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- BG Reads 9.6.024
BG Reads 9.6.024
🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - September 6, 2024
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
www.binghamgp.com
September 6, 2024
Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 A little taste of fall arrives in Central Texas this weekend (KVUE)
🟪 New poll finds it's getting harder for Texas families to afford groceries (Houston Public Media)
🟪 Former Gov. Rick Perry joins House Speaker Dade Phelan’s team as senior adviser (Texas Tribune)
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]
đź’ˇ 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
âś… All candidate forums will are scheduled from 6:30pm to 8pm.
âś… All forums will be streamed live and archived on ATXN.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
A little taste of fall arrives in Central Texas this weekend (KVUE)
A fall cold front will get here on Saturday. The front will not bring any rain with it, but behind it you will start to notice the humidity dropping through the day with a breezy north wind gusting up to 25 mph. Saturday afternoon will still be warm with highs likely in the upper 80s to low 90s, but we'll really start to feel nice starting Saturday evening.
With much drier air in place, temperatures will drop into the 50s and low 60s by Sunday morning! The current forecast is for a low of 61 degrees in Austin which would be the coolest morning since April 23rd. The average morning low in Austin this time of the year is around 73 degrees.
Outside of Austin, especially in the Hill Country, morning temperatures in Sunday could be as cool as the mid 50s. The cool mornings keep rolling into early next week… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
As it aims to lure Korean companies, iMarket executive discusses the ups and downs of business (Austin Business Journal)
It would be a mistake to view iMarket America Inc. as a traditional real estate developer, even though it is building a new industrial park in Taylor and is in the process of courting suppliers of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to it.
That's according to Namho Park, iMarket's Round Rock-based managing director, who describes iMarket as a business-to-business procurement firm that helps source industrial materials and supplies for Samsung.
And with the chipmaker's $45 billion expansion that includes Taylor, iMarket is stressing that it's open for business as a wave of suppliers make their way to the area. The 212-acre Taylor Technology Park is just one incentive iMarket is offering for companies looking to move to the region, Park said, not only in the chipmaking industry but also in the electric vehicle or life sciences sectors… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
In Austin’s Most Conservative District, Will the City’s Sole Republican Council Member Keep Her Seat? (Austin Chronicle)
Austin’s northwesternmost City Council district has enough conservative voters to elect a Republican, and in past elections the comparatively suburban district has swung between conservative and liberal candidates. In November, they will choose between an incumbent Republican and a Democrat challenger, in a high-turnout presidential election, in a district that was redrawn in significant ways during the city’s 2021 redistricting process.
A few factors are likely to have outsize impact on what will be one of the most competitive Council races of the 2024 election cycle – the quest for District 6.
First, while Council races are technically nonpartisan, meaning the candidates do not formally associate with any political party, in reality candidates very much belong to political parties. All but one Council member currently on the dais is a Democrat, both by formal affiliation with the Democratic party and through the policy positions they support as elected officials. 🟪… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Living Streets Program plans to expand operations (Austin Monitor)
In an effort to build community and address equity across the city, Austin’s Living Streets Program is working to reenvision local streets as spaces where residents can walk, bike, gather and connect.
Community members can apply by Oct. 4 for three different types of resident-led street activations: Neighborhood Block Parties, Healthy Streets and Play Streets.
At its Sept. 3 meeting, the Urban Transportation Commission heard plans from Matt Macioge, city of Austin Capital Improvement Program manager, to increase the number of Living Streets Program activation sites.
“The tighter our communities are, the more resilient,” Macioge said. “Residents feel safer.”
The Living Streets Program was adopted by City Council on Oct. 21, 2021. Currently, the program has logged 17 activations since December 2023 and has plans to reach 36 total activations this year, with the capacity to service up to 72. 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
New poll finds it's getting harder for Texas families to afford groceries (Houston Public Media)
In a new poll, 77% of Texans say it has gotten harder to afford groceries over the last year, primarily because the cost of food is increasing more quickly than their income. That’s up 4% from the last time this survey was conducted in 2023. No Kid Hungry Texas, which works to end childhood hunger, released the findings Tuesday. Mia Medina, the nonprofit's senior program manager, said families with school-aged children are being especially hard hit.
“More than half of public school families, about 51%, reported signs of food insecurity in the past 12 months due to cost,” she said. “In some households the pantry might be completely bare, while in others mom might be skipping meals so that the kids can eat.” No Kid Hungry Texas commissioned Change Research to conduct the survey in late July. More than 1,100 people participated, about half of them parents.
The poll found 60% of families with kids in K-12 public schools said they had to decide between spending money on food or another essential over the last 12 months. More than a third of public school families, for example, said they had to choose whether to pay for groceries or a utility bill. The higher cost of food is also taking a toll on families’ mental health.
Sixty-one percent of parents of school-aged children reported that they are more stressed out about their ability to afford nutritious food for their households than at this time last year. Families with household incomes below $50,000 are making especially hard decisions at the grocery store. More than half said they bought less protein and produce because it was too expensive.
Nearly two-thirds said they bought less healthy food because it was cheaper. Medina said one resource low-income families can count on for nutritious food for their children is school meals. “We know that more than half of low-income households rely on free and reduced meals to stretch their food budgets,” she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Former Gov. Rick Perry joins House Speaker Dade Phelan’s team as senior adviser (Texas Tribune)
Former Gov. Rick Perry is back in Texas government as a senior adviser to House Speaker Dade Phelan.
Phelan made the announcement Thursday morning in a news release touting Perry's previous posts as a state representative, agriculture commissioner, lieutenant governor and governor. Perry, a staunch Republican who was the longest-serving governor in state history before running for president and serving as U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Donald Trump, will be a senior adviser in a volunteer capacity. He joined Phelan's team on Thursday and will serve until the start of the next legislative session in January.
"Governor Perry’s legacy of service to Texas is unparalleled, and I am honored to have him join our team as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session," Phelan said in a statement. "From his time as governor, lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner and state representative, he understands every facet of the legislative process, and that will be a tremendous asset as we work to strengthen our state's economy, improve education and ensure every member’s voice is heard in the Texas House this session."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Houston Rodeo launches lobbying effort to focus on meeting future goals (Houston Chronicle)
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo launched an advocacy and lobbying organization to help grow the event's impact and its ability to meet future goals. With the HLSR Community Coalition, the Rodeo is following in the footsteps of other nonprofit groups that have established an affiliate organization that gives them the flexibility to lobby.
"Organizations like the YMCA or American Cancer Society or AARP, all those nonprofits have a lobbying arm that advocates for their mission goals," said Ray Hinsley, chairman of the board of the HLSR Community Coalition. Hinsley said their advocacy will focus on the Rodeo's four mission pillars — education, agriculture, entertainment and Western heritage. "Right now, vocational training is something that's really a big topic in our conversations and our interests," Hinsley said.
They also plan to advocate for facility improvements at NRG Park, which is located on county-owned property and operated by the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation. NRG is the third home of the Rodeo, after Sam Houston Coliseum and the Astrodome. "In the 2019 facility assessment that was done for Harris County, it was identified at that point, five years ago, that NRG Arena was past its useful life," Hinsley said. "And so we're five years later and struggling with that facility." Hinsley did not mention the Astrodome, which is also located at NRG Park, as part of their advocacy plans.
The legendary stadium hosted the Astros from 1965 until the team moved to Minute Maid Park in 2000. Harris County voters in 2013 rejected a $217 million bond proposal that called for rehabilitating the abandoned Astrodome for use as an event and exhibit space. County officials who operated NRG Park at the time said they would prepare a plan to "decommission and subsequently demolish" the Astrodome if voters didn't approve the funding. However, the building remains standing over 10 years later… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
US job growth seen picking up in August; unemployment rate easing to 4.2% (Reuters)
U.S. job growth likely picked up in August, with the unemployment rate forecast to have dropped to 4.2%, which would offer more assurance that an orderly labor market slowdown remained intact and cement expectations of a quarter-point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve this month.
The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday would add to solid consumer spending in dispelling financial market fears of a recession, which were stoked by a rise in the jobless rate to a near three-year high of 4.3% in July. The fourth straight monthly increase in the unemployment rate put a 50 basis point rate cut on the table.
"The economy is going through a transition; it's slowly kind of bending under the weight of the high interest rates," said Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Boston College. "There is sufficient evidence to support a sequence of 25 basis points rate cuts so far, but not a hurried 50 basis points."… 🟪 (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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