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🟪 Apollo Global Management confirms plans for HQ2 in Austin (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 ‘Too important to spook’: Inside the fight over Tesla’s Travis County tax breaks (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Austin City Council hires firm for efficiency review (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Another big data center campus planned for Taylor (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Data center approvals in Texas halted until audits completed, Gov. Greg Abbott says (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Ken Paxton is acting like he thinks he could lose (Texas Monthly)

🟪 Kansas’ data center boom is shaking up the governor’s race (Politico)

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:

✅ Apollo Global Management confirms plans for HQ2 in Austin (Austin Business Journal)

Private capital firm Apollo Global Management has confirmed it's heading to downtown Austin, and there are indications its workforce here will be in the hundreds if not thousands.

The New York-based financial giant on Aug. 3 announced the move, weeks after the Financial Times reported that the company chose Austin for the HQ2 over two Florida locations. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office issued an announcement calling Apollo's new Austin location a "strategic hub."

Absent from the announcement was a location. But Apollo has tapped brokers from Newmark Group Inc. to lead its search, several sources told the Austin Business Journal. Apollo (NYSE: APO) is said to be looking downtown, and at least initially was looking for 250,000 square feet of office space.

A representative for Apollo on Aug. 3 said the company aims to finalize a long-term location in downtown Austin "in the next few months." In the meantime, Apollo has already set up an initial short-term office at the 300 Colorado tower. The representative also added that future growth for the company will be in Austin but will not materially impact New York operations… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ ‘Too important to spook’: Inside the fight over Tesla’s Travis County tax breaks (Austin American-Statesman)

To win the latest installment of its Travis County tax breaks, Tesla Inc. had to address a grave loss.

The issue stretched back to a hot day in 2021, when a worker died at the site of Gigafactory Texas, the company’s sprawling plant and headquarters then under construction east of downtown.

In the years since it happened, Tesla has insisted the heat-related death of contractor Antelmo Ramirez was due to a pre-existing medical condition. It did so again this year, in a report Tesla’s general counsel for tax incentives provided to a county commissioner ahead of a review and vote on tax breaks for developing the project. 

As the company was making its case about the contributions it’s made to the county’s economy, though, it also had to live up to other standards and the matter of Ramirez’s death, and Tesla’s safety record came to haunt the company. 

Ahead of the April vote, safety became a sticking point as commissioners considered the company’s tax rebates ahead of a vote that resulted in the county withholding 9% of Tesla’s scheduled rebates for 2020, 2021 and 2022. At the time, the dollar amount was unknown. 

Ultimately, Travis County withheld $854,127 over Tesla’s failure to comply with some elements of the deal it reached back in 2020. 

It marked the first time commissioners had so publicly questioned the company’s performance.

Now, documents obtained from the planning and budget office shed light on how the county used the formula it reached then to determine how the tax breaks would be awarded after this year’s review… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin City Council hires firm for efficiency review (Austin American-Statesman)

Austin City Council voted unanimously Thursday to hire Public Works LLC to conduct an independent efficiency review of all city departments, advancing an audit that has become entangled with a competing ballot proposal and questions about the firm’s standing in Texas. Mayor Kirk Watson said the vote completed months of work to establish the council-initiated review, which will be conducted by the outside firm in coordination with the city auditor.

“It insists on something that I believe was essential from the very beginning and this council has endorsed and pushed forward:?independent judgment,” Watson said. “We're bringing in professionals because we want professional analysis, not political analysis.”

City staff said Public Works was selected from 25 competing bids for the firm's understanding of the assessment’s needs and Austin’s unique challenges. The firm has also conducted efficiency assessments for local governments across the country, including the city of Chicago, Baltimore County, Broward County, Travis County, six state governments and two U.S. territories.

Save Austin Now, a political action committee led by former Travis County Republican Party Chair Matt Mackowiak, has criticized the selection of Public Works while promoting its own proposed charter amendment requiring regular audits of city government. The measure is expected to go before Austin voters in November. The PAC said earlier this month that Public Works’ right to do business in Texas was revoked in 2024 after the company failed to pay state taxes. City spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo said at the time that the company had previously been registered in the Texas but intentionally allowed its registration to lapse because it had no active projects in the state and owed no Texas taxes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Another big data center campus planned for Taylor (Austin Business Journal)

A massive data center campus is being eyed for Taylor, about eight miles east of the growing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. chipmaking grounds.

What's being called "Project Mustang" is looking at 665 acres at 3301 Farm to Market Road 112, just east of the city's limits, according to an Aug. 2 public notice and information shared on social media by the city of Taylor on Aug. 3.

It is described in the notice as a "closed campus for data center buildings, substations, gas infrastructure for power generation and auxiliary buildings." City officials added the project "includes data center facilities that would house computer servers and on-site power generation equipment to meet the facility’s electricity needs."

City officials said in their posts that the project, as it stands, can move forward without city regulations because it's located outside of city jurisdiction and would be built under county and state regulations. The city has met with the developer in executive session five times since January and negotiated a development agreement for the project to be annexed.

That would impose more stringent requirements on factors like emissions and air quality, noise and light pollution, water consumption and a closed-loop system for water use, wastewater treatment, on-site power generation, a buffer to adjacent properties and more, according to the city… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tesla wanted millions in tax breaks. Travis County found problems. (San Antonio Express-News)

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)

✅ Data center approvals in Texas halted until audits completed, Gov. Greg Abbott says (Texas Tribune)

Amid growing public backlash to the rapid buildout of data centers across Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced a moratorium on the approval of data centers until regulatory agencies can audit proposed data centers seeking connection to the state’s electric grid. 

It is unclear how long the audit will take, but the effort is Abbott’s strongest effort yet to slow the development of these data centers statewide and underscores how little information members of the public, including state leaders, know about the facilities. 

Abbott is asking the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data center developers provide information on tax breaks they will receive; power use and generation; water use and cooling operations; efforts to reduce impacts on local communities; and ownership of the facility. Any projects that fail Abbott’s ordered “comprehensive verification and audit” should be denied connection to the grid, the governor said.

“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott wrote in a statement. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Ken Paxton is acting like he thinks he could lose (Texas Monthly)

Ken Paxton was feeling good. The day after securing Donald Trump’s endorsement in his primary race against John Cornyn, the soon-to-be-crowned U.S. Senate nominee was onstage at a Katy barbecue joint, riffing like a crowd-work comedian and surveying staffers on potential nicknames for the Democratic nominee, James Talarico. “Six-Gender Jimmy,” one campaign worker suggested. “Low-T Talarico,” chimed another. Paxton liked them all, but had his own: “Tofu Talarico,” he said with a grin. The crowd erupted in laughter and applause. On a television nearby, Fox News played a clip of President Donald Trump speaking to reporters. “TRUMP: TEXANS WON’T ELECT A VEGAN,” read the chyron. This, it seemed, was to be the central focus of Paxton’s campaign: the idea that Talarico, a former schoolteacher and Texas House member, was simply too much of a wimp to ever be elected in Texas.

The strategy doesn’t seem to be working. Recent headlines about allegations that Paxton committed voter fraud, photos of him gallivanting in Europe with his girlfriend, and scrutiny of his expanding luxury real estate portfolio have largely overshadowed his attempts to frame Talarico and the race as he’d like. With three months until the November midterms, Talarico has a massive fundraising edge. And poll after poll shows that the race is somewhere between a toss-up and one that favors Talarico—on Thursday a stunning Fox News poll showed the Democrat leading by three points. Voters are angry with Trump. They’re furious about gas prices, the economy, and the war with Iran. Not coincidentally, while Paxton has focused on hammering his opponent on culture-war issues, Talarico has made economic inequality a staple of his campaign.

Now, after months of meager campaigning, Paxton is pivoting. On Friday—weeks after agreeing to at least one debate with Talarico—Paxton announced a four-city “Protecting the Texas Promise” tour to promote his newly unveiled economic plan. Among the planks, according to The Texas Tribune: a $50,000 tax deduction for first-time homebuyers; a $5,000 deduction to “stimulate healthy lifestyle choices,” including paying for nutrition plans and GLP-1 medications to aid in weight loss; an expansion of so-called Trump accounts, which invest federal money into savings accounts for all American children; and a doubling of the child tax credit. “Washington is making it harder than ever to get ahead,” Paxton says in a new ad, also released on Friday… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Kansas’ data center boom is shaking up the governor’s race (Politico)

The fight over data centers has suddenly become a defining battle in the race to run Kansas — on both sides of the aisle. Gubernatorial hopefuls are trying to leverage the issue to weaken their rivals in the final stretch before Tuesday’s primaries, with attack ads, dark money and accusations of flip-flopping roiling the race. Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher and GOP state Sen. Ty Masterson, two of the top contenders in their respective fields, are bearing the brunt of the criticism. Republican businessman Philip Sarnecki has spent more than $300,000 on ads attacking Masterson for voting for a bill last year to expand data center construction and give 20-year tax breaks to developers, accusing him of being beholden to big tech.

On the Democratic side, Holscher voted for the same bill but has now staked out a populist stance calling for a moratorium on data centers — an appeal to the same grassroots base that has put her in a strong position to win. Her primary opponents are attacking her as a flip-flopper, and social media ads fueled by anonymous backers keep highlighting her past vote in support of data centers. She’s up against state Sen. Ethan Corson, whom Gov. Laura Kelly endorsed, and Overland Park Mayor Kurt Skoog. The brawl shows just how divisive and complicated the politics of data centers has become, as politicians in both parties struggle to define a clear winning position on the mass hubs amid growing voter backlash.

A July POLITICO Poll found that Americans are increasingly souring on data centers, a trend that’s especially evident among Democrats but crosses partisan lines. Republican and Democratic candidates are harnessing that opposition to gain an edge in crowded primaries, a rare moment of partisan crossover that speaks to its potency… 🟪 (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)