BG Reads 6.4.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - June 4, 2024

June 04, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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June 4, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 TxDOT contradicts itself arguing I-35 never caused racial discrimination (KUT)

🟣 Austin launches summer-long 'No Refusal' DWI initiative to enhance road safety (CBS Austin)

🟣 Texas legislators want to help property owners deal with squatters. But the changes could affect tenants. (Texas Tribune)

🟣 Developers sit on empty lots after historic apartment boom (Wall Street Journal)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🎂 Thank you all for the birthday wishes last Friday, 41 is off to a great start!

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

TxDOT argues in court that I-35 never caused racial discrimination – contradicting TxDOT (KUT)

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is arguing in federal court that I-35 didn't unfairly disadvantage Black or Latino Austinites, contradicting the state agency's own historical assessments of the highway that opened in 1962.

"Defendant specifically denies the allegations that the construction of I-35 caused discrimination against Black or Latino communities or that I-35 impacts on communities along it have fallen disproportionately on marginalized persons," the Texas Attorney General's Office argued on behalf of TxDOT in response to a federal lawsuit. The suit is attempting to stop a decade-long expansion of the highway whose wheels are already in motion.

TxDOT's denial is part of a broader legal defense against claims from anti-highway expansionists Rethink35 and an alliance of social justice, environmental and neighborhood groups. But a historical report in the state's federally required study of the plan to add lanes from Ben White Boulevard to U.S. 290 East offers an alternate version of history than the one argued in U.S. District Court… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

MetroBike to get a makeover this summer after a pause in operations (Austin Monitor)

On July 1, the city’s bike rental program, MetroBike, will shut down in order to undergo a transformational change. When it reopens in mid-July, CapMetro Bikeshare will have new stations, e-bikes and an app, along with a vision to expand across the city.

The retooling of the bikeshare program is part of a strategic expansion plan that will grow the system from the current 76 stations to more than 300 over the next 10 years and electrify the fleet of bicycles for hire. City Council approved a Texas Department of Transportation advance funding agreement at its last meeting on May 30. That agreement directed about $11.3 million in grant funds and $2.8 million in local funds toward the project and outlined capital investments from TxDOT that will support the expansion of the system.

This summer, Council also will consider an amendment to the interlocal agreement with Capital Metro that will detail the process of moving on from the B-Cycle program in terms of things like reselling and disposing of bikes, data sharing and an outline for capital and operational investments over the next decade. At the moment, the city owns all of the hardware for the bike program and Capital Metro operates the system… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin launches summer-long 'No Refusal' DWI initiative to enhance road safety (CBS Austin)

The City of Austin is attempting to crack down on impaired drivers with its DWI No Refusal Initiative throughout the summer.

The initiative, done by the Austin Police Department and the city's Vision Zero Program, began June 1 and will run every night through August 31, 2024... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin takes steps to ensure low-income residents can capitalize on zoning changes (Austin Business Journal)

Now that some homeowners can build up to three homes where one stood previously, City Manager T.C. Broadnax has been tasked with identifying ways to improve access to the HOME program for low- and moderate-income households or those at risk of displacement due to gentrification.

Austin City Council on May 30 approved a resolution that builds off the recently passed HOME Phase 2 initiative that could help address concerns the program is not accessible to those who could use it most.

Under HOME Phase 2, homebuilders will be able to build on lots as small as 1,800 square feet, down drastically from the previous minimum lot size of 5,750 square feet. City Council in December approved the first part of the HOME plan — which stands for the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment initiative — that paved the way for homebuilders and developers to construct up to three homes on existing single-family lots.

The new resolution, passed at the May 30 City Council meeting, tasks the city manager with identifying ways to improve access to the HOME program for low- and moderate-income households and expanding educational resources and technical help to households at risk of displacement due to gentrification. East Austin, where racial minorities were pushed about 100 years ago and gentrification concerns are top of mind, is likely to be a focus — though residents across the region have felt the effects of rising property values and urbanization… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas legislators want to help property owners deal with squatters. But the changes could affect tenants. (Texas Tribune)

The Senate Committee on Local Government called for the May 15 hearing to review existing laws, expedite the process for removing squatters and strengthen the rights of property owners.

“I don't know what theory of leftist-progressive-socialist reality started this, but it is going to end when this bill is passed in Texas,” Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston said.

However, lawmakers didn’t propose any specific changes during the hearing. Some solutions proposed by attorneys who testified were to create new guidance to help law enforcement officers when dealing with trespassers, as well as new standards to determine whether a person has a right to be on a property and remove them if they don’t. They also suggested expediting the eviction process in certain cases, creating criminal penalties for trespassers and helping property owners recoup any financial losses.

New laws passed in Florida and Georgia this year were mentioned as possible models… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Greg Abbott has the votes for ‘school choice,’ but that doesn’t mean the fight is over (Dallas Morning News)

Gov. Greg Abbott and his allies have enough votes in the Texas House to pass his “school choice” plan during the 2025 legislative session — for now. After lawmakers failed to advance school choice legislation in last year’s regular and special legislative sessions, Abbott worked to unseat eight incumbents who voted to block his plan. That plus primary victories by allies running for open Republican seats gave Abbott the votes he needed for 2025. Even so, there’s more work to be done by those who want to let some families use public money for private and religious schools. Based on last year’s vote, Abbott will need 76 House Republicans on board with his plan. After Tuesday’s primary runoffs he has 77, a narrow margin that leaves Abbott and his allies little wiggle room.

That’s why pro-school choice activists are already working hard to preserve Tuesday’s outcome. “We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Mandy Drogin, campaign director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has pushed school choice. “I’ll continue to follow the governor’s lead as he educates Texans about what his vision for education looks like in Texas.” Drogin said more lawmakers could come over to Abbott’s side. “What we will see is that more and more legislators, maybe even those who are a bit apprehensive, realize that the power is really in the hands of the parents,” she said, Several factors could shake things up during the next session, including the November general election. In Dallas County, Democrats have targeted Republican Reps. Morgan Meyer of University Park and Angie Chen Button of Garland, both supporters of the voucherlike plan Abbott wants.

If Meyer and Button are not reelected, it would be a blow to the pro-school choice movement, though the GOP lawmakers are favored to win. Other dynamics could impact Abbott’s slim school choice majority. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, is seeking reelection as House speaker after a narrow runoff victory over former Orange County GOP Chairman David Covey. Abbott, who endorsed Phelan in 2022, stayed neutral this time. Phelan owes Abbott no favors, and it’s unclear if a voucherlike program will be one of his top priorities. In addition, some House Republicans who oppose Abbott’s plan remain in office and are so entrenched in their districts that Abbott isn’t likely to hurt them in the next primary… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Developers sit on empty lots after historic apartment boom (Wall Street Journal)

Seattle-based developer Tyler Carr set out to build apartments in Boise, Idaho, where rents were rising the fastest in the country. In 2021, his company bought land near the growing downtown with plans to develop 104 rental units.

Three years later, his land remains an empty lot. When market conditions deteriorated, his strategy no longer made financial sense. Interest rates and construction costs rose, Carr said, “and those two things really converged to make the project unviable.” 

During the biggest apartment construction boom in decades, a growing number of developers can’t make the numbers work to get started on their project, or can’t get the money to complete them. Higher interest rates, tighter lending conditions and flattening rents in parts of the country have left property companies from California to Florida waiting for financing that might not come soon.

The amount of time the average apartment project spends between construction authorization and when construction begins has risen to nearly 500 days, a 45% increase from 2019, according to property data firm Yardi Matrix.

Developers also are launching fewer projects amid the financing crunch. Multifamily building starts fell to an annual rate of 322,000 units in April, the lowest April rate since 2020, according to the Census Bureau.

While most developers get tripped up before real activity begins, a few have found trouble after starting construction, leaving them with half-built properties. In downtown Phoenix, work stopped last fall at a 25-story apartment tower that was most of the way up. Contractors filed claims for millions of dollars over unpaid work.

“We certainly are seeing a decline in construction,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. “Deals and financing have dried up.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Joe Biden’s worries grow as Hunter Biden’s trial begins (Politico)

Over the past few weeks, President Joe Biden has grown consumed by worries over the trial of Hunter Biden. He’s called family members more regularly to check on his son’s mood. The topic of the criminal case dominated the family gatherings in Delaware over the weekend. And when the trial opened on Monday, Biden issued a personal statement offering his support for his son, noting that he was a father in addition to the president.

Those actions underscored the deeply complicated but central role the younger Biden occupies in the family orbit. Hunter Biden’s business dealings, struggles with addiction and legal troubles have all become fodder for the president’s critics and a source of political uncertainty for his father.

Biden and his family were involved in brief discussions early in the term about not seeking reelection to ease the burden on his son, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic. But they said that those worries were set aside when the family — including Hunter — urged the president to run again, especially as former President Donald Trump appeared poised to make a comeback… (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

District 4

District 6

District 7 (Open seat)

District 10 (Open seat)

_________________________

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