BG Reads Weekend Edition(6.22.2025)

Author

A.J. Bingham
June 22, 2025

PRESENTED BY

[TOP CLICKS OF THE WEEK]

[WEEKEND NEWS]

‘Are you willing to pay for it?’ Austin leaders look ahead to tight budget process (KXAN)

Thursday marks the first meeting day off for Austin City Council members as they take their summer break, but looming is a budget conversation city staff say is going to be tighter than any of the current council members have seen in their tenures so far.

“We’re dealing with a council that, my understanding for the last probably eight plus years…was in a good position where they typically had surpluses and now we’re in a place that’s the exact opposite,” Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen said on an episode of Inside Austin’s Agenda.

City staff are expected to release their budget proposal in July. Council offices will host town halls related to the budget and gather public input and then council is slated to work through amendments and vote on the budget in August.

That budget goes into effect next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1, 2025.

City staff have already warned city council members that Austin is facing a multitude of fiscal challenges including running out of pandemic relief funding (American Rescue Plan Act dollars), addressing federal cuts and seeing a decline in sales tax revenue which the city leans on more heavily now that the state has put a cap on property tax… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Texas enacts robotaxi rules on the eve of Tesla's Austin rollout (Reuters)

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles just before Tesla's planned launch of a robotaxi trial on Sunday in Austin, according to the governor's website.

The law does not take effect until September 1, but the governor's approval of it on Friday signals that state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously. A group of Democratic state lawmakers earlier this week asked Tesla to delay its planned robotaxi trial because of the legislation… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Flock CEO responds to Austin backlash as city contract nears expiration (CBS Austin)

For the first time since national controversy erupted over his company’s license plate readers, the CEO of Flock Safety is publicly defending the technology and directly addressing the City of Austin’s decision to let its contract expire at the end of the month.

In a newly released statement, CEO Garrett Langley emphasized that while Flock provides the tool, it’s up to local police and elected officials to decide how it’s used.

“Public safety does not need to come at the expense of community values,” Langley wrote. “The point is: it is a local decision. Not my decision, and not Flock’s decision.”

Austin City Council opted earlier this year not to renew its contract with Flock, allowing the current agreement to expire by June 30.

The decision followed months of scrutiny from local leaders and privacy advocates, especially after a city audit revealed flaws in the information sharing of the technology… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Republicans might redraw House maps in Texas to protect majority from the midterm curse (Texas Public Radio)

A political power play is quietly unfolding in Texas that could redraw the state's congressional map and decide which power rules in Congress. The goal is to squeeze more Republican seats out of Texas. But there are red flags, and this could backfire on the GOP.

Currently in Texas there are 38 congressional seats. Of those 38, 25 are represented by Republicans and 12 seats by Democrats. There’s one vacant seat in a solid blue district in Houston that won’t be filled until November. Only three of the 38 are considered competitive swing seats, where it’s possible that a Republican or a Democrat could win. The remaining 35 seats are safe. The maps were drawn in a way to give those incumbents, Republicans or Democrats, a pretty sure shot at being re-elected.

But all that could soon change… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Texas will require public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments under bill signed by governor (Texas Tribune)

Come September, every public school classroom will be required to display the Ten Commandments — part of a larger push in Texas and beyond to increase the role of religion in schools.

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10, despite a federal court ruling that a similar Louisiana law violated a constitutionally required separation of church and state. In May, the proposal passed the Senate 28-3.

The bill preliminarily passed the House 88-49 on the Jewish Sabbath day. The Ten Commandments forbids work on that day, Rep. James Talarico noted in an effort to highlight legislative hypocrisy.

The lower chamber’s initial approval came after more than two hours of debate and despite last-ditch Democratic efforts to water down the law, including giving school districts the opportunity to vote on the policy, and adding codes of ethics from different faiths into the bill… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 US signals a willingness to renew talks with Iran and avoid a prolonged war (Associated Press)

The Trump administration on Sunday signaled a willingness to renew talks with Iran and avoid a prolonged war in the aftermath of a surprise attack on three of the country’s nuclear sites as U.S. officials assessed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and the threat of retaliation against American interests.

President Donald Trump, who had addressed the nation from the White House on Saturday night, allowed his national security team to speak for him the next morning, staying quiet on social media and scheduling no public appearances. The coordinated messaging by his vice president, Pentagon chief, top military adviser and secretary of state suggested a confidence that any fallout from the attack would be manageable and that Iran’s lack of military capabilities would ultimately force it back to the bargaining table.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference that America “does not seek war” with Iran while Vice President JD Vance said the strikes have given Tehran the possibility of returning to negotiate with Washington… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 FedEx founder Fred Smith, who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80 (NPR)

Pred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.

FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman.

Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a "hub and spokes" system, as it became known… ✅ (READ MORE)

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