- The BG Reads
- Posts
- BG Reads // June 5, 2025
BG Reads // June 5, 2025
A.J. Bingham
June 05, 2025
Presented By
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🏙️🏛️ Austin City Council meets today at 10AM // Agenda + Livestream
🚓🏛️ Travis County Sheriff's Office is 'considering' how to partner with ICE after bill heads to governor (KUT)
🏗️🏘️ Unintended consequences’: Austin reworking affordable housing incentive program (KXAN)
📈🏙️ Austin ranked No. 2 in US for new corporate HQs (Austin Business Journal)
🎓📋 UT interim president stuns faculty with sole provost finalist announcement (Austin American-Statesman)
📚💰 Gov. Greg Abbott signs $8.5 billion public education funding plan into law. Here’s how it works. (Texas Tribune)
🥃🌿 Why beer and liquor distributors are split on THC ban as Abbott weighs veto (San Antonio Express-News)
Read on!
Your answers help us shape content and build a stronger community.
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🏛️: Austin City Council Regular Meeting // Today @10AM
This will be the final regular Council meeting before its recess, which lasts until July 15, 2025.
🏛️ City Memos:
🏛️ City Leadership Changes:
Dr. Kara Boyles has been appointed Director of Capital Delivery Services Department, effective June 3, 2025. (See PDF)
|
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!
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ Travis County Sheriff's Office is 'considering' how to partner with ICE after bill heads to governor (KUT)
Texas law enforcement agencies may soon be required to take a larger role in immigration enforcement.
Senate Bill 8, which made it to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, would require county sheriffs who run a jail to have a written agreement partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A lot of law enforcement agencies already cooperate with ICE — at least informally. For example, say someone who is undocumented is arrested and taken to the Travis County jail. If ICE asks, the sheriff's office can detain the person for federal authorities.
SB 8 would require a formal agreement. The Travis County Sheriff's Office is weighing how that could look. An agency spokesperson said it's “carefully considering” models of partnership with ICE "based on the needs of the community and our agency." The spokesperson said the decision would be based on "available resources," but did not elaborate.
Sarah Cruz with ACLU Texas said state efforts to enforce immigration – including Operation Lone Star, the state’s multibillion-dollar crackdown on undocumented migration – have led to more racial profiling.
Cruz said she worries SB 8 could lead to more… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Former Austin City Council Member, environmental leader Jackie Goodman has died (KVUE)
Former Austin City Council Member and environmental leader Jackie Goodman has died.
According to KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Goodman died on Tuesday afternoon at her South Austin home on Austin Highlands Boulevard. She was 79 years old.
Goodman served on the city council for 12 years, from 1993 to 2005. Her colleagues elected her mayor pro tem in 1998.
The former preschool teacher was known as a strong voice for the environment and under-represented communities.
For 30 years, she served on the board of the Save Barton Creek Association.
People who knew Goodman say she was quiet but passionate about her beliefs.
She was inducted into the Austin Women's Hall of Fame in 2016 for her work on everything from environmental protection to civil liberties… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Unintended consequences’: Austin reworking affordable housing incentive program (KXAN)
For months, residents at Acacia Cliffs Apartments — near MoPac and Far West Boulevard — have been fighting a rezoning request from the building’s owners that would result in the demolition of the aging complex to rebuild a newer, taller apartment complex.
For Eric Gomez, who has lived at Acacia Cliffs since 2016, it could mean he’ll no longer be able to afford living in a spot that allows him to easily get to work, the grocery store, the library and a nearby hospital. He’s one of the residents showing up at city hall regularly, asking city council members to shut down that rezoning request.
But what the residents may not have known at first is that — for now — city council has tied its hands on what it can do in cases like this one. The options here: Approve the rezoning request under Austin’s DB90 program, which only requires developers to commit to a certain number of affordable units in exchange for loosened height restrictions, or don’t approve the rezoning request and allow the developer to demolish the complex anyways, rebuild it under the same zoning structure and commit no affordable units to the city’s pipeline at all… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Austin ranked No. 2 in US for new corporate HQs (Austin Business Journal)
Dallas-Fort Worth beat Austin to take the No.1 spot on a new list of metros that have added the most corporate headquarters in recent years.
DFW gained 100 headquarters from 2018 to 2024, according to the report by online publisher Visual Capitalist. Austin ranked second with 81 during that period. Nashville ranked third with 35, followed by Phoenix and Houston with 31 new headquarters apiece in the five-year timeframe.
The biggest loser in the country was the San Francisco Bay area, which saw 156 corporate HQ exits, according to Visual Capitalist, which tallied data from 561 announcements between 2018 to 2024 and cited a report from Dallas-based commercial real estate giant CBRE as a source.
The second-most HQ exits came out of Greater Los Angeles, which lost 106 companies. New York City was third with 27 HQ departures, followed by Chicago with 15 corporate farewells.
Although corporate relocations slowed in 2024 and so far this year, these data points are helpful reminders of Texas' immense influx of corporate investment and brainpower in the past few years, trends that have transformed the business landscape… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ UT interim president stuns faculty with sole provost finalist announcement (Austin American-Statesman)
As a sweeping higher education reform bill awaits the governor's signature, University of Texas interim President Jim Davis named a sole finalist for provost of the institution in a move that surprised faculty members and signals a new balance of power in university hiring. The sole finalist, William Inboden, is the current director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida — a school created by the Florida state Legislature in a similar manner to UT’s own School for Civic Leadership, which received a $100 million boost from the UT System regents last month that was praised by Texas’ top leaders.
The provost, who is the second in command to the president, oversees curriculum, faculty and degrees — all areas that Conroe Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton’s Senate Bill 37 seeks to regulate to align with workforce needs and rid universities of alleged liberal indoctrination.
Davis mentioned SB 37 in his May 28 announcement of the provost hire, saying he consulted with UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife and determined the university needs a strong leader in the provost role as it prepares to adapt to the changes prescribed in the higher education reform bill, which will go into effect in September. The Senate and House finally approved the legislation early this week, but the governor had not signed the bill into law as of Tuesday.
“There is consensus in the Legislature that SB 37 should give boards of regents a more substantial role in filling key campus leadership roles, particularly the role of provost,” Davis said in his email.
“With all of this in mind, after a period of deliberation and consultation with Chairman Kevin Eltife of the UT System Board of Regents, I have determined it is in the University’s best interest to name a sole finalist.” He said Inboden will be “reviewed” by university stakeholders including students and faculty members before Davis officially recommends his appointment to the board of regents “in a manner consistent with the new law.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Pflugerville police chief resigns, interim chief in place (Community Impact)
Police Chief Jason O’Malley retired from the Pflugerville Police Department May 29, ending a five-year stint as chief with the city.
O’Malley, who previously served as a commander for the department, was named in an active administrative investigation, according to a news release from the city of Pflugerville. The city stated it does not comment on active investigations.
O’Malley was appointed to serve as police chief in September 2021.
Stephen Griffith was named the interim police chief. The city also stated it will “begin the selection process which will bring the next police chief into this growing, vibrant and diverse community.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ Statistics of the 89th Texas Legislature
11,503 bills filed
3,562 passed
✅ From ‘terrible’ to ‘finest ever’ Texas lawmakers rank the 89th legislative session (KUT)
When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick stood before the Texas Senate on Monday, gavel in hand, ready to adjourn for the state’s 89th Legislature, he had nothing but praise for the chamber he leads.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a better group of 31 Senators,” said Patrick. "I believe, in modern times — I can’t go back 100 years — this is the finest session any Texas Senate has ever had.”
Next door, House Speaker Dustin Burrows shared a similar sentiment while also acknowledging a rocky beginning for the chamber.
"We started this session as a House in a bit of uncertainty,” Burrows said from the dais on the floor of the Texas House. “I believe that we ended in a much more unified and solid place.”
While not always peaceful, the session was — from at least a numerical standpoint — a productive one.
This year, lawmakers passed more than 1,200 bills, including controversial measures like creating a $1 billion school voucher program and another that puts the Ten Commandments in public schools. But the Texas Legislature also made big, bipartisan moves, like expanding public school funding by $8.5 billion and making a promise to invest billions into the state's water infrastructure over the next 20 years… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Gov. Greg Abbott signs $8.5 billion public education funding plan into law. Here’s how it works. (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed into law a bill providing roughly $8.5 billion in new funding for Texas public schools, offering relief to districts for teacher and support staff pay, operational expenses, special education, educator preparation, early childhood learning and campus safety.
The new dollars in House Bill 2, which lawmakers have dubbed “historic” because it marks the largest one-time public education investment in recent memory, will arrive after years of stagnant funding. That includes 2023, when the state gave schools targeted money in areas like school security but left billions more on the table due to the political fallout over private school vouchers.
Abbott signed a $1 billion voucher program into law last month. The Legislature granted final approval to the 231-page public school funding proposal in the last days of the 2025 legislative session, which concluded on Monday.
“It’s time that we Texans collectively recast our gaze to Texas being ranked number one for educating the children of the great state of Texas,” Abbott said Wednesday during a bill signing ceremony at Salado Middle School, a campus located north of Austin where he was surrounded by cheerful students, educators and lawmakers… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Why beer and liquor distributors are split on THC ban as Abbott weighs veto (San Antonio Express-News)
As Gov. Greg Abbott weighs Texas’ proposed THC ban, one industry is working overtime to influence his decision: the alcohol lobby. Amid plunging alcohol sales, some groups representing liquor stores are opposing the ban as they see THC beverages as an opportunity to draw in more business. Beer distributors, meanwhile, launched an ad campaign in recent weeks to promote the dangers of THC.
“The beer companies would prefer a ban because they’re losing market share to THC drinks,” said Cynthia Cabrera, chief strategy officer with the hemp company Hometown Hero. “Rather than just participate in the market, they would rather do what they’ve done for 100 years and make sure that there is no competition in the beer market.”
Abbott, who is the last hurdle in Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign for a statewide THC ban, is already under a ferocious onslaught of public pressure to veto the bill from veterans’ groups, hemp industry leaders and even some prominent conservative commentators. He has until June 22 to decide.
The alcohol industry wasn’t particularly loud during the committee hearings or other public debate, but has sway at the Capitol and with the governor. Abbott’s campaign treasurer is John Nau, the prior owner of Silver Eagle Distributors, one of the nation’s largest beer wholesalers. Nau has donated nearly $1.5 million directly to Abbott’s campaign since 2020, according to campaign finance data. John Rydman, the president and an owner of the Houston-based liquor store chain Spec’s, gave the governor $185,000 in that time.
Both the liquor and beer lobbies also give regularly to House and Senate members. Alcohol distributors have long opposed decriminalization of marijuana, fearing it could siphon off their customer base amid already-declining alcohol consumption trends. But the arrival of hemp-derived THC beverages in the last year, accounting for a growing portion of sales at liquor stores, has changed the calculus for some.
National surveys show alcohol sales have declined in recent years across multiple categories like beer and spirits. Young adults are also less likely to report consuming alcohol than in prior decades. Meanwhile, cannabis and hemp products are becoming increasingly popular… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Doritos, M&Ms could be forced to include warnings in Texas (Bloomberg)
A Texas bill on the verge of becoming law would require labels on packaged food from Skittles to Mountain Dew that warn about ingredients “not recommended for human consumption” by other countries. Texas Senate Bill 25, backed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now awaiting the signature of Governor Greg Abbott. Foods containing certain ingredients would require warning labels on new packaging beginning in 2027 in order to be sold in Texas, which is the second-most populous US state with 31 million residents.
The bill lists more than 40 ingredients, including synthetic food dyes and bleached flour. Many, but not all, of the additives are banned or require warnings in other countries. If approved, the impact on the packaged-food industry could be far reaching: When companies are forced to comply with state regulations, they have often opted to adopt those changes nationwide to streamline production.
It would also mark one of the most substantive victories yet for the Make America Healthy Again movement, Kennedy’s signature effort. The bill’s supporters have said it has Kennedy’s backing: Representative Lacey Hull, a state lawmaker who was one of the bill’s sponsors in the House, said she received a call from him when it passed the legislature. Abbott has yet to commit to signing the bill, however.
“Governor Abbott will continue to work with the legislature to ensure Texans have access to healthy foods to care for themselves and their families and will thoughtfully review any legislation they send to his desk,” Andrew Mahaleris, his press secretary, said in a statement to Bloomberg News before the bill reached Abbott on June 1.
The governor’s office didn’t respond to an updated request for comment. Texas is seen as one of the most business-friendly states in the US, with no state income tax for individuals and generally a lighter approach to regulations. If Abbott signs the bill, “he will go down as a historical figure as the man who broke the food industry’s back on these chemicals,” said food activist Vani Hari, also known as Food Babe. “This is something that will spawn incredible change within the food industry.” HHS didn’t respond to a request for comment… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Texas’ undocumented college students no longer qualify for in-state tuition (Texas Tribune)
Undocumented students in Texas are no longer eligible for in-state tuition after Texas agreed Wednesday with the federal government's demand to stop the practice.
The abrupt end to Texas' 24-year-old law came hours after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was suing Texas over its policy of letting undocumented students qualify for lower tuition rates at public universities. Texas quickly asked the court to side with the feds and find that the law was unconstitutional and should be blocked, which U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor did.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed credit for the outcome, saying in a statement Wednesday evening that “ending this discriminatory and un-American provision is a major victory for Texas," echoing the argument made by Trump administration officials.
“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement Wednesday. “The Justice Department will relentlessly fight to vindicate federal law and ensure that U.S. citizens are not treated like second-class citizens anywhere in the country.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ What's next now that DART dodged bill to slash funds (KERA)
The ongoing saga over funding cuts at Dallas Area Rapid Transit is at a turning point as local leaders and transportation officials regroup in the aftermath of a lengthy legislative fight. House Bill 3187, which would have cut funding for DART by 25%, failed to pass a state committee deadline in May.
The bill’s author, state Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano), did not respond to KERA’s requests for comment. An identical bill in the Senate never made it out of committee. Michael Morris, director for the Regional Transportation Council, said transit agencies including DART and member cities should be “equally dissatisfied” with the impact of HB3187, even if it failed to pass.
“Over the last 12 months we witnessed a full blaze, horrible tone, horrible conversations especially if you look at the history of our region on transportation over the last four decades,” Morris said. “I've never witnessed anything like this.” Morris helped facilitate mediation between DART and member cities earlier this year as a last-ditch effort to keep legislation from being filed in Austin. Not much came of those talks once HB3187 got a hearing in the House Transportation committee. Morris said since the legislation failed, he hasn’t heard from DART or the cities.
“I don't know if people are afraid to call me because we have such an active role," Morris said, "but my thinking is, everyone is frustrated." He added for now, near-term plans for the FIFA World Cup in 2026, which will require inter-city collaboration and DART resources, will go forward smoothly… 🟪 (READ MORE)
Have comments or questions? 📩 Contact me
