Presented By

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🚆💰 ATP opens bidding for $3B Austin light rail contract (Community Impact)

🤖🚫 Tesla seeks to block city of Austin from releasing records on robotaxi trial (Reuters)

🧒🏽🏛️ This session saw legislative wins for child care providers and working parents (Austin Monitor)

🚨🇺🇸 Hundreds gather in Houston and San Antonio to protest immigration crackdowns in workplaces, courthouses (Texas Tribune)

⚡🏛️ Lawmakers passed bills this session to boost the state power grid but failed to limit renewables (Texas Tribune)

Read on!

Your answers help us shape content and build a stronger community.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Memos:

• Intergovernmental Relations Office – State Legislative Update

• 2024 Annual Report: Economic Development Department

🏛️ City Leadership

• City of Austin Org Chart (as of May 2025)

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

• 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 City Hall Week in Review (Week of May 26, 2025)

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ ATP opens bidding for $3B Austin light rail contract (Community Impact)

The agency tasked with building the Austin's voter-approved light rail system—Austin Transit Partnership—has officially launched the official solicitation process for a design and construction contract worth an estimated $3 billion.

An additional $1 billion in contracts is also anticipated for vehicle purchase and operation and maintenance, while the total cost of the project is estimated at $7.1 billion.

ATP expects to award the final design and construction contract by early 2026, with crews breaking ground in 2027, according to a news release.

The agency will use a two-step procurement process to vet interested applicants.

Contractors will initially submit a request for qualifications, which will remain open until July 3. Once the firms are deemed qualified for the project, they will submit requests for proposals in August, by which the ATP team will evaluate the firms’ experience, approach and total cost proposals.

The contract will follow ATP’s approach of teaming up with private companies to bring in “top talent” and deliver a “world-class light rail system for Austin,” ATP CEO Greg Canally said in a statement.

The Austin light rail is expected to create and support hundreds of thousands of jobs both locally and across the state… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tesla seeks to block city of Austin from releasing records on robotaxi trial (Reuters)

Tesla is trying to prevent the city of Austin, Texas, from releasing public records to Reuters involving the EV maker’s planned launch of self-driving robotaxis in the city this month.

The news agency in February requested communications between Tesla and Austin officials over the previous two years. The request followed CEO Elon Musk’s announcement in January that Tesla would launch fare-collecting robotaxis on Austin public streets.

Austin public-information officer Dan Davis told Reuters on April 1 that “third parties” had asked the city to withhold the records to protect their “privacy or property interests.” Austin officials on April 7 requested an opinion on the news agency’s request from the Texas Attorney General’s office, which handles public-records disputes.

On April 16, an attorney for Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab wrote the AG objecting to the release of “confidential, proprietary, competitively sensitive commercial, and/or trade secret information” contained in emails between Tesla and Austin officials. The Tesla attorney wrote that providing the documents to Reuters would reveal “Tesla’s deployment procedure, process, status and strategy” and “irreparably harm Tesla.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Ishmael Harris wins Bastrop mayoral seat with 62.87% of unofficial vote (Community Impact)

Ishmael Harris will be Bastrop’s next mayor after winning 62.87% of the vote in the June 7 special runoff election. Candidate Willie DeLaRosa received 37.13% of ballots cast.

The race to become Bastrop’s next mayor began following former Bastrop Mayor Lyle Nelson’s resignation in January. Three candidates qualified to participate in the elections May 3, including DeLaRosa, who received 34% of the votes, Ward Northcutt with 17%, and Harris with 49%.

The race was set for a runoff between DeLaRosa and Harris, as none of the candidates received at least 50% of the vote on May 3… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin Rep. James Talarico is weighing a run for U.S. Senate (Houston Chronicle)

State Rep. James Talarico, a former schoolteacher who often goes viral on social media for his feisty exchanges with Republicans, told Hearst Newspapers he is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2026. “The legislative session just ended, and I am having conversations about how I can best serve, and that does include the Senate race,” said Talarico, an Austin Democrat. The seat is currently held by longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who is facing a Republican primary challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton.

No Democrats have officially declared for the race. But former U.S. Reps. Colin Allred and Beto O’Rourke, who both unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, have also voiced interest in running. Talarico, 36, joined the state Legislature in 2019 after flipping a Republican-held seat that stretches north from Austin. This session, he emerged as a forceful voice against Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for private school vouchers, frequently castigating the policy in floor debates and committee hearings as a “scam” pushed by West Texas billionaires to provide “welfare for the wealthy.”

He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University and the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. As a pastor, Talarico frequently quotes scripture and invokes religious ideas to criticize policies like displaying the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. While Texas Democrats have not won a statewide election in a generation, 2026 is shaping up to be competitive with President Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans in control of Congress. Traditionally, the party out of power surges in the midterm elections — as was the case in 2018 when O’Rourke came within 3 percentage points of unseating Cruz. Democrats said they believe that Paxton on the ticket would present a singular opportunity to flip the seat because of his political baggage.

The GOP-controlled Texas House in 2023 voted to impeach Paxton for bribery and corruption before the Texas Senate acquitted him. Paxton has denied wrongdoing. Early public polling has shown him with a significant lead over Cornyn among Republicans, although many remain undecided. Ali Zaidi, a Texas Democratic strategist and former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus, said that Talarico spoke to him about a U.S. Senate run and Zaidi encouraged him to get in the race... 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ This session saw legislative wins for child care providers and working parents (Austin Monitor)

Each new Texas legislative session may introduce a new set of battles, but there are always some wins that keep us showing up to fight at the capitol every three years. This year, employers and working families alike saw the legislature make child care access easier in a state where around 95,000 people are on a waitlist to access state financial aid and the cost of child care in Travis County is more than in-state tuition at UT. 

In 2023, the Texas Restaurant Association, Early Matters Texas, the Texas Association of Business and Texas 2036 announced a coalition of businesses to develop strategies for expanding access to childcare for working families. They brought those strategies to the legislature this session, which passed most of their major priorities. Coupled with Travis County’s successful child care ballot measure from last year, it looks like the child care deserts left in the wake of pandemic funding drying out are set to become a thing of the past. 

At a virtual press conference last week by the Employers for Childcare Task Force (E4C), Kelsey Erickson Streufert, chief public affairs officer of the Texas Restaurant Association, noted that “less than 15 percent of the bills that were filed made it to Governor Abbott’s desk. So to have this kind of accomplishment in our first session is something that we’re really excited about, and frankly, we think it really shows that we’ve struck a nerve. We’ve identified an issue that really resonates with people, regardless of their politics, because of how it’s impacting families and our economy.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Lawmakers send Abbott an eviction bill now focused on squatters (KUT)

A bill intended to make it easier to remove squatters from a home has made its way to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

At the start of the session, some of the most powerful leaders in the state, including Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, said they wanted lawmakers to pass an anti-squatter bill.

But Senate Bill 38 originally proposed significantly changing the eviction process for renters, not just squatters.

Lawmakers in the House made substantial edits to the bill when they removed some sections that tenant advocates warned would have made it easier for landlords to evict renters and squatters. A squatter illegally enters a home and stays, while a renter typically signs a lease and faces eviction when they violate it.

“It’s worth celebrating that the worst harms of this bill were eliminated,” said Ben Martin, research director for Texas Housers, a nonprofit that educates low-income tenants.

That includes a provision, called summary disposition, that would have made it possible for judges to finalize an eviction without a hearing. Opponents worried this would lock renters out of their own legal proceedings… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Hundreds gather in Houston and San Antonio to protest immigration crackdowns in workplaces, courthouses (Texas Tribune)

Crowds of hundreds gathered Sunday in Houston and San Antonio in protest of federal authorities’ redoubled efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

The protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas occurred after days of unrest in California, where demonstrators protesting immigration crackdowns in that state clashed with authorities. President Donald Trump responded by dispatching National Guard Troops to quell demonstrations in Los Angeles and vowing to “have troops everywhere” should protests turn violent.

Gov. Greg Abbott praised Trump’s response, writing on social media that “an organized assault has been waged against federal law enforcement officials.”

“It's time to put an end to it, and allow fed officials to fully enforce the laws of the United States,” Abbott wrote Sunday.

The protests in Texas appeared to be peaceful. Images posted on social media and local news coverage showed people gathering, sharing snacks and marching down two of the state’s largest cities.

Across the country, demonstrators have repeatedly hit the streets since Trump returned to office with a promise to deport undocumented immigrants en masse.

However, the latest protests followed what appears to be a new strategy from the Trump administration to target workplaces as pressure mounts on federal law enforcement to further escalate their efforts and deliver on the president’s campaign trail promises… 🟪 (READ MORE)

See also, Protests intensify in Los Angeles after Trump deploys hundreds of National Guard troops (Associated Press)

✅ Lawmakers passed bills this session to boost the state power grid but failed to limit renewables (Texas Tribune)

The Texas Legislature only partially got what it wanted from its plans to help the state meet its growing energy demands.

Lawmakers passed bills that give the state more control over the electricity that flows through Texas, fund power generation projects and create an office to advance the state’s nuclear energy interests.

But experts said the 140-day session was also defined by the bills that didn’t survive — namely, all legislation meant to hamstring renewable energy.

“I think (the legislative session) ended in a decent place, particularly considering how it might have gone,“ said Doug Lewin, author of the Texas Power and Energy Newsletter. “I think the proposals that would have been most damaging to the Texas economy, consumers, and reliability … did not make it through.”

Texas faces a soaring demand for energy, driven predominantly by data centers and new petrochemical facilities. The expected spike in demand will require the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid manager, to deliver nearly double the amount of electricity in six years.

Throughout the session, lawmakers stressed that their intent was to craft legislation that will help ERCOT keep the lights on for everyday ratepayers during emergencies or demand spikes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Gina Ortiz Jones elected mayor of San Antonio (Texas Public Radio)

Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Rolando Pablos to become the next mayor of San Antonio on Saturday night.

The vote tally was 77,484 for Jones and 65,202 for Pablos.

Pablos conceded in a speech shortly before the Bexar County Elections Department posted the final results.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve with everybody in mind," Jones said in her victory speech. "Y'all, we won tonight, we won tonight."

She added: "There's a lot going on at the federal level. There's a lot going on at the state level. But we here in San Antonio — deep in the heart of Texas — reminded folks what San Antonio stands for, didn't we? We reminded them that our city is about compassion, and it's about leading with everybody in mind."

She also said to her supporters: "I always think about the courage that my mom had to come to this very special country, and the importance for all of us to do our part to make sure that others see just how special our country can continue to be when it's led by the right folks and when our actions match our values."

Jones was endorsed by four sitting city council members. Despite not serving in city government before, Jones said she was prepared to step into the mayor’s role. “I've worked hard to build those relationships, and we'll work hard to strengthen them, and we'll do that with the entire council, because we've got a lot of work ahead of us, and we're going to be best suited to do that, if we're working together.”

Her first major challenge as mayor will be handling multi-million dollar budget deficits in the coming years… 🟪 (READ MORE)

Have comments or questions? 📩 Contact me