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September 27, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

🛬  Could a partial government shutdown impact AUS?

🏥 Dallas selected as one of three national hubs for new medical innovation federal agency

⚖️ U.S. sues Amazon in a monopoly case that could be existential for the retail giant

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🆕   BG Podcast Ep. 219:

• On this episode the Bingham Group (CEO A.J. Bingham, Associate Hannah Garcia, and firm Economic Development Consultant Larry Holt) wrap up the week of September 18th in Austin politics.

• The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

➡️ Check out our red lined City of Austin org chart.  The changes reflect the many changes in city leadership since February 2023.

➡️ You can view those here: BG Blog: Tracking City of Austin Leadership Changes (Updated September 1, 2023).

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin is in court over state law and affordable housing. Here's what you need to know. (KUT)

Housing in Austin has become extremely hard to afford. About a quarter of renters in the region spend half their paychecks on housing, leaving them to scramble to afford transportation, food and education.

In response, elected officials have passed policies to encourage developers to build more affordable housing. This housing can be rented or sold only to people making no more than $64,450 a year, a figure the federal government has determined is a low income in the Austin area.

But how Austin gets developers to build more housing for people making low incomes has landed the city in court. A group of homeowners is questioning the legality of these policies. They’re asking a local judge to order the city to scrap these polices or be fined.

The court hearing [was] scheduled for Tuesday. Let’s get into it… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Could a partial government shutdown impact Texas airports? Here's what to expect (Austin American-Statesman)

With the U.S. Congress gridlocked and staring down a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the federal government, aviation officials across Texas are preparing for the possible implications of a partial government shutdown on the state's airports.

Any impacts may not be apparent on the surface, as Austin airport officials project there will be no substantial changes for passengers flying in or out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. While some federal agencies temporarily shutter during shutdowns, the majority of federal aviation officials — those with the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection — fall under "essential services," meaning their employees will continue working, without pay, despite a shutdown.

“AUS does not anticipate significant changes for travelers due to the federal government shutdown. Employees that work in federal roles that are critical to operating the airport are expected to report for duty," Sam Haynes, an airport spokesperson, told the Statesman in a written statement Tuesday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

And in other Austin Metro News:

➡️ Capital Metro Board of Directors approves Fiscal Year 2024 budget (Austin Monitor) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

➡️ AISD accepts TEA special education proposal; avoids conservator (Austin American-Statesman) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

➡️ Nebraska Furniture Mart planned in Austin suburb could be one of country's biggest furniture stores (Austin Business Journal) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

[TEXAS NEWS]

Dallas selected as one of three national hubs for new medical innovation federal agency (Texas Tribune)

Dallas will be one of three national hubs for a new federal agency pursuing “game-changing breakthroughs” in science and medicine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H, is an effort by the Biden administration to prevent and treat diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Along with its other national hubs in Cambridge, Mass. and the Washington, D.C. area, ARPA-H will include a network of “spokes,” or local health institutions, across all 50 states.

​​“By using a hub-and-spoke model, we’re creating efficiencies that we could not otherwise achieve, including reaching patients, providers, and other stakeholders quickly,” ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn said in a statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Federal judge declares Texas drag law unconstitutional (NBC News)

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Texas law that LGBTQ advocates feared would ban drag shows in the state and imprison performers.

The law, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June, expanded existing state law to prevent children from exposure to sexually explicit performances. While the legislation, Senate Bill 12, does not cite drag specifically, drag performers feared that it was passed with the intention of criminalizing the art form, which has deep ties to the LGBTQ community, and would that it repress their freedom of expression… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

U.S. sues Amazon in a monopoly case that could be existential for the retail giant (NPR)

U.S. regulators and 17 states sued Amazon on Tuesday in a pivotal case that could prove existential for the retail giant.

In the sweeping antitrust lawsuit, the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general paint Amazon as a monopolist that suffocates competitors and raises costs for both sellers and shoppers.

The FTC, tasked with protecting U.S. consumers and market competition, argues that Amazon punishes sellers for offering lower prices elsewhere on the internet and pressures them into paying for Amazon's delivery network.

"Amazon is a monopolist and it is exploiting its monopolies in ways that leave shoppers and sellers paying more for worse service," FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters on Tuesday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Republicans face growing urgency to stop Trump as they enter the second presidential debate (Associated Press)

Republicans are meeting for their second presidential debate Wednesday as his top rivals seek to blunt the momentum of Donald Trump, who is so confident of cruising through the party’s primary that he again won’t share a stage with them.

Seven GOP candidates will be at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for an event hosted by Fox Business Network. Trump will be in Michigan, delivering a prime-time speech attempting to capitalize on the Auto Workers Union strike and trying to appeal to rank-and-file union members in a key state for the general election.

The debate comes at a critical moment in the GOP campaign, with less than four months before the Iowa caucuses formally launch the presidential nomination process. For now, Trump is dominating the field even as he faces a range of vulnerabilities, including four criminal indictments that raise the prospect of decades in prison. His rivals are running out of time to dent his lead, which is building a sense of urgency among some to more directly take on the former president before an audience of millions… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

TikTok Employees Say Executive Moves to U.S. Show China Parent’s Influence (Wall Street Journal)

TikTok has spent the past three years trying to convince U.S. lawmakers it can operate independently in this country from its China-based parent company, ByteDance. After recent personnel moves, some employees aren’t so sure.

Since the start of the year, a string of high-level executives have transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, taking on some of the top jobs in the popular video-sharing app’s moneymaking operations. Some moved to the U.S. from ByteDance’s Beijing headquarters.

The ByteDance executives have taken on roles overseeing swaths of TikTok’s advertising business, human resources, monetization, business marketing and products related to advertising and e-commerce initiatives. Some have brought teams from Beijing.

The moves have concerned some U.S.-based TikTok employees, who have complained internally to high-level TikTok managers, according to current and former employees familiar with the discussions. The TikTok employees say they are worried that the appointments show ByteDance plays a greater role in TikTok’s operations than TikTok has disclosed publicly… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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