Bingham Group joined Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin business community last night for a welcome reception in honor of new City Manager T.C. Broadnax.

[AUSTIN CITY HALL]

The Austin City Council will meet tomorrow at 10AM for its Regular Session.

View the agenda here.

Posted LDC Amendments from the Council Message Board:

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes (District 2)

Council Member José Velásquez (District 3)

Council Member Chito Vela (District 4)

Council Member Ryan Alter (District 5)

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool (District 7)

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC MEETINGS / AGENDAS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 13, 2024

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Travis County to call tax rate election to expand child care, after-school programs (KUT)

Travis County residents could vote on a tax rate increase in November that would be used to expand access to early childhood care and after-school and summer services for low-income families.

A ballot referendum was approved by Travis County commissioners Tuesday.

The measure would ask voters to approve a 2.5 cent increase per $100 of a home's value. That would amount to about $123 annually for the average homeowner.

If approved, the increase would generate nearly $77 million. The money would be used to increase the number of spots available for children in early childhood, after-school and summer programs, as well as expand care outside the typical 9-to-5 day.

The county said the money raised through the measure would go toward increasing scholarships to families in need of assistance and incentivizing businesses to offer child care stipends to their workforce.

County Judge Andy Brown said an estimated 2,000 children in Travis County are without access to child care right now, and there is a nearly two-year-long wait for families seeking a child care stipend… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

As Council moves to adopt HOME 2, groups call on Council to reject it or make major changes (Austin Monitor)

At Tuesday’s work session, City Council discussed proposed amendments to the Land Development Code labeled HOME 2, as well as Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, citywide compatibility standards and rules for electric vehicle charging stations. But the majority of discussion was about the proposed set of rules designed to make it easier to build more housing on smaller lots.

Council is scheduled to consider the code changes at Thursday’s meeting, with numerous amendments in the works. After some discussion, Mayor Kirk Watson announced that they would start their deliberations with recommendations from the Planning Commission as opposed to staff recommendations. Many of those overlap, but there are some major differences. The majority of Council members indicated that they had based their proposed amendments on the commission’s recommendations.

Watson told his colleagues that he would support a minimum lot size of 1,800 square feet, as opposed to staff’s proposal of 2,000 square feet. The current minimum lot size, which has been blamed on a variety of problems, is 5,750 square feet… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

'Not our fault': Austin ISD budget shortfall predicted at $59M; officials point to strains from state (Community Impact)

Austin ISD’s budget shortfall for fiscal year 2024-25 has increased from what officials predicted in April.

In mid-April, AISD staff discovered property value growth and average daily attendance rates are lower than they expected, bringing the predicted $60 million shortfall to $89 million. Throughout April, officials made $30 million in cuts for FY 2024-25, meaning the district may start the year with a $59 million shortfall.For FY 2023-24, the district took on a $52 million shortfall. Since then, officials have decreased the shortfall by $26 million through avenues including interest earnings and vacancy savings. Despite this, next fiscal year will likely start with an even greater shortfall.“Our goal is to keep the lights on and the doors open,” board member Candace Hunter said during a board meeting April 9. “This [shortfall] is not our fault.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Under scrutiny from legislators, Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban (Texas Tribune)

Public university leaders tried to demonstrate their schools can still build diverse student bodies in a post-DEI reality and acknowledged a rise in reports of antisemitism on campuses at a wide-ranging hearing Tuesday that covered some of the most explosive issues rattling higher education in the state.

In their first public testimony since the ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices went into effect, university system administrators explained to the Texas Senate subcommittee on higher education how they were complying with the state law. They said they have redirected millions of dollars away from their now-defunct DEI offices toward redoubling recruiting efforts and developing alternative student support programs.

“Every dollar spent on bloated university bureaucracy should be redeployed to ensure that all Texas students regardless of race, are college ready and heavily recruited for those that want to apply to a college,” said State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who shepherded the DEI ban through the Legislature last year.

Lawmakers put an end to DEI offices when they passed Senate Bill 17 during the 2023 legislative session.

The law went into effect in January. Opponents of DEI programs and training said those programs indoctrinated students with left-wing ideology and forced universities to make hires based on their support of diversity efforts rather than on merit and achievement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Move to expand electricity transmission could boost Texas wind, solar generation (Houston Chronicle)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved Monday to overhaul the nation's transmission system, limiting states' authority to block long-distance power lines to try and enable remote wind and solar farms in places like West Texas and the Panhandle to more easily move electricity around the country. Under draft regulations approved by FERC, the commission will be able to overrule state objections to often unpopular transmission projects within designated corridors deemed necessary to the stability of the nation's power grid. FERC also ordered power utilities and state utility commissions to undertake a more comprehensive planning process when it comes to transmission, looking ahead 20 years to avoid the construction of "piecemeal transmission expansion addressing near-term needs."

The main Texas power grid, operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, does not cross state lines and is not subject to most FERC rules and would be exempted from the order, though it can send and receive power from neighboring grids. Parts of the Texas Panhandle, East Texas and West Texas, which are served by other grids, would need to comply.

The decision follows authority Congress granted to FERC in 2021 to speed up the development of transmission projects, which are routinely held up for years by litigation, state environmental reviews and federal bureaucracy. FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden, called the orders "milestones" in the nation's effort to modernize a power grid that is under stress from rising power demand, the retirement of old fossil and nuclear plants and more extreme weather events. "Our grid is being tested like never before and without significant action we won't be able to keep the lights on," Phillips said. "Failing to act is not an option."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Biden sharply hikes US tariffs on an array of Chinese imports (Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, computer chips and medical products, risking an election-year standoff with Beijing as he woos American voters who give his economic policies low marks.

"American workers can out-work and out-compete anyone as long as the competition is fair, but for too long it hasn't been fair," Biden said during a speech in the White House Rose Garden before unions and companies. "We're not going to let China flood our market."

China immediately vowed retaliation. Its commerce ministry said Beijing was opposed to the U.S. tariff hikes and would take measures to defend its interests.

Biden will keep tariffs put in place by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump while ratcheting up others, including a quadrupling of EV duties to over 100% and doubling the duties on semiconductor tariffs to 50%.

The new measures affect $18 billion in imported Chinese goods including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, critical minerals, solar cells and cranes, the White House said. The EV figure, while headline-grabbing, may have more political than practical impact in the U.S., which imports very few Chinese EVs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

TikTok content creators sue the US government over law that could ban the popular platform (Associated Press)

Eight TikTok content creators sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, issuing another challenge to the new federal law that would ban the popular social media platform nationwide if its China-based parent company doesn’t sell its stakes within a year.

Attorneys for the creators argue in the lawsuit that the law violates users’ First Amendment rights to free speech, echoing arguments made by TikTok in a separate lawsuit filed by the company last week. The legal challenge could end up before the Supreme Court.

The complaint filed Tuesday comes from a diverse set of content creators, including a Texas-based rancher who has previously appeared in a TikTok commercial, a creator in Arizona who uses TikTok to show his daily life and spread awareness about LGBTQ issues, as well as a business owner who sells skincare products on TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the platform… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[2024 Austin City Council Race Watch]

This fall will see elections for the following Council Districts 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and Mayor.

Declared candidates so far are:

Mayor

District 2

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes

District 4

District 6

District 7 (Open seat)

District 10 (Open seat)

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