🟪 Austin seeks public input on $700M bond proposal for key projects (KVUE)

🟪 Growth continues around Q2 Stadium as fans kick off first home game of the season (KXAN)

🟪 Midway files suit against Hutto officials, seeks $300M in damages (Community Impact)

🟪 Lincoln Property exec jumps back to help lead Stream (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Texans shouldn’t expect Supreme Court ruling against tariffs to bring prices down soon, economists say (Texas Tribune)

🟪 TSA says PreCheck still operational after previous announcement of suspension (NPR)

🟪 Poll: Most say the state of the union is not strong and the U.S. is worse off (NPR)

🟪 Mexico fears more violence after army kills leader of powerful Jalisco cartel (Associated Press)

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Memos:

Meetings:

✅ Austin seeks public input on $700M bond proposal for key projects (KVUE)

The city of Austin is asking for community input as it works to shape a proposed $700 million bond package that could appear on the November ballot.

City leaders hosted an open house on Saturday at the Northwest Recreation Center, giving residents a chance to learn more about the proposal and share their priorities.

Earlier rounds of public feedback helped narrow the focus to five key areas: transportation, public safety, parks and recreation, watershed protection and community facilities.

If approved in its current form, city officials estimate the average homeowner would pay about $14 more per year in property taxes.

The proposal comes months after Austin voters rejected a property tax increase known as Proposition Q in November. City officials say this bond package differs from that measure.

“There's a pretty distinct difference between Prop Q and what we're doing here as a bond,” said Eric Bailey, deputy director of Capital Delivery Services for the city of Austin. “Prop Q was really related to the operating expenses of the city. This is for capital improvement projects – things that are affecting roads and sidewalks and city facilities.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Growth continues around Q2 Stadium as fans kick off first home game of the season (KXAN)

All eyes are on Q2 Stadium as fans prepare to pack the stands for the first home game of the season.

But while the action on the field is just getting started, the transformation off the field has been years in the making.

Since the stadium opened in 2021, the surrounding area has continued to grow and evolve — including new development plans and infrastructure improvements.

Mark Harris, owner of Turnstile Coffee, Beer and Spirits, says the game-day atmosphere brings welcome traffic to local businesses.

Just this month, Austin City Council members approved the rezoning of nearly seven acres near the stadium within the North Burnet and Gateway zone… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Midway files suit against Hutto officials, seeks $300M in damages (Community Impact)

Houston-based development company Midway filed a petition Feb. 18 against the Hutto Economic Development Corporation, Hutto Mayor Mike Snyder, real estate development firm Terra Halona and its co-managing partner Joel Scott, seeking $250 million in exemplary damages and $50 million in compensatory damages.

The lawsuit—filed with Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess—comes more than four months after the Hutto EDC announced it had ended negotiations with Midway to serve as the master developer for the Cottonwood Properties in Hutto.

Midway was first selected as the developer for the 250-acre site in December 2023, with the goal of building a mixed-use site including retail, grocery, restaurant and entertainment options. In March 2024, Midway and HEDC agreed to a memorandum of understanding, which was approved by Hutto City Council in April of that year… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Lincoln Property exec jumps back to help lead Stream (Austin Business Journal)

Dallas-based Stream Realty Partners is bringing a former partner back to help lead its Austin office after a decade away.

Derek Lewis will serve as managing director with a focus on Central Texas’ office and industrial sectors, according to an announcement. It is a new position in the office.

Lewis was most recently a senior vice president at Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co., which is responsible for the downtown Austin high-rises Sixth and Guadalupe, The Republic and Waterline. But prior to that he worked at Stream from 2008 to 2016. In his new role, Lewis will have his hands full overseeing operations for two market sectors, office and industrial commercial real estate, which have been experiencing elevated vacancy rates after years of rapid development introduced millions of square feet of new real estate to the metro… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texans shouldn’t expect Supreme Court ruling against tariffs to bring prices down soon, economists say (Texas Tribune)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods, but experts said Texans should not expect prices to drop in the short term as questions around the nation’s trade policy remain unanswered.

The court’s ruling does not apply to some tariffs on goods like aluminum, steel and furniture. And Trump promised shortly after the ruling that his administration would use other laws to reimpose many of the tariffs that the Supreme Court deemed illegal, injecting a new round of uncertainty into international trade.

The ruling applies to roughly $175 billion in import taxes that have been collected over the past year, and Texans should expect to see some relief from rising prices, economists said…. 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Decline in international students at UNT leads to $45 million budget shortfall, likely cuts (Texas Tribune)

The University of North Texas is weighing program consolidations, higher teaching loads and a voluntary separation program for faculty as it confronts a projected $45 million budget deficit.

President Harrison Keller told the Denton campus this week that the gap had grown from $31.2 million from last August, driven by a sharper-than-expected drop in international graduate student enrollment and reduced state funding tied to enrollment.

“The principal concern is that this is a structural deficit. This isn’t a temporary deficit, so we need to get in front of it,” Keller said in an interview Friday with The Texas Tribune… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Meta launches Texas campaign to get AI-friendly Republicans elected (Houston Chronicle)

A Super PAC backed by a $45 million investment from the California tech giant Meta launched an ad campaign in Texas this week to boost state Republicans viewed by the company as friendly to the development of artificial intelligence. On Friday, the Forge the Future Super PAC launched its first round of digital ads that support Kelly Hancock, who is locked in heated GOP primary battle for Texas Comptroller, two candidates for state Senate and one North Texas state representative.

The ads don't make mention of AI or the data centers that drive the technology, and instead focus on the candidates' efforts to keep taxes low and improve education. Brian Baker, a GOP strategist leading the effort, said in a statement the Super PAC will support "a select group of pro-innovation Republican candidates" for the state Legislature and state offices like governor and attorney general.

"Our focus is on elevating Republican leaders who have demonstrated a strong commitment to championing America’s tech future and maintaining our global competitive edge," he said. Hancock and the other candidates, who include state Rep. Trent Ashby, a Lufkin Republican running for an East Texas state Senate seat, and Brett Ligon, who is vying to replace Galveston state Sen. Mayes Middleton, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The campaign, which is also active in California and Illinois, comes amid a flurry of efforts in Texas to put guardrails around AI technology and the affiliated data centers that require huge amounts of water and energy to operate.

Last year, state Sens. Angela Paxton and Tan Parker, both Republicans, spearheaded a bill that for the first time established a regulatory framework for AI in Texas, including provisions prohibiting the misuse of biometric data and AI technology that discriminates against a particular group of people or encourages suicide and self-harm. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is pushing regulation to stop the development of data centers on prime farm land by encouraging tech companies, through tax breaks and other incentives, to insteadbuild them on less productive acreage… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ TSA says PreCheck still operational after previous announcement of suspension (NPR)

The Transportation Security Administration said Sunday that its PreCheck program would remain operational despite an earlier announcement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the airport security service was being suspended during the partial government shutdown.

"As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly," the agency said.

It was not immediately clear whether Global Entry, another airport service, would be affected. PreCheck and Global Entry are designed to help speed registered travelers through security lines, and suspensions would likely cause headaches and delays. 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tariff ruling sends CEOs back to company war rooms (Wall Street Journal)

For a few minutes after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s signature tariffs Friday, Ethan Allen Chief Executive Farooq Kathwari felt a jolt of relief. Then a jumble of emails from colleagues began pouring in. “This is good news for us,” a leader in the furniture maker’s Mexico operations wrote. It’s too early to know what this means, the head of merchandising emailed minutes later.

The executive followed up soon after: With no guidance from the court on refunds, she said, “businesses must continue to pay.” Now that the Supreme Court has resolved one question about the Trump tariffs, it has left U.S. business leaders awash in a flood of others: Are tariff refunds any closer to reality? Will the possibility of new tariffs under a different legal authority prove costlier? And how to proceed without ruffling the Trump administration—which has staked its economic agenda on tariffs—or customers seeking price breaks?

Many company bosses say they are now spending the weekend digesting legal briefs and the president’s response to game out what comes next. Since the ruling, Trump has announced a new global tariff of 15% under a different legal authority, arguing the levies are necessary to address large trade and balance-of-payments deficits. “We’ll try to understand it much better,” Kathwari said of the days ahead. “It’s a bit complicated.” Mark Mintman, chief financial officer for Kids2, an Atlanta-based manufacturer of baby products and toys, learned of the ruling on vacation in Florida from a string of text messages. Since he was away, he entered the 170-page ruling into ChatGPT for a quick summary, he said.

“My emotional response is muted,” said Mintman, given all of the uncertainty and potential additional tariffs. “I’ll take this as a tiny win.” Kids2 sold around half of its potential refund value, which it estimates is around $15 million, to a hedge fund to recoup some of the cost. The fund will also help with any legal action needed to pursue a refund. The uncertainty around refunds “is a big reason we made the agreement,” he said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ What happens to billions in tariff money already paid? Supreme Court leaves refunds unsettled. (Politco)

In striking down a large chunk of President Donald Trump’s tariffs Friday, the Supreme Court set up a new legal battle over the $130 billion-plus the government has collected from those duties. The justices, in their 6-3 ruling, did not order the Trump administration to provide refunds to importers for the tariffs already paid, or spell out how repayment should work. That likely leaves the U.S. Court of International Trade responsible for sorting out a thicket of legal issues related to possible repayments; under customs law, tariff refund claims are typically handled through that trade-focused, New York-based court and processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The president himself lamented the court’s omission in a press conference Friday afternoon. “They take months and months to write an opinion and they don’t even discuss that point,” he told reporters at the White House.

“Wouldn’t you think they would have put one sentence in there saying that, ‘keep the money’ or ‘don’t keep the money,’ right? I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years.” In a dissenting opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh warned the refund process will be a “mess” — echoing Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s description during oral arguments. Barrett, nonetheless, joined the majority ruling against Trump’s duties. “The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers,” Kavanaugh wrote, adding that “refunds of billions of dollars would have significant consequences for the U.S. Treasury.”

That’s a point the president and other senior economic officials made repeatedly in the build-up to the court’s decision. In a Truth Social post last month, Trump warned that striking down the tariffs could force the U.S. to repay “many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” — potentially “Trillions” when accounting for related investments — calling such a scenario “a complete mess” that would be “almost impossible for our Country to pay.” Trade and customs experts agree any potential repayment process will be a logistical “nightmare” for both the federal government and the companies seeking compensation — and that legal fights are likely… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Poll: Most say the state of the union is not strong and the U.S. is worse off (NPR)

As President Trump is set to deliver his first official State of the Union address of his second term, most Americans say the country is worse off than a year ago and that the state of the union is not strong, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.

Additionally, more people than ever are describing the direction Trump is moving the country as "change for the worse."

"It's not unusual for a president having a long 'to do' list for the [State of the Union address], but President Trump's 'check list' seems exceptionally large," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, which conducts the survey. The address, he said, represents "a big opportunity for him to try to reset with the nation, but it's a tall order when views about him are so baked in."

The poll is the latest sign of the political headwinds Trump is facing, particularly with persuadable voters. But given that his base continues to stand behind him — more than 8 in 10 Republicans think the country is better off than a year ago — Trump is unlikely to cede any ground in Tuesday's address… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Mexico fears more violence after army kills leader of powerful Jalisco cartel (Associated Press)

School was canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside, as widespread violence erupted following the army’s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.

He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.

President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm and authorities announced late Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries… 🟪 (READ MORE)