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BG Reads // November 3, 2025

BG Reads // November 3, 2025

A.J. Bingham
November 03, 2025

faustin a

Presented By

www.binghamgp.com

November 3, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Navigating Central Texas Land Use: A New Practice at Bingham Group

🟪 Austin ISD still plans to close 13 schools in updated school consolidation effort (KUT)

🟪 Austin, Travis County leaders call for community support as supplemental food benefits potentially expire (Community Impact)

🟪 Delta adds 3 new routes as it doubles down on Austin's airport (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Likely facing primary from former Mayor Nirenberg, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai launches bid for second term (San Antonio Express-News)

🟪 A legal blizzard in Texas targets Democrats and promotes Ken Paxton (New York Times)

🟪 'The slowdown we've all feared has materialized': Texas Restaurant Association report warns of economic headwinds (WFAA)

🟪 Trump administration faces Monday deadline on use of contingency funds for SNAPm (KUT)

🟪 Voters divided on midterms despite broad Trump disapproval, poll finds (Washington Post)

READ ON!

[FIRM NEWS]

Bingham Group is proud to announce the launch of our Land Use & Entitlements Practice, expanding our ability to support clients navigating policy, development and permitting challenges across Central Texas.

The practice is anchored by Senior Consultant Anaiah Johnson, who brings two decades of land development and urban planning experience, including senior leadership at the City of Austin’s Development Services Department and private-sector entitlement management for one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.

For nearly nine years, Bingham Group has represented clients ranging from Central Texas–based firms to national and international companies before municipal governments in the region.

With this new practice, we now provide integrated support across both the political and technical aspects of moving land use policy and development projects forward.

Learn more about Bingham Group’s new practice — and review all of our services here: binghamgp.com/services

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

	CMO Executives and Advisors_July 2025.pdf519.20 KB • PDF File

🏛️ City of Austin Org Chart (as of July 2025)

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Austin ISD still plans to close 13 schools in updated school consolidation effort (KUT)

The Austin Independent School District still plans to close 13 schools before the 2026-27 school year as outlined in its new school consolidation proposal released Friday.

The district said it received more than 7,000 pieces of community feedback from several in-person and virtual community meetings held over the last month, including concerns from parents, teachers and staff.

But a $20 million budget deficit and the possibility of a state takeover led officials to stick to much of their original proposal.

That was disappointing news to Delicia Mclean, whose children attend Becker Elementary School. She said the school's community submitted more than 500 comment cards to the district.

"I had hoped, of course, that it would be pulled off the list," she said. "For Becker to have no adjustments is very confusing."

"It's hard because there are lots of emails, there are lots of voices, and it's really hard at this moment," Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said. "But I love our students, and I love our staff, and we arrived at this draft plan through a process, and now the time is to really dive deep and see if we have it right."

The campuses on the list include 11 elementary schools — Barrington, Becker, Bryker Woods, Dawson, Maplewood, Oak Springs, Palm, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley, Widén and Winn Montessori — as well as Bedichek and Martin middle schools.

As a result, 98% of campuses will have their attendance boundaries redrawn, and several major programming changes are being considered… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Delta adds 3 new routes as it doubles down on Austin's airport (Austin Business Journal)

Delta Air Lines Inc. is keeping its foot on the gas in growing its presence in Austin as it announced a new set of destinations and detailed plans for continued growth.

The Atlanta-based airline announced Oct. 31 that it would be adding three new nonstop routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The once-a-week routes will connect Austin to these airports:

Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Belgrade, Montana
Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana
Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin, Travis County leaders call for community support as supplemental food benefits potentially expire (Community Impact)

Austin and Travis County leaders are promoting area resources and urging community assistance as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits potentially expire in November due to the federal government shutdown.

"This is a critical point in a lot of peoples’ lives and we want to be available to them," Mayor Kirk Watson said Oct. 31. "Austin, Travis County, Texas is a really wonderful place with great success. We need to support these programs so that they can support our friends and our neighbors whether it’s through contributions, whether it’s through providing canned goods, things of that nature. Go to their website and please, everybody pitch in."

✅ Austin asked voters to raise taxes for the homeless. It’s not going well. (New York Times)

A referendum in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday to raise taxes for city services partly to address homelessness has set off a surprising backlash in the deep blue city.

Opponents fear sharply increasing property taxes will add to a crisis of affordability and have suggested the City Council is beholden to developers.

Some, particularly among Austin’s vocal conservatives, have accused local homeless service nonprofits — which support the measure — of grifting from taxpayers as part of a “homeless-industrial complex.”

But even some on the left worry the city is asking voters to price themselves out of Austin.

“We’re just one step from becoming homeless” ourselves, said Susana Almanza, the director of PODER, an social and environmental justice nonprofit based in East Austin. “And so we feel like this additional increase will really hurt.”

Supporters have been bracing for defeat on Election Day.

“People are not happy campers,” said José Vela III, known as Chito, a member of the Austin City Council, which voted 10 to 1 to approve the tax rate increase, then sent it to the voters. A referendum is required under Texas law for property tax hikes that would raise revenue more than 3.5 percent.

“It’s a tough time to have a civic-minded election about municipal services,” Mr. Vela added. “If anything takes us down, it’s going to be this ‘to hell with them all’ approach to government.”

The 2019 law mandating such votes was part of an ongoing push to rein in the state’s Democratic cities. Tuesday’s tax rate referendum in Austin appeared to be the first by a large Texas city under the law, Mr. Vela said.

The proposed tax increase, known as Proposition Q, has stirred a sprawling debate over the many complaints that Austin residents have had about their rapidly changing city, where high-rise buildings now dominate the skyline of what was once a quirky college town… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ UT’s independence tested as politics reshapes Texas higher ed – again (Austin American-Statesman)

When university system regents and state lawmakers last sought to deepen their control over the University of Texas, there was a price. As World War II loomed, a conservative governor seeking greater influence appointed reform-minded regents to oversee the University of Texas System. First, the regents sought to fire four New Deal economics professors, but they soon expanded their reach, threatening to kill tenure, cut social work funding and censor a book that negatively portrayed wealthy Americans, said UT historian and alumnus, Jim Nicar. UT President Homer Rainey, at a breaking point, told faculty he feared regents were infringing on the university’s independence. The regents fired him, sparking a chain reaction of outrage, dissent and upheaval.

“Whenever politics has messed too much with an independent university, the results are always disastrous,” said Nicar, who has authored two books about the institution and is the former director of the UT Heritage Society at the Texas Exes. “It doesn’t turn out well for the university — or for the state for that matter.” This fall, mounting conservative influence across state institutions, championed by Gov. Greg Abbott, have harkened back to the Rainey era for Nicar and other experts who warn that too much political influence could jeopardize the university’s independence and excellence once again.

On Sept. 9, Abbott publicly demanded Texas A&M University fire children’s literature professor Melissa McCoul after a video of a student confronting her for teaching about gender identity “against the president’s laws” went viral on X. Within days, the controversy spiraled, costing the Texas A&M professor, a dean, department head and the university’s president their jobs. In the next few weeks, multiple state university systems, including the UT System, announced audits of gender identity course content for compliance with state law and system priorities, though no law prohibits teaching about gender identity or LGBTQ studies… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Likely facing primary from former Mayor Nirenberg, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai launches bid for second term (San Antonio Express-News)

Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai launched his campaign for a second term on Saturday, telling supporters he's focused on protecting the county's most vulnerable residents — not climbing the political ladder. The first-term county judge is facing a likely challenge from former San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg for the Democratic nomination. "Every job I've held, it was never about the next political opportunity," said Sakai, 71. "I am a servant leader to serve you. And I will be a servant leader putting the needs of our county first." Speaking to about 100 supporters who munched on breakfast tacos and conchas at Progreso Hall on the West Side, the county's top elected official said his priorities were serving working-class families, particularly children, and continuing to grow the county’s "booming" economy.

He touted the expansion of University Health — the taxpayer-funded hospital system that is opening two new hospitals — and economic development trips to Japan that he credits with bringing jobs to Bexar County. His campaign launch comes just three days before a high-stakes election in Bexar County, with voters deciding whether to devote county tax dollars to helping build a new Spurs arena downtown and revitalizing the Freeman Coliseum and surrounding grounds on the East Side.

A recent poll from the University Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Public Opinion Research showed 36% of surveyed voters approved of Sakai's performance as county judge, while only 10% of the 660 respondents disapproved of his performance. Ten percent said they'd never heard of Sakai. Nirenberg left office with a 56% approval rating, according to an earlier poll from the Center for Public Opinion Research. Nirenberg declined to comment on Sakai's campaign launch Friday, saying he's still deciding whether to enter the race… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ A legal blizzard in Texas targets Democrats and promotes Ken Paxton (New York Times)

When Texas’ attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced he had sued the makers of Tylenol over a connection to autism that’s never been proven, he got exactly what he wanted — headlines from coast to coast. The move was the latest in a rash of lawsuits, investigations and threatening letters from Mr. Paxton aimed at establishing his firm alignment with President Trump — who has publicly connected autism with Tylenol use during pregnancy — and crushing political opponents, immigrant rights groups and progressive organizers. The actions, including a new crop of hostile letters targeting Texas towns that have recently moved to raise taxes, have an added advantage. They have kept Mr. Paxton front and center as he seeks to defeat Texas’ senior senator, John Cornyn, in next year’s Republican primary.

“I know it’s political,” said Phil Harris, the city administrator of the small, mostly Republican town of Whitesboro, Texas, which received one of the attorney general’s letters on tax increases. “I wish Ken Paxton wasn’t running for Senate. I think it impacts his decision making.” Mr. Paxton, a darling of hard-line Texas conservatives now in his third term, has always spearheaded conservative litigation, supporting Mr. Trump and challenging the Biden administration for four years. But in recent months, Mr. Paxton has broadened the range and escalated the pace of his legal actions. In March, he charged a midwife in the Houston area with providing illegal abortions, then expanded the indictments this month to include her staff.

In June, he worked with the Trump administration to help strike down a law, signed under Gov. Rick Perry, a fellow Republican, that offered in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrants in Texas. He secured indictments in May against Hispanic Democrats in one rural county over allegations they broke Texas election laws by helping older voters cast their ballots… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ 'The slowdown we've all feared has materialized': Texas Restaurant Association report warns of economic headwinds (WFAA)

Texas Restaurant Association CEO Emily Knight sought to "sound the alarm" about economic headwinds facing the hospitality industry in a recent industry newsletter. The Texas Restaurant Association advocates for the state's $138 billion food service industry. Knight wrote in a recent industry newsletter that data "suggests the slowdown we've all feared has materialized." "We’ve got a new Texas Restaurant Economics report for you today. Unfortunately, I have to sound the alarm a bit. Our data, combined with reports we’re reading from Black Box Intelligence and others, suggests that the slowdown we’ve all feared has materialized. I say this not to create panic but to prepare you," Knight wrote.

The Texas Restaurant Association's economic report shows 40% of restaurant operators reported food costs increased significantly in the third quarter of 2025 over the previous quarter, with 48% reporting food costs increased slightly during the same time frame. For labor costs, 56% of restaurant operators reported a slight increase in the third quarter of 2025, while about 10% reported a significant increase during the same time frame.

The report also indicated that 38% of restaurant operators reported sales and revenues decreased slightly in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, 40% reported profit margins decreased slightly, and 37% reported traffic decreased slightly during the same time frame. As for menu prices, 50% of restaurant operators reported a slight increase in the third quarter of this year over the previous quarter, while 46% reported they stayed about the same. Nationally, the National Restaurant Association reports food and labor costs for the average restaurant have increased 35% over the last five years, and customer traffic remains down from pre-pandemic levels… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump is leaning into his crackdown on city crime. The GOP sees it as a winning issue (NPR)

President Trump threatened to deploy more troops to U.S. cities this week — and not just the National Guard — as part of what he describes as his national crackdown on crime.

Speaking to U.S. troops aboard an aircraft carrier in Japan, Trump said he planned to expand his crime and immigration offensive because "we have cities in trouble."

"We're sending in our National Guard, and if we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard, because we're going to have safe cities," Trump said, aboard the USS George Washington at the Yokosuka Naval Base. "We're not going to have people killed in our cities. And whether people like that or not, that's what we're doing."

The White House has transformed what started as a focused effort, purportedly meant to address crime in Washington, D.C. into a nationwide campaign to portray Trump and the Republicans as unabashed crime fighters while painting Democrats as coddlers of crime. Violent crime in the city was at a 30-year low prior to the Guard's arrival.

Trump has also deployed troops to Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, Tenn., and Portland, Ore, which has triggered protests and lawsuits.

Democratic leaders have accused the White House of exaggerating the challenges in order to launch an illegal military occupation. But Trump is banking on the moves helping him and Republicans in next year's midterms… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump administration faces Monday deadline on use of contingency funds for SNAP (KUT)

President Donald Trump's administration faces deadlines on Monday to tell two federal judges whether it will comply with court orders that it continue to fund SNAP, the nation's biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation's social safety net — and it costs about $8 billion per month nationally.

The situation leaves millions with uncertainty about how they will feed themselves. Benefits will be delayed in November regardless of the outcome of the court cases because many beneficiaries have their cards recharged early in the month and the process of loading cards can take a week or more in many states… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Voters divided on midterms despite broad Trump disapproval, poll finds (Washington Post)

Americans broadly disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling his job, and a majority say he has gone too far in exercising the powers of his office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. But a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, there is little evidence that negative impressions of Trump’s performance have accrued to the benefit of the Democratic Party, with voters split almost evenly in their support for Democrats and Republicans. Overall, 41 percent of Americans say they approve of the job Trump is doing, while 59 percent disapprove.

That level of disapproval is the highest in a Post-ABC poll since January 2021, a week after the attack on the Capitol. Trump’s support among self-identified Republicans remains strong at 86 percent, while 95 percent of Democrats disapprove. Among independents, Trump’s approval rating is 30 percent, while his disapproval mark is 69 percent.

Across eight issues that include the economy, immigration, tariffs, managing the federal government, crime, and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, most Americans say they disapprove of how he is handling each of them. The narrowest disapproval among these is on the situation with Israel and Gaza, but still a 52 percent majority say they disapprove. Trump has governed primarily through executive orders, setting out controversial policies affecting the federal government, the nation’s electoral system, the private sector and academia, among others. These orders have drawn multiple lawsuits challenging his authority.

Many of the suits are still being adjudicated, with the Supreme Court destined to be the final arbiter in setting the boundaries for executive power. Meanwhile, the public is rendering its own judgment and mostly in opposition to the president. The poll finds that 64 percent say he is going too far in “trying to expand the power of the presidency,” and majorities say he is going too far in laying off government employees to cut the size of the federal workforce, in deploying the National Guard to patrol U.S. cities and trying to make changes in how U.S. colleges and universities operate.

Opinions are more divided on issues that include deporting undocumented immigrants, closing pathways for immigrants to enter the country legally and pushing back against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the government. The country is roughly split between saying Trump is handling them “about right” or “not going far enough” and saying Trump is going too far… 🟪 (READ MORE)