BG Reads 7.5.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - July 5, 2024

July 05, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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July 5, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Mayor Kirk Watson slows timing for climate bond election (Austin Monitor)

🟣 International companies get candid on doing business in ATX (Austin Business Journal)

🟣 Texas Federal judge partially blocks U.S. ban on noncompetes (NPR)

🟣 Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit (Texas Tribune)

Read On!

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[CITY OF AUSTIN]

âś… Council Message Board RE Climate Bond Initiative (6.28.2024) - Comments from Mayor Kirk Watson and Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool

âś… Council Message Board RE Environmental Bond 2024 (7.1.2024) - Comments from Council Members Ryan Alter (District 5) and Vanessa Fuentes (District 2)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Mayor Kirk Watson slows timing for climate bond election (Austin Monitor)

City Council members have been taking sides on the City Council Message Board over competing timelines for a climate bond election, and on Wednesday the proposal for a longer lead-up was left standing.

The back-and-forth on the message board – the city platform Council members use to communicate with one another without violating open meetings laws – began June 28, when Mayor Kirk Watson posted his preference for taking a “methodical approach to a model climate program … including a climate bond election as one component.” Such an election, he said, “should occur no later than November of 2026.”

The following Monday, July 1, Council Member Ryan Alter responded in a separate thread, stating his intention of bringing a resolution for the July 18 agenda that would include a directive for a 2024 climate bond election… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

International companies get candid on doing business in ATX (Austin Business Journal)

It's hard to quantify the number of international companies in Austin. But experts estimate it's well into the hundreds, representing more than three dozen countries and traversing industries ranging from banking and semiconductors to real estate.

The number is set to grow as well, largely thanks to Samsung. The company recently committed to investing $45 billion at its new campus in Taylor and its longtime home in North Austin. Plans include an additional fabrication line and a research-and-design facility, set to come online by the end of the decade and result in 4,500 new jobs. Plus, it will continue to establish a semiconductor ecosystem in Central Texas. The ABJ has identified at least a dozen foreign-based semiconductor companies that have committed to either expanding or setting up shop as far north as Killeen, as far south as Buda, as far east as Bastrop and everywhere in between.

A source close to Samsung has tracked more than 20 suppliers that have committed to $10 billion in expansions or relocations across the country, primarily in Texas and the Austin area.

In places like South Korea, that means you now can turn on the television and see Taylor, Texas, on the nightly news, said EC Chi, international director for the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership, which is working to attract Korean companies to the county north of Austin... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Get ready for six months of backups on South Lamar Boulevard (KUT)

Drivers on South Lamar Boulevard should prepare for months of backups and bottlenecks as Austin Energy embarks on a six-month plan to replace utility poles and upgrade wires along a stretch of the corridor.

The "reconductoring" project will cause portions of South Lamar’s northbound traffic to be reduced to one lane for most of the duration of the project. Southbound traffic will also experience occasional delays.

The first phase from West Mary to West Oltorf streets will begin Sunday. The second phase will stretch from West Mary to Treadwell Street and phase three will extend from Treadwell to Barton Springs Road.

Each phase is expected to last two months, best case scenario. Thomas Whiteaker, a major projects lead designer for Austin Energy, said weather could also prompt delays.

“Traffic will certainly be impeded,” he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Lost Creek voted for independence from the City of Austin — what now? (KXAN)

Last year, Texas passed legislation that allowed Lost Creek, and five other territories, to depart city limits. House Bill 3053 specifically targeted areas annexed into cities that have a population of 500,000 people or more between March 3, 2015 and December 1, 2017.

Three of those six territories — including Lost Creek, the most populous — voted to disannex. A successful election was also held in Travis County Emergency Services District No. 9 to allow Lost Creek to receive services from the Westlake Fire Department.

Some of the biggest changes include shuffling from Austin Fire and Police Departments to Travis County resources. The Fire Chief for Travis County ESD No. 9, Westlake Fire, said they’re already running calls to Lost Creek now… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas Federal judge partially blocks U.S. ban on noncompetes (NPR)

A federal court in Texas has partially blocked the government’s ban on noncompete agreements that was set to take effect September 4.

Ryan LLC, a tax services firm in Dallas, had sued to block the rule just hours after the Federal Trade Commission voted narrowly to ban noncompetes for almost all U.S. workers back in April.

The decision, from Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, postpones the effective date of the noncompete ban for the plaintiffs.

In her ruling, Brown wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of the case and that blocking the rule temporarily is in the public interest.

"While this order is preliminary, the Court intends to rule on the ultimate merits of this action on or before August 30, 2024," she wrote.

Ryan's lawsuit was joined by several organizations that represent a broad swath of American businesses, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and the Texas Association of Business.

An estimated 30 million people, or one in five American workers, are bound by noncompetes. The employment agreements typically prevent workers – everyone from minimum wage earners to CEOs – from joining competing businesses or launching ones of their own.

In its complaint, Ryan LLC accused the FTC of overstepping its statutory authority in declaring all noncompetes unfair and anticompetitive.

Judge Brown agreed, writing, "The FTC lacks substantive rulemaking authority with respect to unfair methods of competition."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit (Texas Tribune)

If the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a boxer, you’d bet on the other guy.

The 5th Circuit, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, had three rulings upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and eight overturned, more than any other court this term. The conservative circuit court saw its rulings on abortion medication, gun control, administrative power and social media moderation all rejected by the Supreme Court.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh cautioned that the 5th Circuit was taking the judiciary down “an uncharted path.” Chief Justice John Roberts said they were “slaying a straw man.” Justice Clarence Thomas, the most conservative member of the court, authored two opinions rejecting the 5th Circuit’s interpretation of the law.

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit leaned to the right even before President Donald Trump appointed six judges to the bench. The new judges, many of whom trained in Texas’ conservative legal circles, have attracted a slew of ideologically-aligned cases… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Rep. Michael McCaul fights to keep his leadership position as chair of Foreign Affairs (Texas Tribune)

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul isn’t quite ready to give up his gavel.

In his two years as chair of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Austin Republican has been busy; he spearheaded the charge to ban TikTok, authored one resolution on Tibetan self-determination and led another condemning the infamous Chinese spy balloon.

Just last month, he helped shoulder a bipartisan Ukraine aid bill through Congress over many colleagues’ loud objections. He’s also traveled the globe, shaking hands with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine, receiving a blessing from the Dalai Lama in India, and gifting Taiwan President Lai Ching Te with a cowboy hat.

To keep his leadership post on one of the most coveted committees in Washington, he’ll need special permission, having hit his six-year term limit. Several colleagues are already gunning to replace him.

McCaul confirmed last week that he would indeed seek a waiver to serve another term as top Republican on his committee, which would need approval from a steering committee and then the full House Republican caucus... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Housing market malaise may last for years (Politico)

The U.S. housing market — plagued by high interest rates and sluggish sales — is poised to become a major drag on the economy heading into the election.

A series of reports in recent weeks have presented a bleak picture of a once-hopeful market that makes up as much as 18 percent of the economy: Sales of existing homes are down, and pending sales have sunk to a record low. Housing starts in May dropped to their lowest level since June 2020, when the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Residential investment has fallen amid the highest borrowing costs in more than two decades.

“Home sales activity is at a 30-year low — it’s essentially stuck at that level, so all of the economic activity associated with home sales is at a depressed level,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

The year started with some optimism for the market, with Wall Street investors expecting the Federal Reserve to finally begin cutting interest rates as inflation ebbs. That hasn’t happened, so the Fed’s elevated rates continue to make it more costly to build and more difficult to finance home purchases.

Meanwhile, record-high home prices — a result of a nationwide supply crunch — have locked more would-be first-time buyers out of the market. Polls show that the skyrocketing cost of housing is a top issue for young voters, with more than 90 percent in one survey saying affordability is a key factor in how they’ll vote this year. And it’s not just in the U.S.: The cost and availability of housing has emerged as a major political issue across other affluent democracies, including the U.K., France and Canada… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

JPMorgan warns customers: Prepare to pay for checking accounts (Wall Street Journal)

The head of America’s biggest retail bank has a warning for its 86 million customers: prepare to pay for your bank accounts.

Marianne Lake runs Chase Bank, the sprawling franchise inside JPMorgan Chase that is the country’s biggest bank for consumers and one of its biggest credit card issuers. Lake is warning that new rules that would cap overdraft and late fees will make everyday banking significantly more expensive for all Americans. 

Lake said Chase is already planning to pass on the costs of higher regulation and charge customers for a number of now-free services, including checking accounts and wealth management tools, if the rules become law in their current form. She expects her peers in the industry will follow suit.

“The changes will be broad, sweeping and significant,” Lake said. “The people who will be most impacted are the ones who can least afford to be, and access to credit will be harder to get.” 

This isn’t the first time banks have said they would pass on higher costs to consumers when regulators have attempted to cap their fees. In 2010, after the post-financial crisis overhaul of bank regulations, lenders warned that they would levy fees on debit cards because of a cap on some card charges—but few ended up doing so, because consumers threatened to move their business. Some consumer advocates say this time is no different… (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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