Presented By

September 20, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 U.S. Justice Department launches investigation into city of Austin employment practices (KUT)

🟪 Huston-Tillotson University receives $150 million gift for campus upgrades and scholarships (KUT)

🟪 Austin-Bergstrom International Airport slips in passenger satisfaction ranking (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III to step down after a week of turmoil over viral classroom video (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Trump’s team explores government-backed manufacturing boost (Wall Street Journal)

🟪  FCC Chair Carr says ‘we’re not done yet’ after Jimmy Kimmel suspension by ABC (CNBC)

READ ON!

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ Austin City Council Agenda - September 25, 2025

🏛️ Memo: Austin’s Downtown Homeless Shelters - September 15, 2025

🏛️ City Memo: Short-Term Rental Regulations – Upcoming Action Item (Development Services Department)

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

🏛️ 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]

✅ U.S. Justice Department launches investigation into city of Austin employment practices (KUT)

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the city of Austin to see if it engaged in discriminatory employment practices based on race, sex, color and national origin.

Discrimination based on these characteristics is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the investigation on Thursday and said it will focus on the city's Office of Equity and Inclusion, Equity Division. The department aims to "work across all City departments ... to build capacity and leadership using a racial equity lens," according to its website.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement that the Justice Department will "not tolerate discriminatory race-based employment practices and DEI policies."

“Such practices are illegal and un-American, and we will vigorously protect equal opportunity and hold accountable those who seek to perpetuate vestiges of outlawed discrimination,” Dhillon said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Huston-Tillotson University receives $150 million gift for campus upgrades and scholarships (KUT)

The Moody Foundation is giving Huston-Tillotson University $150 million to upgrade campus buildings and provide more student scholarships. It’s the largest financial gift the Moody Foundation has ever given and the most money ever donated to a single historically Black college or university in the country.

The donation coincides with the university’s 150-year anniversary.

“Because we are celebrating our sesquicentennial, 150 years, it is high time that we recalibrate and improve our campus,” Huston-Tillotson University President and CEO Melva K. Wallace said.

The Moody Foundation has donated to Huston-Tillotson in the past. Last year, it gave the university just under $1 million to install air conditioning in the gym and some classrooms.

But Wallace said this large of a donation will transform the campus.

A large chunk of money will go toward building new student housing. Huston-Tillotson has more than 1,000 students but only two residence halls, Wallace said, forcing many students to reside at St. Edward’s instead of their home campus… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin-Bergstrom International Airport slips in passenger satisfaction ranking (Austin Business Journal)

Passenger satisfaction has taken a dip as major construction picks up at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

ABIA ranked slightly below average for its category in J.D. Power’s 2025 North American airport satisfaction study, which ranks airports on a 1,000-point scale across three categories: medium, large and mega. ABIA received 643 points in this year’s survey in the large airport category — below the average score of 644 — and down from 650 last year.

The study looks at several factors, including ease of travel through an airport, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, departure experience, arrival experience as well as food, beverage and retail options. The study was based on over 30,000 completed surveys from U.S. and Canadian travelers.

The decline in satisfaction with Austin’s airport was primarily driven by a ramp-up in construction projects, according to Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power. 

“(ABIA) has a multi-decade master plan of improvements that will see construction continue for the foreseeable future,” Taylor said in a statement. “However, this short-term pain will likely pay off as (ABIA) is addressing its major issue: the airport was designed to (comfortably)handle about 11 million passengers a year but is now handling more than double that number.” … 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ A Hill Country city is raising water rates by 77% for some customers (San Antonio Express-News)

Residents in and around the fast-growing Hays County city of Kyle are about to see their water bills jump substantially. Saying more revenue is needed to pay for major capital projects and keep up with growth and demand, the Kyle City Council has approved new water rates that call for a 20% increase for customers within the city limits and a 77% increase for customers outside of city limits. Wastewater rates will also increase for both groups, with non-residents again seeing a much larger hike. The new rates take effect Oct. 1.

The total monthly bill for the average home in the city will rise from $122.08 to $140.15, while the bill for that same amount of water and wastewater outside the city is expected to increase from $167.67 to $261.51, a 56% increase, according to a June presentation from Rafetlis Financial Consultants, the city’s financial consultant. Kyle City Council members voted 6-1 this week to adopt the new rates. The council voted unanimously to also raise the city’s property tax rate by about 27%, from just under 47 cents per $100 in value to just under 60 cents. Much of that is to pay for road projects approved in the city’s 2022 bond, officials said. Eight residents from Six Creeks, a subdivision just outside of Kyle, asked the council to reject the rate increase, calling it outrageous, discriminatory and based on inaccurate data. One resident said he plans to appeal the decision to the Public Utility Commission.

City officials said the higher rates are needed to cover increasing costs, including long-term debt to finance major projects. Without increases, the rates would not be enough to cover both operations and the debt service, said Angie Flores of Rafetlis Financial Consultants. Water supply costs are expected to rise by about $5 million from 2025 to 2026, while debt service, the amount the city must pay for for its outstanding debt, is projected to increase by more than $3 million… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III to step down after a week of turmoil over viral classroom video (Texas Tribune)

Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III will step down on Friday after more than a week of turmoil sparked by a viral video of a student confronting a professor over gender content in a children’s literature course, the Texas A&M University System announced Thursday.

The video, along with an audio recording of Welsh initially refusing to fire Professor Melissa McCoul, first circulated online on Sept. 8 after state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, shared it on the social media platform X.

Welsh fired McCoul a day later, but the move did not satisfy Harrison, or Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who did not think Welsh handled the situation properly.

“His ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student’s concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable,” Patrick posted on X last week. “Most parents, students, and Aggie alumni expect Texas A&M to reflect the values of our state and our nation as well as A&M’s rich history. If President Welsh will not or cannot reflect those values, then change needs to happen.”… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Jasmine Crockett defends Democrats’ rhetoric, reactions after Charlie Kirk slaying (Dallas Morning News)

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, this week defended her past rhetoric about Republicans, pushing back on suggestions that comments such as calling President Donald Trump a fascist or “wannabe Hitler” contributed to Charlie Kirk’s assassination by a man authorities say held a “leftist ideology.” Crockett described such anti-Trump statements as educating the public about history and the ways that Democrats say Trump has been trying to push the country toward authoritarianism. “I have never called for the harm of the president,” Crockett said. “I have never called for the harm of any of my colleagues.” The second-term congresswoman has rocketed to national fame, becoming a prominent voice on the left thanks to her no-holds-barred approach to bashing political opponents that has led to viral clips of hearing room confrontations and fiery media appearances.

She is under fresh scrutiny after Kirk’s killing kicked off a national debate about the consequences of intense political rhetoric and appropriate limits on free speech in the wake of such a gruesome act. ABC pulled late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely following remarks he made about Kirk’s death. The Texas Education Agency is reviewing hundreds of complaints about teachers’ social media posts after Kirk’s slaying. Two students from Texas State University and Texas Tech University are no longer enrolled at the schools after videos of them mocking Kirk’s killing circulated on social media. Crockett said that she would never celebrate Kirk’s death but that Americans are protected by the First Amendment and can’t be forced to mourn those whose speech they considered full of hate. In response to a request for comment about Crockett, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, “All three of Jasmine Crockett’s brain cells are infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome.”… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Trump’s team explores government-backed manufacturing boost (Wall Street Journal)

President Trump’s team is weighing a plan to spur the construction of factories and other infrastructure in a bid to jump-start the American manufacturing sector, according to documents and people familiar with the discussions. Under the plan, the administration would use money from a $550 billion investment fund established as part of trade negotiations with Japan to invest in the development of semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, energy, ships and quantum computing. Some of the projects would be granted preferential treatment from the government, including expedited regulatory review.

The administration is considering granting leases to companies that would give them access to federal land and water, according to the people and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The plan would mark a new frontier in Trump’s efforts to exert influence over the private sector, giving the government a central role in the reshaping of U.S. manufacturing. It comes as the president has secured a government stake in Intel, negotiated a “golden share” in U.S. Steel and persuaded chip companies to give the U.S. a cut of certain sales to China. The details of how such a far-reaching program would be implemented are still being ironed out, and those with direct knowledge of the negotiations cautioned that the plans could change.

In a statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai said Japan’s $550 billion investment fund “will be key to fueling America’s next Golden Age.” Trump, a former real-estate developer, has made reviving U.S. manufacturing a centerpiece of his second-term agenda, arguing that his trade policy will reshore supply chains and lead to an explosion of new jobs. Manufacturing employment has faltered this year, with the sector shedding 38,000 jobs over the eight months through August, even as the overall economy has continued to add jobs. If successful, the proposed plan could help the president deliver on his campaign promises. It would also give Trump control over which industries get the benefit of government assistance… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ FCC Chair Carr says ‘we’re not done yet’ after Jimmy Kimmel suspension by ABC (CNBC)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday that ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel appeared to “mislead” the American public about facts regarding conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing in the days leading up to his show’s suspension. Carr also told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that “we’re not done yet” with the changes in “the media ecosystem” that are consequences of President Donald Trump’s election last fall.

ABC on Wednesday night said it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air “indefinitely” because of the host’s comments, which linked Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “The issue that arose here, where lots and lots of people were upset, was not a joke,” Carr said Thursday on CNBC.

“It was not making fun,” said Carr, who hours before Kimmel’s show was pulled off the air suggested the FCC might take action against ABC and its parent company, Disney. “It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact that probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we’ve seen in a long time,” he said. Utah court documents filed Tuesday in connection with the murder charge against Robinson say his mother told investigators, “Over the last year or so, her son had become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro gay and trans-rights oriented.”

Those documents also say that when Robinson was asked why he killed Kirk, “Robinson explained there is too much evil, and [Kirk] spreads too much hate.” A day before those documents were filed, Kimmel, in his show’s opening monologue Monday, said, “The MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Trump is deploying the National Guard to Memphis. Experts worry it's becoming normal (NPR)

President Trump has set his sights on Memphis as the next city in need of federal intervention — including sending in National Guard troops — to combat crime.

In the Oval Office earlier this week, flanked by Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Trump signed an order to set up a federal task force to send to the city, an effort he described as a "replica" of what he has done in Washington, D.C., where more than 2,000 National Guard troops have been stationed for more than a month. Those troops have mostly been patrolling federal property or beautifying city parks.

"It's very important because of the crime that's going on, not only in Memphis, in many cities," Trump said Monday, noting that the task force would involve not only the state National Guard but also the FBI, immigration officials, U.S. Marshals and others… 🟪 (READ MORE)

Have comments or questions? 📩 Contact me