BG Reads 9.10.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - September 10, 2024

September 10, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

Presented by:

www.binghamgp.com

September 10, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Austin, police union still grappling over contract; city gears up to give raises (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 New Austin police chief reports for first day at department (KVUE)

🟪 Greg Abbott directs Texas Division of Emergency Management to prepare for storm activity in the Gulf (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 Biden admin to require mental health coverage parity (Politico)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🟪 We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

🟪 Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

💡 The Austin Council has seven (7) regular meetings left in 2024.

  • District 4 - September 19th

    • City of Austin Permitting and Development Center, Room 1405, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Austin 78752

  • District 2 - September 25th

    • Dove Springs Recreation Center, 5801 Ainez Drive, Austin 78744

  • District 10 - September 30th

    • Dell Jewish Community Campus, Epstein Family Community Hall, 7300 Hart Lane, Austin 78731

  • Mayor - October 3rd

    • Austin City Hall Council Chambers, 301 W. 2nd St. Austin 78701

  • District 6 - October 7th

    • Hope Presbyterian Church, 11512 Olson Drive, Austin 78750

✅ All candidate forums will are scheduled from 6:30pm to 8pm.

✅ All forums will be streamed live and archived on ATXN. 

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin, police union still grappling over contract; city gears up to give raises (Austin American-Statesman)

Although the city and the Austin police union have yet to reach a tentative deal, the city seems poised to offer one of the highest salary increases since the meet and confer process began in the late 1990s.

With the current offers sitting where they are, officers could expect to get anywhere from a 25% to 30% salary increase over the life of the five-year contract, which is more than most previous years that have been four-year contracts. Regardless, the city's current offer of a 7.5% base wage increase would give officers the largest year-one increase in the city's meet and confer history.

Members of the city's labor relations team and the Austin Police Association met three times last week after six months of sometimes tense contract negotiations that have failed to bring a tentative contract.

During the conversations, the city's negotiators expressed hope that both sides would be able to reach a tentative deal they could send to be voted on by members of the Austin City Council and the association… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

New Austin police chief reports for first day at department (KVUE)

New Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis officially reported for her first day of work on Monday, a little over a month after the Austin City Council unanimously approved her confirmation to the role.

Davis, who will be the second woman to serve as the a permanent police chief, comes to Austin after spending more than 30 years with the Cincinnati Police Department, most recently serving as an assistant chief. Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax picked Davis after an extensive process that included 32 applicants and several rounds of interviews with Davis and the other finalist, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.

Davis told the council her first 100 days will focus on listening and learning to address challenges like staffing and recruitment… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Crowded field of challengers for Austin mayor present visions for city's future (CBS Austin)

A coalition of neighborhood associations in central Austin hosted a forum for the four challenging mayoral candidates Monday evening.

Mayor Kirk Watson wasn't in attendance but is running for re-election. The mayoral election is just eight weeks away, and the incumbent is facing a crowded field of challengers.

At the Griffin School Monday, four challenging mayoral candidates took turns giving their stances on a wide variety of issues the city of Austin is facing. Questions centered around affordability, land use, homelessness, mobility, parking, neighborhood preservation, and even graffiti… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Hotels nearing agreement on tax plan to provide homelessness services funding (Austin Monitor)

City leaders expect a long-in-coming new hotel tax that could provide money for homelessness services to be ready for final City Council approval within the month.

On Monday, the Austin Business Journal reported that the proposed Tourism Public Improvement District tax levy has reached one of the needed thresholds with local hoteliers, with a second and final threshold expected to be completed soon.

Tom Noonan, CEO of Visit Austin, said hotels comprising 78 percent of the assessed value of the 150 eligible hotels have signed on to the agreement, far above the 60 percent needed. To reach the approval level needed for further city action, there needs to be agreement from 60 percent of the total square footage of candidate hotels or 60 percent of the total number of eligible hotels.

That number is currently reported to be just shy of 60 percent in both categories, with more signees expected soon… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin parking tech startup FlashParking snags $85M to expand (Austin Business Journal)

After death and taxes, you might consider parking one of those inevitable and unenviable life experiences.

That's another way of saying that parking is ripe with business opportunity because almost everyone needs it, at least in most American cities.

Austin-based FlashParking Inc. has staked a claim in the potentially lucrative space. The company, founded in 2011, has developed a parking software platform that provides real-time data and dynamic pricing for parking garage operators, as well as an EV charging division that recently received a $5.8 million grant from the California Energy Commission.

Now the local company is opening a new chapter in its growth with the help of $85 million in debt financing from Vantage Infrastructure. It also has an option for an extension to $100 million.

The debt funding is intended to help the company create a special purpose vehicle offering that will help parking garage operators pay for installation and operation of Flash's parking and EV charging technologies with flexible payment options… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Greg Abbott directs Texas Division of Emergency Management to prepare for storm activity in the Gulf (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott is directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management to prepare for additional state emergency response resources ahead of potential impacts from tropical activity in the Gulf of Mexico. This comes as CenterPoint Energy representatives announced they were monitoring and preparing for severe weather as a way to avoid widespread power outages such as those following Hurricane Beryl this summer. According to the National Weather Service, a storm system moving through the Gulf of Mexico has a 90% chance of tropical development, with increasing likelihood of development into a tropical storm or hurricane, as written in the release. According to Houston Chronicle's meteorologist Justin Ballard, heavy rain could be expected in the Houston area, with the potential for localized flooding.

"Texas stands ready to provide all available resources needed to support Texans as a severe storm system begins to move along the Gulf Coast that will bring potential flash flooding threats and heavy rain," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement, noting the state's division of emergency management would be deployed Monday morning.

"Texans are urged to take the necessary precautions for potential tropical weather, including remaining weather aware, monitoring road conditions and having an emergency plan to ensure safety of themselves and their loved ones."

The Texas Division of Emergency Management has issued an activation notice to the Texas Emergency Management Council agencies, increasing readiness level of the Texas State Operations Center to a 24-hour escalated response operations, a news release stated. Additional resources include search and rescue boat teams, helicopters with hoist capabilities, medical support teams, saw crews, support for agriculture and livestock needs, and teams to monitor road conditions and outages.

These resources come from several agencies including the state's department of public safety, transportation, health services; Texas National Guard, Texas A&M, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Railroad Commission of Texas and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Biden admin to require mental health coverage parity (Politico)

The Biden administration is finalizing a sweeping expansion of regulations that require insurers to cover mental health and addiction care on the same terms as other care.

Administration officials said insurers have flouted a 2008 law requiring so-called mental health parity — and are expanding the rules, with potential fines for violators. However, the administration’s decision is expected to draw legal challenges from the industry.

“This final rule will stop the industry evasion that has led millions of people to pay for care even when they have insurance,” said Neera Tanden, head of President Joe Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, on a call with reporters ahead of Monday’s announcement. “No one should have to drain their savings or go into debt to get help for themselves or their loved ones. President Biden and the vice president believe mental health is health.”

The move is likely to impact millions of Americans and comes as the nation faces a worsening mental health crisis. Most people with substance use disorder and mental health conditions, for instance, don’t get treatment, according to many estimates… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

September is once again a tough month for stocks (Wall Street Journal)

September is living up to its reputation as a tough month for stocks. The S&P 500 fell 4.2% last week on concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. Friday’s monthly jobs report showed the labor market added fewer jobs than expected. Tuesday’s weak manufacturing data led stocks to their worst day since early August. Going back to 1928, the S&P 500 has declined an average 1.2% in September, the weakest month of the year for stocks.

The index ended lower 56% of the time over that stretch, according to Dow Jones Market Data. In the coming days, investors will parse Wednesday’s inflation report to see whether price pressures are continuing to ease and look to see whether big tech stocks, such as Nvidia, can find their footing after a recent slide. For now, many analysts and portfolio managers are grappling with the less-optimistic tone that has taken hold following a roaring rally in the first half of 2024.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates at the conclusion of its Sept. 18 meeting. The only question is whether it takes its typical approach of trimming rates by a quarter-percentage point or opts to be more aggressive with a half-point cut. Market watchers such as Cox who were hoping for a glimmer of clarity didn’t find it in Friday’s jobs report. (While fewer-than-expected jobs were created in August, growth was stronger than the previous month and the unemployment rate edged down.) Some investors are calling for a bigger rate cut to revive the labor market; others fear such a move would send the wrong message to financial markets and spark a deeper downturn. In addition to the uncertainty over the Fed’s plans, markets are expected to remain volatile heading into the November election. October is typically the weakest month for stocks during election years, with the S&P 500 down 1.4% on an average going back to 1980.

The S&P 500 is still up 13% this year—but sentiment began to shift a month ago when July’s weaker-than-expected jobs report raised questions about whether the economy had begun to falter and the Fed had waited too long to cut interest rates. Then the unwinding of some of Wall Street’s most popular trades intensified Aug. 5, sending the S&P 500 to its worst day in almost two years... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

_________________________

We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.

Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.

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