BG Reads // January 22, 2026

Author

A.J. Bingham
January 22, 2026

faustin a

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www.binghamgp.com

January 22, 2026

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Icy weather could hit Austin this weekend, keeping temperatures below freezing for 48 hours (KUT)

🟪 Austin area schools begin canceling activities ahead of winter weather (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Airlines offer rebooking options in Austin ahead of winter storm (KXAN)

🟪 Not long after Prop Q's defeat, Austin leaders could ask voters for a tax increase in bond package (KUT)

🟪 ERCOT: Texas power grid is ready ahead of incoming winter storm (KUT)

🟪 Trump pushes for lower rates and ban on investor home purchases in bid to make homes more affordable (Associated Press)

READ ON!

[FROM THE FIRM ]

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City of Austin Memos:

🏛️ Meetings next week:

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Icy weather could hit Austin this weekend, keeping temperatures below freezing for 48 hours (KUT)

Central Texas is bracing for dangerously cold temperatures this weekend. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for much of the area starting Friday night and lasting through Sunday afternoon. The service says the Austin area can expect freezing overnight temperatures, along with wind chills in the single digits and the possibility of freezing rain or sleet.

NWS anticipates the massive front that's going to impact much of the country will make its way to the Austin area Friday night. Temperatures will plummet 30 degrees overnight and drop to freezing by midday Saturday, forecasters say.

The strong front will also bring gusts of wind and a chance of precipitation Saturday morning.

Temperatures are not expected to get above freezing until Monday midday, according to the weather service.

Bob Ferguson, a meteorologist at NWS' Austin/San Antonio office, said Tuesday that temperatures could get as low as the teens in stretches of Central Texas, and strong winds will make early morning temperatures Sunday will feel like 6 degrees. The good news? Central Texas' snow chances are much lower than they are in North Texas, Ferguson said.

"At this point, we're thinking that there will probably be some icy conditions," Ferguson said. "It looks like it's going to be mostly freezing rain. We often have mixes of freezing rain [and] sleet, but [there's] probably not going to be any snow."… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin area schools begin canceling activities ahead of winter weather (Austin American-Statesman)

Some Central Texas school districts have already begun telling families they should anticipate changes to activities ahead of freezing rain forecasted to fall at the end of the week. 

✅ Airlines offer rebooking options in Austin ahead of winter storm (KXAN)

Central Texas is preparing for dangerous cold this weekend, and some airlines are offering passengers rebooking options in case travel is impacted.

A Winter Storm Watch will be in effect for the entire area from late Friday through Sunday morning, while an Extreme Cold Watch will be in effect from late Saturday through Monday morning… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Not long after Prop Q's defeat, Austin leaders could ask voters for a tax increase in bond package (KUT)

Just a few months after Austin voters rejected a property tax rate increase, city leaders are again considering going to voters for help to pay for city projects including park improvements and public safety needs with a bond package.

Austin City Council Member Krista Laine fears it might be too soon to ask voters for more money after Proposition Q's defeat in November. She said the city could benefit from taking more time to get their ducks in a row.

“What we need to do as a city is not just talk about but deliver savings that come from increased efficiencies that allow us to fund our priorities," Laine said. "The work has been ongoing. But our voters, it's not enough for them to hear us say that, they have to see it begin to happen.”

Over the next several months, the Austin City Council will be weighing whether to put the bond before voters and how much to ask for.

The initial nearly $4 billion project list includes addressing space constraints at the Austin Animal Center, expanding library branches and renovating public safety facilities… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ ERCOT: Texas power grid is ready ahead of incoming winter storm (KUT)

Texas grid officials say the state is prepared to meet electricity demand ahead of a powerful winter storm that's expected to bring days of freezing temperatures and the chance of ice or snow across parts of the state later this week.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the state's power grid, told The Texas Newsroom on Tuesday that based on expected weather conditions, it "anticipates there will be sufficient generation to meet demand" ahead of the storm.

"ERCOT will continue to deploy all available resources to manage the grid reliably and coordinate closely with the Public Utility Commission, generation providers, and transmission utilities," the council said in a statement.

Subfreezing temperatures are forecast to arrive by Friday as arctic air pushes south into Texas. Forecasters say moisture arriving late Friday night into Saturday could set the stage for hazardous winter weather throughout the state.

"We'll start out with a cold rain across North and Central Texas, and that will quickly devolve into a wintry mix Friday and Saturday, so we're expecting some ice, some snow," said Allison Prater, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Dallas-Fort Worth office… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas Supreme Court to hear suit from over 50 cities saying telecom providers get illegal discounts (Houston Public Media)

Texas Supreme Court justices will decide whether two state laws are giving unlawful discounts to cable and telecommunication service providers, resulting in millions in lost revenue for dozens of cities across the state.

The court granted the state’s request to review the case in which both the trial court and the Austin-based Third Court of Appeals ruled two laws passed by the Texas Legislature in 2017 and 2019 capping costs for providers are unconstitutional. Justices will hear arguments in the case March 5.

“The (Texas) Constitution says you can’t give public property away for free,” Bob Heath, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, told KERA News. “That’s exactly what’s going on here.”

KERA News has reached out to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for comment and will update this story with any response.

State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1004 in 2017, allowing wireless network providers install network nodes in public rights-of-way — like roads — and cities to charge the providers an annual $250 right-of-way rate per node. The nodes are typically installed on street lights or utility poles 30-40 feet above the ground, enabling 5G wireless services.

Two years later, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1152. Instead of requiring companies providing both cable and telecom services to pay cities to deliver both services, the law allowed companies to only pay whichever charge was higher… 🟪 Austin area schools begin canceling activities ahead of winter weather (Austin American-Statesman)

✅ Trump pushes for lower rates and ban on investor home purchases in bid to make homes more affordable (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump ‘s plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans involve pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

In his address Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump outlined four policies his administration is pursuing in a bid to make homeownership more affordable. Each had been previously mentioned by him or his administration in recent weeks, part of a broader push to address affordability generally, a hot-button issue with voters heading into the midterms.

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The combination of higher mortgage rates, years of skyrocketing home prices and a chronic shortage of homes nationally following more than a decade of below-average home construction have left many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump rolls out his Board of Peace at Davos, but many top US allies aren’t participating (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his “ Board of Peace ” to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, and then by a dramatic retreat from that push.

“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” Trump said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”

The event came as Ali Shaath, head of new technocratic government in Gaza, said the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. That’s after Israel said in early December it would open the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, but has yet to do so… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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