BG Reads // May 8, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
May 08, 2025

Presented By

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

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[EVENT SPOTLIGHT]

✅ Austin Chamber ATX Policy Forum 2025 // Wednesday May 14th // 8AM to 10AM

Mayor Kirk Watson will take the stage alongside these influential policymakers from across Central Texas including County Judges for Bastrop, Caldwell, and Williamson Counties.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

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[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ ACL Fest generates $534M in economic impact, and $8.4M for citywide parks improvements (Austin Monitor)

The Austin City Limits Music Festival generated a record $534.8 million in economic activity for the Austin area in 2024, according to a new report released this week. The event, produced by C3 Presents, continues to serve as a major driver for the city’s economy while also contributing substantial funding toward local parks through its longtime partnership with the Austin Parks Foundation.

On Wednesday, representatives from C3 Presents, parks supporters and city leaders gathered at Rosewood Park in East Austin to announce the economic impact, as well as a donation of $8.4 million to the Austin Parks Foundation.

Since it began tracking its economic impact in 2006, ACL Fest has contributed over $4.1 billion to the Austin economy, equivalent to the support of nearly 40,000 full-time jobs over that period. The 2024 festival alone accounted for an estimated 3,607 jobs, according to the annual report prepared by Angelou Economics.

The report emphasized the festival’s role in sustaining Austin’s hospitality, tourism, and event-related industries, including hotels, restaurants, transportation services, and retail businesses… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin arts groups downsize and cancel programming after federal grant cuts (KUT)

Arts organizations in Austin are being impacted by the termination of grant funding by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The NEA informed organizations last week that the previously approved grants it awarded will end on May 31, citing a shift in priorities. Some organizations said they had not received the funding yet but had already allocated the funds or spent money anticipating the grants.

“The NEA will now prioritize projects that elevate the Nation's HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities,” the email stated, which was shared with KUT by Rancho Alegre… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ The Texas Exes has a new leader (Austin Business Journal)

A new CEO has taken the reins of the Texas Exes, the official alumni association of the University of Texas.

Robert W. Jones stepped into the CEO seat May 1 after a months-long search led by the Texas Exes board of directors and Russell Reynold Associates, according to an announcement. Jones succeeds Chuck Harris, who retired in late 2024 after more than seven years in the position. The alumni group boasts that it has 120,000 members.

Jones, who will be the eighth head of the 140-year-old alumni association, has three decades of leadership experience in corporations and nonprofits.

“Robert is exactly the kind of person we were looking for to lead the Texas Exes, and the committee favored him unanimously," said Brien Smith, president and board chair of the Texas Exes as well as leader of the search committee. "Throughout his impressive career, he has built bridges, found consensus, and inspired teams to do their best work. He also has a great sense of pride in his alma mater and a passion for helping Longhorns,."… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Buda council talks bonds amid state bill threat (Community Impact)

With a proposed state law threatening to limit local borrowing, Buda officials may accelerate bond sales to avoid delays to key infrastructure projects. What happened In response to House Bill 19—which would cap how much debt Texas cities can take on—the Buda City Council on May 6 reviewed the city’s debt portfolio and the timeline for spending voter-approved bond funds.

Buda’s current funding portfolio includes remaining funds from its 2021 general obligation bonds, along with planned funding for capital improvement projects, such as the Sequoyah drainage improvements and downtown streetscaping.

In November 2021, Buda voters approved two bond propositions totaling $89.66 million to fund citywide infrastructure and quality-of-life upgrades, including road reconstruction, trail expansion and park improvements, according to previous Community Impact reporting.

By the end of the fiscal year, Buda is expected to carry $138 million in tax-supported debt and $60 million in utility-supported debt, according to city documents. For fiscal year 2024-25, debt service payments will total $13 million—$8 million for tax-supported debt and $5 million for utility-backed debt… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Public Safety Commission discusses firefighter cancer prevention, quarterly Fire Department update, and bylaws (Austin Monitor)

On Monday, the Public Safety Commission (PSC) heard a quarterly report from the Austin Fire Department and discussed initiatives related to firefighter cancer prevention. The commission also conducted business related to their internal Austin Police Department (APD) Training Academy Working Group and Public Safety Wellness Center Working Group, and launched a new internal group to re-examine the commission’s bylaws.

Austin Fire Department (AFD) Chief of Staff Rob Vires kicked off the presentations. According to AFD data, Austin’s continued population growth has led to slower response times. “The city most certainly has outpaced the growth of public safety here,” Vires said, adding that AFD was looking at technological and internal strategies to help address this.

Fire Station 54, a joint Fire/EMS station located in Council District 10’s Canyon Creek neighborhood, opened earlier this year. “This was the last of five stations to be built over six years,” Vires said, referencing a resolution by former Council Member Alison Alter that established this goal for the city… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ Sen. John Cornyn announces leadership team, including Trump pollster, for 2026 reelection campaign (Austin Monitor)

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has tapped former Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio to helm polling operations for his 2026 reelection bid, part of a seven-person senior campaign team announced by the Texas Republican on Wednesday.

Also filling out Cornyn’s leadership crew is Andy Hemming, a former senior adviser for Gov. Greg Abbott’s 2022 campaign who will serve as Cornyn’s campaign manager. Hemming also has ties to President Donald Trump’s political network, dating back to his role as research director on Trump’s 2016 campaign and a stint as the White House’s rapid response director the following year.

Fabrizio and Hemming will be joined by Cornyn’s longtime political aide, Rob Jesmer, who will remain in his current slot as the senator’s general consultant. Jesmer has advised Cornyn since he managed the senator’s 2008 reelection, also serving as executive director of the Senate GOP campaign arm when Cornyn chaired the committee... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Houston Mayor John Whitmire unveils $7 billion budget with no tax increase, fees or budget deficit (Houston Chronicle)

Houston Mayor John Whitmire on Tuesday kept his promise to balance the city’s finances, unveiling a $7 billion budget with no tax increase or new fees for city residents. The city was facing a budget deficit of more than $330 million during Whitmire’s time in office. Whitmire credited department consolidations for eliminating part of the deficit.

The city also saved money in a legal agreement that requires the city to invest millions more in streets and drainage — but not all at once. The budget proposal does not factor in potential state money as lawmakers convene in Austin for their legislative session. One contentious bill would give Houston millions more from the Harris County Toll Road Authority.

While the city used METRO dollars to help offset costs incurred as a result of a drainage lawsuit that led to the legal agreement, the city is not using any more METRO dollars to bolster the budget, nor did it get any additional revenue from Harris County, Whitmire’s staff said.

“This day is one of the reasons I ran for mayor,” Whitmire said. Whitmire’s 2026 budget is $7 billion, which is 2.3% more than last year’s budget. While the city plans to operate with more money this coming fiscal year, around $74.5 million was cut from the city’s nearly $3 billion general fund, which is bolstered by property and sales taxes. The general fund cuts came from consolidations and Whitmire’s voluntary retirement plan, which was open to all retirement-eligible employees except for police and fire. Whitmire’s team estimated the city would save around $30 million from retirements alone… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ 'DART, TRE faces cuts with Texas House bill (Fort Worth-Star Telegram)

Legislation that jeopardizes a rail linking Dallas and Fort Worth, according to opponents, could soon be heard by the full Texas House. House Bill 3187 advanced from the House Transportation committee on a 9-2 vote on May 6, the latest movement on the proposal by Rep. Matt Shaheen, a Plano Republican, as the Texas legislative session enters its final stretch. The legislation is opposed by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Metro, who together own and operate the Trinity Railway Express line. Both warn that the legislation puts the operation of the line at risk. The rail between Dallas and Fort Worth is used by thousands each year, including by concert-goers and sports fans attending events at the American Airlines Center — home of the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars.

If HB 3187 passes, a city could take up to 25% of its sales and use tax that funds DART and use it for a general mobility program to fund things like sidewalk construction and maintenance, hiking and biking trails, drainage improvements, and street lights and traffic control improvements. “House Bill 3187 Kills Dart,” DART spokesperson Jeamy Molina said Tuesday. “There’s no illusions behind this. It will destroy DART.” As for the Trinity Railway Express: “We would have to look at services across the entire service area, but that’s place where we would work closely with Trinity Metro to decide how deep the cuts are in that area,” Molina said. “Those could be as far as not being able to run the service, very, very limited service — all things we would have to work out once we knew the exact impacts,” Molina said. DART warns that if the legislation passes as first filed it would lead to thousands of DART-related jobs lost, reduces DART’s economic impact by nearly $1 billion and a 30% service reduction across DART’s service area… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[US and World News]

✅ USDA chief says agency is trying to fill key jobs after paying 15,000 to leave (NPR)

In testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and Wednesday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now looking to fill critical positions, after agreeing to pay more than 15,000 employees' salaries and benefits through September in exchange for their resignations.

"We are actively looking and recruiting to fill those positions that are integral to the efforts and the key frontlines," Rollins told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

USDA is among the agencies that twice invited employees to quit their jobs through the deferred resignation program — once in late January when the deal was presented to nearly the entire federal workforce, and again for a short window in April.

The Trump administration has leaned heavily on the deferred resignation program as it seeks to dramatically downsize the federal workforce… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ At Trump’s urging, USPS board to name FedEx official as postmaster general (Washington Post)

President Donald Trump and the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board are expected to name FedEx board member and former Waste Management CEO David Steiner as the nation’s next postmaster general, according to two people familiar with the decision, helping solidify the White House’s control over the historically independent mail service. Steiner replaces Louis DeJoy, whom Trump forced out of the role in March amid the mail chief’s clashes with billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service and congressional dissatisfaction with the agency’s performance and finances, The Washington Post has reported.

The people familiar with the decision spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and meetings. Steiner emerged in recent days as a leading candidate for the role at FedEx’s recommendation, according to three people familiar with the search process, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal.

The firm had long competed and collaborated with the Postal Service on shipping products, sending the mail agency some parcels it deemed too expensive to deliver on its own while attempting to best the agency’s postage prices. But that contract expired in 2024, leading FedEx to take most of its consumer shipping volume in-house.

The Postal Service, with a staff of roughly 650,000, responded to Trump’s election and the agency’s weakening relationships with FedEx and UPS by looking to outsource additional work. It announced plans to eliminate 10,000 positions through attrition this year while off-loading certain mail-handling and transportation duties to the private sector.

“The apparent choice of a postmaster general that comes directly from service on the board of directors of FedEx, one of the Postal Service’s primary competitors, presents a clear conflict of interest,” Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a statement.

“This is an unmistakable push to hand business over to private shippers. Letter carriers and the over 300 million people we serve every day recognize this attempt at a hostile takeover of a beloved American institution for what it is, privatization-by-proxy.” Spokespeople for the White House and FedEx declined to comment. Steiner and a Postal Service representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Since before Trump took office again, he had talked about overhauling the Postal Service and its leadership. He routinely disparages the agency and continues to criticize its role in facilitating mail-in voting… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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