BG Reads // December 24, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
December 24, 2025

faustin a

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www.binghamgp.com

December 24, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Hutto votes to expedite permit review for some projects (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 50+ organizations sign letter asking Austin council for protected bike lanes on 6th Street (KXAN)

🟪 “Construction can’t continue”: South Texas homebuilders say ICE arrests have upended industry (Texas Tribune))

🟪 Texas comptroller GOP primary attracts big money from donors with business before the agency (Texas Tribune)

🟪 ERCOT says power grid is prepared for winter (Dallas Morning News)

 🟪 Trump administration abruptly recalls over two dozen career ambassadors (Washington Post)

🟪 US cities gird for World Cup rush hour (Politico)

🟪 Car payments now average more than $750 a month. Enter the 100-month car loan. (Wall Street Journal)

READ ON!

[FIRM NEWS]

Honored to share that I’ve been appointed to the Austin Chamber of Commerce 2026 Board of Directors, where I’ll serve as Co-Chair of Regional Policy and on the Executive Committee.

Central Texas is at a pivotal moment. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to conversations around workforce development, infrastructure investment, and long-term regional competitiveness, alongside business and civic leaders committed to the region’s future.

Looking forward to the work ahead and to supporting a strong, resilient Central Texas economy.

📷: W/ Denise Davis (of Davis Kaufman PLLC) 2026 Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Board Chair.

READ: Austin Chamber Confirms 2026 Board Chair, Chair Elect, and Board
Leadership -> http://bit.ly/4ji2maU

Learn more about Bingham Group’s new practice — and review all of our services here: binghamgp.com/services

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

CMO Executives and Advisors_July 2025.pdf519.20 KB • PDF File

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Hutto votes to expedite permit review for some projects (Austin Business Journal)

One of the country's fastest-growing cities has taken steps to fast-track what it calls "economically impactful development" through permitting review.

The Hutto City Council on Dec. 18 adopted a resolution that creates a policy to prioritize industrial and commercial projects by reducing their review period on all permits to 10 business days. It does not impact single-family and multifamily residential developments, which will continue to follow state standard review timelines of 30 business days.

The 10-day promise is extended for all types of permits.

The resolution, which goes into effect Jan. 1, came from a November meeting of the Hutto Economic Development Corp., where the board of directors unanimously approved sending a letter to the City Council requesting the adoption of the policy.

In the letter, the board wrote that speeding up the permitting review process would improve the city's competitiveness in attracting new employers and capital investment, support faster delivery of job-creating projects and commercial tax base expansion, and enhance the city's overall responsiveness to the business community and development partners… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ 50+ organizations sign letter asking Austin council for protected bike lanes on 6th Street (KXAN)

As the city of Austin works on its Sixth Street Mobility and Revitalization Project, dozens of businesses and organizations are asking city leaders to prioritize adding protected bike lanes to the corridor.

Safe Streets Austin, a nonprofit that advocates for safer and more accessible streets, bikeways, and trails in Austin, signed a joint letter with more than 50 businesses urging Austin City Council to implement protected bike lanes on Sixth Street between I-35 and Congress Avenue as part of the revitalization project.

“We write as a broad coalition of over fifty businesses and organizations to express our strong support for protected bicycle lanes on Sixth Street between I-35 and Congress Avenue as part of the Sixth Street Mobility and Revitalization Project,” the letter said. “We urge you to implement this critical safety infrastructure without delay.”

“There can be no substitute for protected bike lanes on Sixth Street. Sixth is both a unique connector — flatter than streets to the north and the only continuous westbound route from I-35 to MoPac — and a major destination for Austinites and visitors alike, which people should be able to access safely, no matter how they get around. But without protected bicycle lanes, Sixth remains unsafe for people biking and rolling, undermining both safety and the street’s vitality.”… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ “Construction can’t continue”: South Texas homebuilders say ICE arrests have upended industry (Texas Tribune)

With fewer construction workers available to build homes, delays in building could result in a shortage of homes and cause home prices to rise.

It would not be the first time that changes in immigration policy could be at least a partial factor in housing unaffordability.

Researchers found that under an Obama-era immigration enforcement program, deportations led to a shortage of labor in the construction sector and, therefore, fewer new homes.

The program, called Secure Communities, was launched during the George W. Bush administration but was expanded under former President Barack Obama, leading to more than 300,000 deportations from 2008 to 2013.

Nationwide, there was a 2% to 3% decrease in labor in the construction industry and a 5.7% decrease in new constructions during that time. The new constructions that were getting built went up in price by 4.4%, according to Dayin Zhang, one of the researchers and an assistant professor at the Wisconsin School of Business.

“It is difficult to forecast the future, as many economic conditions have changed over the past two decades,” Zhang said. “However, given the current pace of deportations, it is reasonable to expect that shortages in construction labor and housing will become more severe than the period of Secure Communities.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas comptroller GOP primary attracts big money from donors with business before the agency (Texas Tribune)

The GOP primary for Texas comptroller of public accounts is shaping up to be an expensive one, with candidates hauling in millions in contributions from donors whose businesses will be affected by the decisions of the state’s next chief financial officer.

The three candidates in the race had collectively raised nearly $10 million as of early September, even as two of the contenders were under a fundraising moratorium for the first half of the year, while the Legislature was in session. Former state Sen. Don Huffines leads the pack, followed by Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick and Interim Comptroller Kelly Hancock. In comparison, former comptroller Glenn Hegar and his primary opponents had raised a combined $674,000 around at the same point in the 2014 cycle, the last time the office was open.

Experts say the cash influx in part reflects the authority the office has over a wide range of business sectors. For instance, the comptroller is in charge of collecting dozens of taxes in the state, developing statewide contracts for goods, overseeing the state’s corporate tax incentives program and managing $50 billion worth of assets — all on top of shepherding the state budget and calculating revenue estimates for state lawmakers, who write a new budget every two years… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ ERCOT says power grid is prepared for winter (Dallas Morning News)

The weather outside is far from frightful this Christmas week, but winter still carries echoes Texans haven’t forgotten. Nearly five years after a devastating, nearly weeklong freeze, grid officials say the chances of blackouts this season are low, though not eliminated. ERCOT, the state’s power grid operator, has projected about a 1% chance of ordering rolling blackouts in January and February, a last-resort move to keep the system from failing when demand overwhelms supply.

The outlook is improved from recent winters, though a 2021-style freeze would again push outage risks sharply higher. That’s when an extreme winter storm blanketed the state in snow and ice for days. It overwhelmed power plants, fuel supplies and equipment, forcing grid managers to cut electricity to prevent a grid collapse. Millions of Texans lost power, many for days. More than 200 deaths were later linked to the prolonged cold and loss of heat. Billions of dollars in economic damage were reported statewide.

After years of reforms and investment, ERCOT says the grid is better positioned, even as it forecasts a colder winter than the last four years but warmer than average overall. Independent analysts largely agree. “Looking at the numbers that ERCOT put out, it looks pretty good,” said Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist for the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin. “But there’s always a chance that something goes awry.” The Christmas Day outlook offers little hint of that. Thursday in Dallas is expected to be near-record mild, with highs in the upper 70s. Still, uncertainty remains over the coming months, with volatility in polar weather patterns making winter conditions harder to gauge, according to a Dec. 9 ERCOT report. Officials cited recent instability in the Polar Vortex, an Arctic stream of cold air that can push south when it weakens.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said at a recent ERCOT board meeting that while renewable energy generation — mainly solar power — has grown rapidly in recent years, its unavailability during the hours of highest winter demand creates a vulnerability. “Winter still represents the higher risk period in the ERCOT market, because fewer of these resources that are being added are available during the winter peak periods, which tend to be in the mornings, before the sun rises, or in the early evenings, right after it sets,” Vegas said. The rise in battery capacity over the last two years is perhaps the most significant factor affecting grid stability. The storage capacity of large-scale batteries has nearly quadrupled since December 2023, and recently overtook coal power... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump administration abruptly recalls over two dozen career ambassadors (Washington Post)

The Trump administration has recalled more than two dozen career diplomats from ambassador positions and other senior posts around the world as it works to enforce adherence with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, current and former U.S. officials said. The directive has infuriated State Department personnel who say it will leave key embassies without critical leadership and may effectively end the careers of many ambassadors who will have only 90 days to find new jobs in the department, a tall order during a moment of limited high-level positions.

“To remove these senior diplomats without cause or justification sends a dangerous message,” the American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents U.S. diplomats, said in a statement. “It tells our public servants that loyalty to country is no longer enough — that experience and oath to the Constitution take a back seat to political loyalty.”

A senior State Department official said, “This is a standard process in any administration. An ambassador is a personal representative of the president, and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the ‘America First’ agenda.” Beginning last week, a targeted group of ambassadors in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe received phone calls from Washington directing them to vacate their posts by mid-January, said officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel decisions. The communication offered no explanation for the recall and included at least two dozen career diplomats who had served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, these people said.

All of the recalled ambassadors received their latest promotion under President Joe Biden. Career diplomats serve at the pleasure of the president, but they are usually allowed to complete their assignments of three to four years regardless of a change in the presidency. That differs from politically appointed diplomats, such as donors or friends of presidents, who are usually recalled immediately when a new president takes office. The Trump administration’s recall will have diplomats uprooting their lives much faster than many had expected. And when these ambassadors finish their assignments, they have just 90 days to find a new position or they must retire… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ US cities gird for World Cup rush hour (Politico)

American cities are scrambling to build bus systems from scratch, overhaul rail lines and ensure trains don’t catch fire as they prepare to welcome soccer fans to next summer’s World Cup. The tournament, which spreads matches across 16 North American cities in three countries, will be a test of U.S. mass transit — from robust to barely existent — as transportation agencies still struggling to recover from pandemic-era changes are forced to gear up for the global games. Nowhere is what transit planners call the “crush load” likely to be as much of a challenge as the 450-mile stretch shared by local commuter railroads and Amtrak. That stretch owns the tracks connecting three Atlantic Seaboard cities hosting 21 of the matches.

“If there’s a linchpin that will determine the success or failure of the event, it is the functionality of the Northeast Corridor and Amtrak’s willingness and preparation to handle challenges,” said Kris Kolluri, the head of New Jersey Transit, which will rely on Amtrak’s system to run trains to eight games, including the final. “Failure to do that could be catastrophic.” Even as the White House takes a central role in World Cup planning, the federal government does not appear likely to assist transit operators struggling with preparations. Any new funding is paused at this time, and Congress does not expect to be moving shortly. Millions of visitors who arrive in the United States for the 39-day tournament hoping to travel carelessly across the country will encounter the full gamut of public transit.

“I think this is a great opportunity for America to show the rest of the world that we do have trains,” said Roger Harris, president of government-backed Amtrak. Visitors can take Amtrak passenger trains from some of the American cities hosting World Cup matches to the two in Canada. But travelers can’t take Amtrak anywhere in Mexico, including the three cities that will have matches. Harris is not yet sure how many more passengers to expect across Amtrak’s vast system: There will be World Cup fans flocking there, but also normal commuters who may tend to stay home, so it could end up being a wash. The New York region, which will host the World Cup final, has the country’s largest and most impressive set of interlocking transit networks. But it’s also balkanized and byzantine… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Car payments now average more than $750 a month. Enter the 100-month car loan. (Wall Street Journal)

The price of new cars and trucks in the U.S. has increased 33% since 2020, and consumers are piling on interest as they stretch out loan terms to eight, nine and nearly 10 years. David Kelleher, who runs a Dodge and Jeep dealership in Glen Mills, Pa., 27 miles west of Philadelphia, said many American families can’t comfortably take on a new-car payment these days. “We don’t have $300 monthly payments any longer in new vehicles,” he said. “It’s a thing of the past.”

The average price of a new car broke the $50,000 barrier this fall, according to Kelley Blue Book. That is up from less than $38,000 in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. As sticker prices marched higher, so did monthly payments. For a few years, car shoppers were undeterred. Many needed new vehicles after putting off buying during Covid when supply chains were upended and dealer lots were empty. Others, feeling flush, opted for luxury vehicles at much higher price points.

Fast forward to November of this year and the average monthly payment for a new car was estimated to be $760, according to J.D. Power, an industry-research firm. The hefty cumulative inflation is starting to weigh on consumers, and now some Americans are falling behind on their car payments. The struggle to keep monthly payments in check is so tough that the typical 48- to 60-month car-loan term has given way to 72-month terms, and longer, industry officials say. In the third quarter, a third of all buyers took out loans that stretched at least six years, or 72 months, according to Experian data. A year ago, 29% of buyers did so.

The volume of loans with 85 to 96 months to repay, or up to eight years, rose as well to 1.61% of car buyers through October. Some loans now reach 100 months, or more than eight years, especially for the purchase of larger pickups, Experian data show. One problem is that automakers aren’t making models with a sticker price under $30,000, which, in theory, should present a real opportunity for the car companies, said Heath Byrd, chief financial officer of Sonic Automotive, a publicly traded dealership chain. He recently told investors and analysts that until buyers have better options, affordability will become an even bigger problem... 🟪 (READ MORE)

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