Presented By

August 4, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Austin City Council Budget Work Session Today @9AM // Agenda Link + Livestream

🟪 City departments release initial $3.9B project wish list for Austin's 2026 bond (Community Impact)

🟪 Taiwanese company appears tied to Georgetown for massive factory (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 WilCo Economic Development Partnership attracts $920M in capital investment (Community Impact)

🟪 Arrest warrants issued for Texas Democrats who fled the state to break quorum (KUT)

🟪 Pritzker says Texas Democrats who fled state will be protected amid arrest threats (The Hill)

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ Memos:

• Sixth Street Safety Plan barricade replacement (August 4, 2025)

• Initial Project Request List – 2026 Bond Development Update (July 31, 2025)

• Office of Government Relations – Federal Legislative Update (July 29, 2025)

• City Council Rules of Procedure and Agenda Posting Changes (July 18, 2025)

🏛️ The City of Austin FY 2025 - 26 Proposed Budget

• Bingham Group will be following the budget process, including the City Manager and department presentations to City Council, through its approval in August.

• » Click Here for our high-level summary of the FY2025-26 Proposed Budget. «

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

🏛️ City of Austin Org Chart (as of July 2025)

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ City departments release initial $3.9B project wish list for Austin's 2026 bond (Community Impact)

After months of consideration, city staff have released an initial list of priority projects that could be funded through Austin's anticipated 2026 bond.

City Council called to develop a new bond last year to address a broad range of civic upgrades, including climate and environmental initiatives. The resident-led Bond Election Advisory Task Force, or BEATF, has now been working for months to review different city departments' needs and public feedback, while more than 2,000 people recently participated in a community survey on potential bond projects.

A 2026 bond would be Austin's first comprehensive package across multiple spending areas since voters approved more than $900 million of new debt in 2018. Standalone mobility and housing bonds were also approved in the 2020s.

Around $1 billion from past programs had yet to be spent as of earlier this year, and the lagging or under-planned status of past initiatives in part led to the creation of the Capital Delivery Services office that's now overseeing current and future bond projects. City staff also previously stated Austin leaders should aim to hold comprehensive bond elections only every six years to allow for timely project development, spread out financial obligations and avoid voter fatigue… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Taiwanese company appears tied to Georgetown for massive factory (Austin Business Journal)

Pegatron Corp. — a Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer that works with the likes of Dell, Tesla and Apple — appears to have settled on Georgetown for a large factory.

Georgetown-based Pegatron Technologies LLC on Aug. 4 noted in a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that it intends to start work next month on a $20 million tenant finish out project at the 169,000-square-foot building 3 of the Blue Springs Business Park at 610 Blue Springs Blvd. It's set to run through March and is described as including architecture, plumbing, mechanical and electrical upgrades.

The Austin Business Journal reported about a month ago that it was looking at sites in Williamson County. The precise scope of the project is unclear, but it's possible that hundreds of jobs could be created on the heels of hundreds of millions of dollars being invested at the site… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ WilCo Economic Development Partnership attracts $920M in capital investment (Community Impact)

Since 2023, the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership team has attracted 12 companies to the county, representing a $920 million capital investment, WilCo EDP Executive Director Dave Porter said.

Over the next 10 years, the county is expected to receive $24.2 million in new tax revenue from the dozen companies. Porter shared Williamson County employment statistics, foreign partnership updates, spaceport development news and more during a July 22 presentation to Williamson County commissioners.

Among select large counties in Texas, Williamson County had the largest increase in employment from December 2023-December 2024 at 2.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to all U.S. counties, Williamson County ranked in the top 10% for job growth by percent change during that same time frame, per the bureau.

Additionally, Williamson County’s 3.4% unemployment rate is under the national rate of 4.2%, according to an Aug. 1 news release from the bureau… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Austin to install concrete barriers on Sixth Street (KXAN)

An August 1 memo from Austin Public Works Director Richard Mendoza says that the city will move forward with its plan to install permanent barriers between the sidewalk and roadway along Sixth Street.

Concrete barriers will be installed next week, according to the memo. They will replace the temporary plastic barriers.

The concrete barriers will initially be gray, but the memo says that drab aesthetic will be temporary… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Arrest warrants issued for Texas Democrats who fled the state to break quorum (KUT)

Dozens of Texas Democrats are being threatened with daily fines, felony fraud charges and arrest for leaving the state to block redistricting.

On Monday afternoon, only six of the 62 Democrats in the Texas House showed up for work. In doing so, they denied the GOP-dominated chamber the minimum necessary attendance needed to convene.

Called a “quorum break,” it’s one of the few tactics the minority political party has to bring work in this wing of the Capitol to a halt. Without enough people, the House will have to pause its work until the two-third quorum is reached.

Now, the absent Democrats face a slew of potential penalties.

The most immediate threat is arrest. After the House gaveled in Monday afternoon, only to be caught without a quorum, it voted to issue civil arrest warrants for the missing Democrats. State troopers will be dispatched to bring in those members who are still in Texas, a move common after quorum breaks.

In a statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton supported the arrests.

“I am prepared to do everything in my power to hold them accountable because these liberal lawmakers are not above the law. It’s imperative that they be swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law for turning their backs on the people of Texas,” he said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Pritzker says Texas Democrats who fled state will be protected amid arrest threats (The Hill)

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said on Sunday that the state would protect Texas Democrats who fled to the Prairie State over GOP efforts to redraw the Lone Star State’s congressional maps. “They’re here in Illinois. We’re going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them and make sure that — ’cause we know they’re doing the right thing, we know that they’re following the law,” Pritzker told reporters at a press conference Sunday night held alongside the Texas state lawmakers. “It’s Ken Paxton who doesn’t follow the law. It’s the leaders of Texas who are attempting not to follow the law,” he continued. “They’re the ones that need to be held accountable.”

The Illinois governor’s comments came after Texas Democrats left their state to deny their GOP counterparts a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct business, during their special session. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called the special session in part to push forward a new congressional map that would give Republicans five more pick-up opportunities, something President Trump has been pushing for as the GOP braces for a potentially challenging midterm election next year. A Texas House panel on Saturday advanced the set of maps, teeing them up for a vote on the House floor.

Because Republicans enjoy majorities in both chambers and hold the governor’s mansion, the maps are all but assured to pass. In a bid to stop those maps from passing, Texas Democrats fled the state, mainly traveling to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — all blue strongholds. Breaking quorum, however, means that each lawmaker incurs a daily penalty of $500 and the possibility of being arrested. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a post on X earlier Sunday argued that “Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.” Texas Democrats’ decision to leave the state — following a similar tactic they took in 2003 when Republicans engaged in mid-cycle redistricting — underscores how the party is looking to use all tools at their disposal to thwart Republicans from changing their election maps… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tricked-out trucks and office upgrades: Abbott's Operation Lone Star was a bonanza for Texas cities (San Antonio Express-News)

Maverick County Attorney Jaime Iracheta works in a freshly refurbished, wood-paneled office with a matching desk and leather couch set. He holds meetings in a video-equipped conference room and drives to work in a heavy-duty Chevy Silverado 4X4 pickup with a premium trim and towing package. It cost $83,000, and it’s one of six pickups the office owns.

That doesn’t include the two Polaris Ranger Crew all-terrain vehicles purchased in December for $25,000 apiece. One of them is a Texas Edition “offering enhanced capability along with exclusive Texas Edition badging and premium paint,” procurement records show. Texas taxpayers paid for all of this — and more — through Operation Lone Star, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s much-touted border security initiative. Lone Star is best-known for the thousands of state troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers Abbott has deployed to patrol the border, string razor wire and detain undocumented immigrants.

With less fanfare, the state also has doled out more than $100 million since 2021 to counties and cities to cover border enforcement costs. The grants were supposed to pay for more police officers and sheriff’s deputies, added jail capacity and the cost of prosecuting migrants on state trespassing charges. Much of the grant money has been spent for those purposes. But over the last four years, millions of dollars have gone to fund routine government operations and other expenses that in some cases were unrelated to border security, an investigation by the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle found.

Reporters interviewed officeholders and law enforcement officials and reviewed records on more than 4,600 Operation Lone Star grants approved from September 2021 through January of this year. The governor's office authorized about $177 million in grants during that period and paid out about $113 million. The records were obtained through the state’s Public Information Act. Some were redacted, and in many cases explanations for spending were vague, making it impossible to determine how all the money was spent… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump fired America’s economic data collector. History shows the perils. (New York Times)

When President Trump didn’t like the weak jobs numbers that were released on Friday, he fired the person responsible for producing them. It was a move with few precedents in the century-long history of economic statistics in the United States. And for good reason: When political leaders meddle in government data, it rarely ends well. There is the case of Greece, where the government faked deficit numbers for years, contributing to a debilitating debt crisis that required multiple rounds of bailouts.

The country then criminally prosecuted the head of the statistical agency when he insisted on reporting the true figures, further eroding the country’s international standing. There is the case of China, where earlier this century the local authorities manipulated data to hit growth targets mandated by Beijing, forcing analysts and policymakers to turn to alternative measures to gauge the state of the country’s economy.

Perhaps most famously, there is the case of Argentina, which in the 2000s and 2010s systematically understated inflation figures to such a degree that the international community eventually stopped relying on the government’s data. That loss of faith drove up the country’s borrowing costs, worsening a debt crisis that ultimately led to it defaulting on its international obligations. It is too soon to know whether the United States is on a similar path. But economists and other experts said that Mr. Trump’s decision on Friday to fire Erika McEntarfer, the Senate-confirmed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was a troubling step in that direction. Janet L. Yellen, the former Treasury secretary and chair of the Federal Reserve, said the firing was not what is expected from the most advanced economy in the world. “This is the kind of thing you would only expect to see in a banana republic,” Ms. Yellen said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is officially part of the Labor Department, whose secretary is a member of the president’s cabinet. But the agency operates independently, producing detailed, nonpartisan data on employment, prices, wages and other topics. Economists say that reliable, independently produced statistics are critical to good decision making in both the public and private sector. Officials at the Federal Reserve rely on government-collected data on inflation and unemployment to decide how to set interest rates, which affect how much Americans must pay to get a mortgage or a car loan.

“Good data helps not just the Fed, it helps the government, but it also helps the private sector,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said at a recent news conference. “The United States has been a leader in that for 100 years,” he added, “and we really need to continue that in my view.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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