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- BG Reads // June 4, 2025
BG Reads // June 4, 2025
A.J. Bingham
June 04, 2025
Presented By
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🏙️🏛️ Watson Wire: Only the Good Sine Die Young (Austin Mayor Kirk Watson)
🌆📈 Bastrop economic development leaders prepare for city's next growth phase (Austin Business Journal)
🤖🚕 Tesla’s planned robotaxi launch in tech-friendly Austin has Musk playing catch-up in his hometown (CNBC)
📊🏛️ Statistics of the 89th Texas Legislature
🗳️🏠🏢 Voters will have final say on billions of tax cuts for Texas homeowners, businesses (Texas Tribune)
🏛️📅 The Week Ahead at Austin City Hall
Read on!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🏛️ City Leadership Changes:
Dr. Kara Boyles has been appointed Director of Capital Delivery Services Department, effective June 3, 2025. (See PDF)
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On July 18th, 2024, Austin's City Council directed the City Manager to bring a comprehensive bond package for Austinites to approve through an election by November 2026.
The 2026 General Obligation (GO) Bond is an opportunity to invest in the future of our city, but it’s important that it reflects the priorities and needs of our community.
That’s why we’re asking for your input. Whether you attend a community meeting, fill out a survey, or engage with us online, your feedback will help shape the projects that move forward. Additionally, tell your family and friends to participate too!
We’re growing BG Reads and want to better understand who’s reading. Your quick answers help us shape content and build a stronger community.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ Watson Wire: Only the Good Sine Die Young (Austin Kirk Mayor Watson)
Back in March, members of the House State Affairs Committee actually laughed out loud as they unanimously voted down the bill that would’ve replaced the City of Austin with the state-controlled District of Austin.
“There being zero ayes and 11 nays, the motion fails,” Chairman Ken King (R, Canadian) said as he chuckled.
While entertaining to watch, that vote also sent an important message about the essential co-existence of the Texas Capitol and the Capital City.
There will continue to be some tension (as there always has been). We will often disagree (on so many things). And those in control of the Capitol will continue to make it harder and harder for all cities (not just Austin) to do what you, the residents, need us to do to be successful and to promote quality of life (ugh).
But we’ve been spending the entire legislative session talking to legislators (many of them are former colleagues of mine from my time in the Texas Senate) to dispel misconceptions and maybe find some common ground or at least just hear us out on our differences. Now that this legislative session has come to a close, I think I’m safe to say that work has paid off… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Bastrop economic development leaders prepare for city's next growth phase (Austin Business Journal)
Bastrop officials view their city as being in an "awkward adolescent phase."
Over the last several years, the municipality east of Austin has been a target for residential builders, buoying its population to nearly 13,000. Retail, commercial and some industrial developments are now following. But that's led to growing pains, such as the need to expand water and wastewater treatment capacity, as well as pushback on some projects from neighbors.
Still, Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino pointed to a number of developments on tap that she views as evidence issues are being "smoothed out." They includes hotels, retail centers like Burleson Crossing East, mixed-use projects like Sendero, and industrial projects like Technical Adhesives Ltd., Acutronic Inc. and LS Electric Co. Ltd.
"Our collaborative efforts across departments have made that landscape much easier to navigate," said Carrillo-Trevino, who also is interim director of the Bastrop Economic Development Corp.
As a result, more is on the way. The city has seen an uptick in interest from companies, according to Dori Kelley, the BEDC's business attraction, retention, and expansion manager. Some want to be close to Elon Musk's business empire that's growing nearby, much of which is in Bastrop County outside of the city limits… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Tesla’s planned robotaxi launch in tech-friendly Austin has Musk playing catch-up in his hometown (CNBC)
Tesla’s long-awaited entry into the robotaxi market — expected later this month — is coming to Austin, Texas, which has emerged as a key battleground for self-driving technology.
CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on X last week that the company has been testing Model Y vehicles with no safety drivers on board in the Texas capital for several days.
Tesla’s Austin robotaxi service will kick off with 10 vehicles and expand to thousands, moving into more cities if the launch goes well, Musk said in a May 20 interview with CNBC’s David Faber.
But while the market remains nascent, Tesla already faces a hefty amount of competition.
The electric vehicle maker is one of several companies using Austin as a testing ground and debut market for self-driving technology. They’re all taking advantage of Austin’s robotics and AI talent, tech-savvy residents, affordable housing relative to other technology hubs and a city layout with horizontal traffic lights and wide roads that makes it particularly conducive to mapping software… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Late May storms flip the script on what was about to be a very dry spring in Austin (KUT)
A string of storms last week brought flooding, dangerous winds and damaging hail to Austin.
They also brought much needed rain.
While the region remains deep in drought, the precipitation resulted in something the city has not seen in almost a year: a month of above-average rainfall. Meteorologists say that late spring rainfall will impact temperatures and humidity going into the summer.
The storms “tipped us over the scale for the month of May,” Mary Wasson, a meteorologist for the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle, told KUT News. “May is our wettest month, but most of [this] May was super dry until that last week.”
The week brought about 5 inches of rain to Austin’s Camp Mabry weather station, which had seen only about an inch and a half of precipitation in May up to that point.
By the end of the month, 6.5 inches had fallen at Camp Mabry, above the May average of 5 inches. It was the first month at Mabry to record above-average rainfall since July, according to National Weather Service data… 🟪 (READ MORE)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ Statistics of the 89th Texas Legislature
11,503 bills filed
3,562 passed
✅ “All eyes on San Antonio”: Democratic disunity, GOP push turn mayor’s race into a political battleground (Texas Tribune / San Antonio Report)
National press, statewide political figures and even a documentary film crew all have their eyes trained on a San Antonio mayoral race that could make the city a beacon of the Democratic resistance — or set a new high-water mark for Texas Republicans’ inroads in historically blue territory.
In the first round of a nonpartisan contest, quick-witted former congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, 44, tapped into voters’ frustration with the early months of the Trump Administration, an approach that helped her beat out — by far — a long list of candidates with more city government experience.
Left-leaning council members currently control nine of San Antonio’s 10 council seats, and Jones’ 27% support in the first round of voting made her the odds-on favorite to become the city’s next leader.
Yet days out from a Saturday runoff election in which several city races have come down to left-right matchups, political watchers say the contest is anything but sewn up... 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Voters will have final say on billions of tax cuts for Texas homeowners, businesses (Texas Tribune)
Voters will be asked to approve property tax cuts for Texas homeowners and businesses in November.
If voters agree, homeowners will see increased breaks on the taxes they pay toward school districts, with those above the age of 65 or living with disabilities seeing even bigger cuts, if Texas voters approve them in November. Business owners will get help, too, on the taxes they pay on their inventory.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a champion of tax cuts, said Friday he plans to sign the deal, one more procedural step before the fall election. Abbott urged voters to approve the increases.
“Never before has the Texas Legislature allocated more funds to provide property tax relief than they did this session,” Abbott said in a news release… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ From vouchers to a cellphone ban, this year’s lawmaking session brought transformative changes to Texas schools (Texas Tribune)
Texas’ 2025 legislative session will likely be remembered for its education agenda.
From private school vouchers to a public school funding boost, through a heavier emphasis on Christianity and student discipline, to bans on cellphones and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, lawmakers advanced bills that will have a lasting impact on students, teachers and parents for years to come.
One proposal that would have scrapped the state standardized test fell through in the final days of session, while the much-awaited school funding package changed drastically from an earlier version school officials favored more.
When signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, much of the legislation approved by lawmakers will take effect in September, right around the time schools get going for the 2025-26 academic year. Here is a recap of the most significant legislative developments this session… 🟪 (READ MORE)
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