Austin Energy is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the rock being the Texas Legislature and the hard place being the utility’s exhausted reserve funds. City Council is now working to wriggle the municipal energy provider out of its predicament without serious damage. Acting essentially as Austin Energy’s board of directors, Council […]
Texas State Legislature
Posted inAISD, Budget, Education, Texas State Legislature
AISD, others ask state for $3 billion in new funding
Three members from the Austin Independent School District board stood with more than 20 other school districts at the State Capitol on Wednesday to ask legislators for $3 billion in additional statewide school funding. “For AISD, this figure is vital,” said District 2 Board Member Jayme Mathias. “AISD in the past month has slipped to […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature, Transportation
Austin representative takes on transportation
As the only member of the Texas House Transportation Committee hailing from Austin, freshman Democratic Rep. Celia Israel has vowed to bring the region’s gridlock woes to the Capitol. She recently told the Austin Monitor about a few of the bills she filed this session with the goal of providing mobility improvement tools to Central […]
Posted inAISD, Education, Texas State Legislature
Why Texas isn’t paying for what it wants from Austin’s classrooms
Travis County and the City of Austin take part in a regular fiscal dance with the State of Texas over who pays the costs of government. Over the next three days, KUT News and the Austin Monitor will look at key examples of that interaction in our series, “The Buck Starts Here.” Today, we take […]
Posted inEnergy, Texas State Legislature
Adler suggests changes to AE business model
Mayor Steve Adler says City Council members are open to shifting how Austin Energy makes its transfers to the city, a move that may quiet talk in the Texas Legislature of deregulating the municipal energy company. “There is some support of us to looking at a CPS (Energy) model where they handle their transfers in […]
Posted inAustin, Courts, Texas State Legislature
Why your speeding ticket doesn’t pay for what you think it does
Travis County and the City of Austin take part in a regular fiscal dance with the State of Texas over who pays the costs of government. Over the next three days, KUT News and the Austin Monitor will look at key examples of that interaction in our series, “The Buck Starts Here.” Today, we take […]
Posted inEnergy, Texas State Legislature
Austin Energy deregulation bill sent to Senate
A bill that could have major implications for Austin Energy and the city budget passed its first hurdle in the Texas House on Tuesday and now goes to the Senate floor. It could give certain Austin Energy customers the ability to break away from the utility and buy energy on the deregulated market. The Senate […]
Posted inAustin, Texas State Legislature
Local witnesses urge legislators to reject TNC bill
The House Transportation Committee heard numerous witnesses Thursday both supporting and opposing HB 2440, which would designate the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles as the state agency charged with issuing permits and overseeing rules for transportation networking companies such as Uber and Lyft. The proposal would also eliminate city regulations for such companies. For that […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Austin attorney watching Legislature for city
Cary Grace, an assistant city attorney who is serving as Austin’s deputy intergovernmental relations officer, is counting the days until the end of this Legislative session. On Thursday, she noted that there were 53 days remaining. Those are 53 days that will be primarily devoted to stopping legislation that Austin and other cities perceive as […]
Posted inCity Council, Texas State Legislature
Council OKs X Games bid for major state funding
By a narrow margin, Austin City Council voted Thursday to endorse the application of the Summer X Games to the Texas Major Event Trust Fund for 2015 only. It also voted to remove the possibility that the X Games will be able to request a waiver of $150,000 in city fees. The vote was 6-4, […]
Posted inAustin, Texas State Legislature
Council discusses legislation that targets Austin
With the Texas Legislature’s March 13 filing deadline behind them, city staff are busy tracking the 6,400 or so bills that state legislators have filed this session. They joined City Council at a work session Tuesday for an update on the bills making their way through the 84th Legislature that could directly affect Austin. Karen […]
Posted inAustin, Texas State Legislature
Animal Commissioners skeptical of vet legislation
Austin’s Animal Advisory Commission decided Wednesday that City Council should investigate whether two bills filed in the Texas Legislature would affect the city’s no-kill agenda. The bills, one of which opponents say threatens the ability of city shelters to care for animals, will be placed on Council’s legislative agenda with recommendations neither for nor against […]