BG Reads 7.31.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - July 31, 2024

July 31, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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www.binghamgp.com

July 31, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Austin weighs development staffing cuts as local construction slows (Community Impact)

🟣 Why is Austin losing so many nonstop flights? (Austin Business Journal)

🟣 Major gas bill hike to be contested by city this fall (Austin Monitor)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🟣 [NEW] BG Podcast Episode 262 - On this episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia wrap up the week of July 22, 2024 in Austin politics, and discuss the week ahead.

🟣 Bingham Group has renewed its MBE and DBE certifications with the city of Austin. We are currently seeking sub-consultant services to support projects in the Austin Metro. Learn more here.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin weighs development staffing cuts as local construction slows (Community Impact)

After years of heightened activity amid a local building boom, Austin's Development Services Department could be ramping down its staffing levels in response to a construction slowdown.DSD staffing was one of several topics addressed July 30 as City Council members continue to review Austin's proposed fiscal year 2024-25 budget. DSD, based out of the city Permitting and Development Center in Highland, handles all aspects of city building reviews and permitting.The department now has hundreds of staffers and recently grew its workforce by dozens of positions in 2018 and 2020. Since a department merge last March, DSD has also included city code compliance work.DSD's proposed budget for FY 2024-25 calls to remove about two dozen full-time development staff positions—many of which were sitting vacant—due largely to "contraction in development activity" in Austin, according to the budget. At the same time, some code enforcement positions would be added… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Why is Austin losing so many nonstop flights? (Austin Business Journal)

Passenger traffic has been near all-time highs at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, but that hasn’t stopped some airlines — such as American Airlines â€” from cutting back on direct flights to and from the facility.

The trend isn’t as contradictory as it may seem, however. Travel has been way up nationwide amid a post-pandemic boom, but experts said the airline industry managed to overestimate it, prompting ongoing route adjustments and other measures to lower costs.

“The simple truth is (the airline industry) probably dumped too much capacity onto the market" in the wake of the pandemic, said David Vernon, an airlines analyst with Bernstein. "The industry certainly has some capacity that it needs to trim."

The number of travelers has soared at ABIA, reaching a record of more than 22 million in 2023, up nearly 28% from 17.3 million in 2019 just prior to the pandemic.

It's unclear if the airport will set a new record for passenger traffic in 2024, although five of the top 10 busiest days in its history have occurred so far this year, according to ABIA. Four of the others were in 2023, and one was in 2022.

Still, ABIA has been making headlines in recent months for announcements regarding airline route cuts and for its ongoing multibillion-dollar expansion... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Major gas bill hike to be contested by city this fall (Austin Monitor)

You might have a much higher gas bill next year, pending an upcoming decision this fall by the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the state’s oil and gas industry.

Texas Gas Service proposed a rate hike this year that could raise some Austin-area residents’ bills by up to $10 a month next year. It was supposed to go into effect July 8, but Austin, West Lake Hills, Bee Cave and Pflugerville, among other cities, have all passed resolutions to suspend the increase for 90 days. This fall or winter, a coalition of cities plan to appeal the rate to the Railroad Commission on behalf of ratepayers, with Austin as the city with the most customers.

TGS attributes the rate hike to $25.7 million in revenue lost during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 Winter Storm Uri, it noted in a June 3 statement announcing the increases. On its website, TGS adds that “demand has grown faster than supply can keep up with, coupled with the general state of the economy, war in Ukraine and extreme weather events, we see higher prices across the globe. In fact, natural gas prices are nearly 100% higher than a year ago.”

However, the 2021 Texas Legislature paved the way for gas companies to recoup winter-storm-related debt by charging residential consumers higher rates for the next 30 years, the Austin Monitor reported at the time… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Meta to pay Texas $1.4 billion for using facial recognition technology without users’ permission (Texas Tribune)

Facebook’s parent company Meta will pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of using personal biometric data without users’ authorization.

The 2022 lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in state court, alleged that Meta had been using facial recognition software on photos uploaded to Facebook without Texans’ consent.

Paxton’s office said this is the largest settlement ever obtained by a single state and the largest related to privacy ever secured by a state attorney general. The settlement will be paid over five years. The attorney general’s office did not say whether the money from the settlement would go into the state’s general fund or if it would be distributed in some other way.

“This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans’ privacy rights. Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law,” Paxton said in a statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas senator floats recouping some of $800M CenterPoint spent on generators that sat idle during Beryl (Houston Chronicle)

A state lawmaker said Monday he was considering pushing legislation to recoup some of the $800 million CenterPoint Energy spent on massive generators that sat idle as Hurricane Beryl knocked power from more than 2 million Houston area customers. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt said the company had “defrauded” rate payers, who were now strapped with growing utility bills after state regulators allowed CenterPoint to recoup the cost of the generators — plus a 6.5% profit.

The utility company has already raised the average residential customer’s bill by about $1 per month — and the rate hikes could jump another $3 per month in the coming years. “It’s a big problem, because we’ve got basically these boat anchors strapped around our rate payers for a long period of time,” the Houston Republican said during a contentious hearing where CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells testified that he took “personal responsibility” for the utility’s failings, but said he would not resign.

Bettencourt said he was considering legislation that would “claw back some of this expense,” though he did not say more about what that might entail. Bettencourt accused CenterPoint of choosing to spend money on the generators rather than clearing trees that knocked out power lines, because CenterPoint can make a profit on the generators. CenterPoint has repeatedly blamed toppled trees and broken branches for leaving over 80% of its area customers without power, some for more than a week.

“Vegetation management — the utility doesn’t make profit on,” Bettencourt said. “However, they make a profit on generator expenses. If you don’t make a profit on vegetation management, you may reduce those numbers.” The comments came during the first hearing of a special committee tasked with examining the state’s hurricane preparedness and utilities’ response after Beryl. The senators used much of the hearing to air their grievances with CenterPoint, which state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst said had broken the “social contract” with its customers. Senators questioned why the utility could not keep its outage map working, why it was not doing a better job removing trees and why it had sunk so much into generators that were not usable. Bettencourt and state Sen. Charles Schwertner, who chairs the panel, questioned the contract CenterPoint struck for the generators, going so far as to suggest it amounted to “fraud.”

Bettencourt said the utility passed over a competing bid with a price tag that was at least 44% lower. “It doesn’t smell good at all,” Schwertner said, noting the company appears to be raking in a roughly $30 million profit on the massive generator purchase. “There’s more to this story that I hope comes out sooner rather than later.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Harris is planning a tour of battleground states next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate (Associated Press)

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to launch a battleground tour next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate, with stops in seven swing states stretching from Pennsylvania to Nevada, her campaign said Tuesday.

The planned tour is the latest sign of the whirlwind pace at which Harris has gone from President Joe Biden’s supportive running mate to likely Democratic nominee ready to identify her No. 2 and take on Republican Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Harris said Tuesday she hadn’t made a decision yet on whom she will select.

Those who are under consideration have been demonstrating a time-honored tradition: summertime auditions in which vice presidential contenders walk the line between open self-promotion and loyal advocacy for the potential boss.

To that end, Democrat Josh Shapiro told enthusiastic voters in suburban Philadelphia this week that Harris belongs in the White House — and then reminded them of all he’s done as governor of battleground Pennsylvania. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, likewise, told voters in Georgia that Harris has the makings of “a great president” — and then highlighted the elections he’s won as a Democrat in Republican territory… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Boar's Head recalls 7 million more pounds of deli meats tied to listeria outbreak (NPR)

The popular deli meat company Boar's Head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as an investigation into a deadly outbreak of listeria food poisoning continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday.

The new recall includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 under the Boar's Head and Old Country brand names. It follows an earlier recall of more than 200,000 pounds of sliced deli poultry and meat. The new items include meat intended to be sliced at delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold in stores… (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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