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🟪 Austin gets $4.7 million budget boost as council fights over cuts (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Austin faces uphill battle to fund $8.2B light rail expansion (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Paredes Middle School closes; students split to Bailey, Mendez (Community Impact)

🟪 Breaking down APD's $25 million proposed budget increase (CBS Austin)

🟪 Abbott vows to prevent cities from collecting sales tax if they circumvent housing laws (KXAN)

🟪 Texas Stock Exchange rings bell to mark historic milestone (Dallas Morning News)

🟪 The Democrats’ biggest donors have gone on strike (Wall Street Journal)

READ ON!

🏛️ COUNCIL MEETINGS:

💰 Review the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget documents here

🏛️ MEMO: Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget Adoption Timeline

🏛️ MEMO: Austin Staff Recommends $5.35 Million Reduction to Social Service Grants for FY27

🎙️ The BG Podcast is taking a two-part look at the future of the Austin–San Antonio megaregion.

Episode 269 features my conversation with former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros about the case for greater regional cooperation in the Austin San Antonio megaregion.

Episode 270 continues the discussion with A.J. Rodriguez, CEO of the Central Texas Alliance. We discuss how the new organization plans to build consensus across 13 counties, develop a shared regional agenda and strengthen Central Texas’ voice at the state and federal levels.

Listen on:

✅ Austin gets $4.7 million budget boost as council fights over cuts (Austin American-Statesman)

Cash-strapped Austin got some good news this week: The city will have an additional $4.7 million to spend in its proposed budget because of higher-than-expected property tax revenue.

The city budget office announced Thursday that certified property values from the Travis, Williamson and Hays appraisal districts added $3.3 billion to Austin’s tax base — slightly more than the $3.2 billion increase assumed in the proposed budget. A small adjustment to the property tax rate also contributed to the additional revenue.

The unexpected money quickly set off a scramble over how to spend it. City staff recommended directing it toward housing programs, while a coalition of five City Council members proposed using the full amount to avert most of the roughly $5 million in proposed cuts to social service contracts.

Council Members Vanessa Fuentes, Natasha Harper-Madison, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis and Zo Qadri filed a budget amendment Thursday night that would use the money to offset cuts affecting nonprofit organizations that provide food assistance, housing support, health care and other services.

The proposal is likely to stir some controversy as a recent audit, executed separately from the decision to cut social services, found that a sampling of social service nonprofits missed a significant share of their performance targets… (READ MORE)

✅ Austin faces uphill battle to fund $8.2B light rail expansion (Austin Business Journal)

The expansion of Austin's light rail system is expected to cost $8.2 billion, and the federal government has long been expected to provide over $4 billion to cover the construction costs. But the path to securing federal funding for the landmark project appears uncertain, and a contingency plan is not being discussed in the event those dollars aren't awarded, according to Austin Transit Partnership officials.

ATP said the light rail project — focused largely on bringing more trains to Central Austin — is on track to get federal funding in early 2028. However, the program from which ATP hopes to secure federal funding hasn't handed out grants to new projects since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January 2025. ATP said it still needs to advance to the engineering phase of the project next year before funding can be awarded, indicating it is premature to assume anything about a decision from the feds.

ATP officials said they aren't having conversations about a contingency plan if they don't secure funding by 2028. They said their conversations are focused on advancing the project under the idea that the federal government will eventually provide funding…🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Breaking down APD's $25 million proposed budget increase (CBS Austin)

A breakdown of APD's $25 million increase reveals that a majority of the money will be allocated to wage increases, per a 2024 meet and confer agreement between the City of Austin and APD.

$9.9 million will go to citywide allocations, representing APD's budget for the shared city services they utilize, such as administrative costs, IT expenses, and fleet maintenance.

The third largest item is $1.3 million that will go to retirement stipends.

In terms of new resources, District 4 councilmember José "Chito" Vela confirmed with Kerri Lang from Austin's department of Budget and Organizational Excellence:

"Things that the police department did not have before that they now have: if I remember correctly, I think there was one additional position for recruitment.?" asked Vela.

"Yes, one civilian position for recruitment," confirmed Lang… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Paredes Middle School closes; students split to Bailey, Mendez (Community Impact)

Austin ISD trustees voted 7-2 on July 30 to close Paredes Middle School, and its 635 students will move to Bailey or Mendez middle schools this fall. This shift comes weeks before the first day of school Aug. 18, and marks Austin ISD’s 11th school closure in roughly a year.

District leaders point to years of failing state ratings at Paredes, most recently its third consecutive F in 2025, per TEA data. Superintendent Matias Segura called the closure disruptive but necessary to move students into stronger academic environments before another school year begins.

The board approved modifications to the school’s turnaround plan—originally approved in November 2025, Community Impact previously reported—and reassigned students by home address, following an administrative recommendation. Families can also choose a district virtual learning option, district staff said. The closure takes effect once the Texas Education Agency approves it… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Abbott vows to prevent cities from collecting sales tax if they circumvent housing laws (KXAN)

Gov. Greg Abbott is continuing to push for lower housing costs in Texas, arguing that local regulations are circumventing recent reforms designed to clear red tape to build homes. “One thing that’s driving up the cost of housing is our local government regulations,” Abbott said.

“Now already last year, I signed a law to make it easier and cheaper to build homes, but some local governments are skirting the law, imposing costly mandates.” Abbott pointed to multiple laws he signed last year as an example of his efforts to reduce housing costs. One was Senate Bill 840 — aimed at increasing housing in the state. The law primarily allows multi-family housing and mixed usage in areas previously zoned for retail, office or commercial purposes.

According to a recent report conducted by Texans for Reasonable Solutions, Texas Appleseed and American Enterprise Institute, SB 840 can be linked to 8,764 new housing units in it’s first nine months. Abbott said cities are passing regulations that are designed to subvert laws like SB 840. “So what they try to do to limit new residential building, they will add very costly amenities to what the requirements are. It could be requiring eight stories be built for multifamily housing. It could be adding very large swimming pools,” he said.

“I can’t even express my frustration,” Nicole Nosek, Founder of Texans for Reasonable Solutions, said. “These mandates don’t come out of a developer’s pockets. They come out of the rent check of a nurse, a senior citizen, a teacher.” As Abbott seeks a fourth term, he says he’ll crack down on cities by hitting them where it hurts — their pocketbooks… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Mayor targets funding for Spurs’ new arena in hunt to reduce city budget gap (San Antonio Report)

After a flurry of proposals over the last week, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has taken aim at cutting the City of San Antonio’s $158 million budget gap again. In a memo Friday, Jones proposed another vote on the public funding for a downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs in November. She said now that city residents understand the budget shortfall, which could lead to an increase in property taxes, they should vote on the city funding for the arena.

“November would allow city voters to vote clearly informed by what they are paying, what they are receiving in return and whether the latter is good enough,” Jones wrote in a memo to City Council on Friday.

The Spurs’ downtown arena, part of Project Marvel, would cost $1.3 billion and is scheduled to host the team beginning in 2030. Bexar County voters approved using $311 million in hotel tax dollars for the arena in November 2025. City officials said their $489 million in funding — a combination of sales tax revenue from hotels and hotel-related businesses and funds borrowed against projected future property taxes — did not need a public vote.

City council members linked their $489 million contribution to the county vote. Now, Jones is saying voters who live in the city should have another bite at the apple because they are residents of both Bexar County and San Antonio. “City voters will pay twice towards the proposed arena, as they will contribute to the county’s $311 million contribution and the city’s $489 million contribution,” Jones said. “Since they pay twice, city voters deserve to vote twice.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas Stock Exchange rings bell to mark historic milestone (Dallas Morning News)

Gold confetti coated the floor underneath the Texas Stock Exchange's formidable closing bell Friday, a physical manifestation of the capital foundation provided by the likes of Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab that made TXSE the most well-capitalized stock exchange ever when it debuted in the summer of 2024. Just two years later, the nascent Dallas-based is celebrating a major milestone, literally rung in Friday at the exchange's temporary headquarters in Knox/Henderson: the complete launch of trading on TXSE's platform. Having begun a phased launch of operations on July 6, Friday's closing bell ceremony marked the ability to trade all the more than 13,000 stock symbols that trade in the U.S. on the Lone Star State's homegrown exchange.

"Today is an important moment for the state of Texas and America's capital markets. The Texas Stock Exchange has successfully completed its launch of trading and is now firmly part of the global market structure. We are recognizing this milestone because what this team and our partners have accomplished is simply remarkable," said founder and CEO James Lee before striking the bell. "Here's what they've delivered in a mere 18 months: a fully integrated exchange that's trading and listings at once, something that has never been done before, and the broadest day one participation of any new exchange in a half a century.

This is pure infrastructure built to support what comes next: real competition for primary listings for the first time in decades," he continued. On Friday, more than $700 million worth of shares were traded on TXSE, according to NasdaqTrader.com, as the exchange seeks to slowly but surely nab market share from the New York capital markets duopoly it aims to challenge. TXSE has raised more than $275 million in backing to create its own trading platform from the ground up and eventually give companies an alternative venue to list, with the goal of restoring health to public markets… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ For sale: early access to Trump's Truth Social posts (NPR)

President Trump, his critics like to say, learned one major lesson during his first term: Never leave any money on the table.

But even for a president who raked in $2 billion, fueled mostly by his lucrative cryptocurrency ventures, the latest offering from his social media platform, Truth Social, stands out.

Trump Media & Technology Group is now shopping to traders and investors a premium version of Truth Social delivering early access to the feeds of high-profile users, including the president.

Starting Saturday, for a fee of up to $100,000 a month, trading firms can access "Truth API" to get a glimpse of the president's often market-moving announcements about economic policy and global affairs before the rest of the world… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ The Democrats’ biggest donors have gone on strike (Wall Street Journal)

George Soros and his son Alex donated more than $400,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 2018 midterms. They gave more than $1 million during the 2022 midterm election cycle, campaign finance records show. This year, they have yet to give the DNC a dollar. The Soroses aren’t alone—other high-profile donors have given little or no money to the Democrats’ central committee this year. Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, wrote steady checks to the DNC for years but during the midterms has yet to give money.

In a sign of the party’s challenges, a running joke among some donors is that the DNC stands for “Do Not Contribute,” said one Democratic strategist who advises major party donors. Months ahead of pivotal midterm elections, the Democratic fundraising apparatus has a big donor problem.

While many Democratic elites still feel bullish about taking back the House and are willing to throw big money at their favorite candidates, institutional fatigue—and in some cases, full-on drama—have set in among a number of the party’s biggest donors. Like voters, donors say they feel disillusioned with Washington and the party establishment they have long supported.

The DNC isn’t the only problem spot for Democrats—other Democratic committees and super PACs lag behind Republicans across the board. It is common for a party that is out of power in Washington to struggle, but Democrats are increasingly concerned it will hurt their chances of winning this fall as Republicans stack up significantly more money in committees and PACs that can organize door-knocking efforts and air TV ads.

Some of the problem is the lingering frustration among major donors over how their money was spent in the 2024 presidential election, when nominee Kamala Harris quickly raised more than $1 billion but still lost after a rushed process to nominate her. Others point to the painful divisions in the Democratic Party’s donor base over the war in Gaza, antisemitism in the U.S. and an insurgent group of Democratic socialists… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Defying Trump, Cornyn uses his lame-duck power (New York Times)

Not long after Senator John Cornyn lost his re-election bid to a right-wing challenger backed by President Trump, the Texas Republican predicted that the remainder of his Senate tenure might be a “pretty bumpy ride” for the president. He warned that he and other lame-duck senators had “some cards to play” and would not hesitate to use them.

This week, depending on the metaphor you prefer, Mr. Cornyn either made himself a giant senatorial pothole or laid his hand on the table. By wielding his vote on the Judiciary Committee as leverage, a newly liberated Mr. Cornyn threw Mr. Trump’s choice for attorney general, Todd Blanche, into limbo as the Senate left town for the weekend on Thursday night.

Both he and Senator Thom Tillis — the North Carolina Republican who chose not to seek re-election after Mr. Trump threatened to unseat him — said that they would not advance Mr. Blanche’s nomination unless the Justice Department agreed to narrow an immunity settlement that Mr. Trump reached with the I.R.S. to protect himself and his family. The red line that Mr. Cornyn has drawn is fairly thin. He and Mr. Tillis are not seeking to kill the deal that Mr. Blanche negotiated with Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers, which gave the president, his family and his businesses broad immunity, potentially saving them at least $100 million in penalties and drawing accusations from Democrats of self-dealing.

They are merely demanding modifications — in writing. Still, his willingness to dig in his heels against a demand by Mr. Trump at a moment when the president’s popularity is sagging and senators are increasingly frustrated with him is notable. Though Mr. Tillis has been more openly critical of Mr. Trump for months, Mr. Cornyn, a onetime contender for Senate majority leader, had long been a reliable Republican vote who rarely said a critical word about the president… 🟪 (READ MORE)