theory are 'grave threats' to human dignity (NPR)

The Vatican has released a new document calling poverty, war and the plight of migrants "threats to human dignity." But it also calls abortion, surrogacy and gender theory "grave threats" facing humanity today.

The document, titled "Infinite Dignity" says that each person's dignity comes from the love of the creator "who has imprinted the indelible features of his image on every person." This language is familiar to Christians accustomed to hearing that humans are all made in God's image.

The document goes on to say that this dignity is inalienable, beyond any circumstance or situation the person might encounter. Simply put, because a person exists, a human has intrinsic dignity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)