MRT: TX Sales Tax Revenue Dips 13.2% in May, Largest Decline in a Decade; June Evictions to Increase; Austin Police Chief Apologizes; Mass Arrests in Dallas
Here's what you need to know in Texas today.
MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
TUESDAY – 06/02/20
Find us on Facebook
Tips, comments and suggestions: MustReadTexas@gmail.com
Subscribe to the daily email here
Good morning from Austin, TX.
Thank you for being a paid subscriber.
TOP NEWS
"Texas sales tax revenue dips 13.2% in May, the largest year-over-year decline in a decade,"The Texas Tribune's Cassandra Pollock -- "Texas collected about $2.6 billion in state sales tax revenue in May, leading to the steepest year-over-year decline in over a decade, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday.
The amount is 13.2% less than the roughly $3 billion the state collected in the same month last year.
A majority of the revenue collected last month was from purchases made in April and reflect the state's first full-month look at how the novel coronavirus impacted businesses. That is when Texans lived under a statewide stay-at-home order and Gov. Greg Abbott, like leaders across the globe, ordered businesses across several sectors to close to combat the spread of the virus.
"Significant declines in sales tax receipts were evident in all major economic sectors, with the exception of telecommunications services," Hegar said in a news release. "The steepest decline was in collections from oil and gas mining, as energy companies cut well drilling and completion spending following the crash in oil prices."
Monday's announcement is the latest reminder of the economic devastation facing the state — and how recovering from it could last months if not years even as businesses begin reopening their operations, which feed into the sales tax revenue. As social distancing guidelines continue to loosen, Hegar said, the sectors most impacted by the pandemic "should begin to slowly recover," but "operations resuming at reduced capacity will result in continued reductions in employment, income and activity subject to sales tax for months to come."" Texas Tribune
"“I didn’t care if I was exposed to COVID”: Protesters’ anger outweighed their fear of getting sick," The Texas Tribune's Edgar Walters -- "Renee Lopez has spent nearly all her time at home in recent weeks, keeping distance from friends and loved ones in the hopes of staying safe from the new coronavirus. Lopez, 58, uses a wheelchair because of a congenital joint disease, and she worries her disability could put her at greater risk of serious illness.
But on Saturday, as thousands of people across the country took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, a blossoming anger displaced the fear Lopez had felt about the coronavirus — and led her and a few hundred other demonstrators to gather at Austin’s police headquarters. She could no longer “sit idly by,” and if the price of protest was her health, she thought, then so be it.
“I didn’t care if I was exposed to COVID,” she said, though she tried to stay away from the thickest crowds. “I had this single-mindedness to go and protest because I feel like I just can’t take it anymore.”
Protests sparked by Floyd’s death took place in major cities across the country this weekend, blocking traffic, closing businesses and focusing the nation’s attention on police violence and racial inequality. Footage from a now-viral video showed that Floyd, who is black, died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck long past the point when he lost consciousness. Chauvin, 44, was fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter." Texas Tribune
"Houston-area evictions set to pick up in June,"The Houston Chronicle's Sarah Smith -- "On his 37th birthday, Jason Bledsoe’s apartment manager called to check if he was still living there.
He was. He still is — but only because the eviction courts in Harris County were closed.
Now that they’ve opened up, Bledsoe, who lost his job because of the novel coronavirus, doesn’t know what’s going to happen to him. Every time someone comes up the stairs to his apartment, he wonders: Is that the sheriff? Is it today?
“Like, what’s gonna happen next?” he said. “I lost my job, now I’m losing my house. What’s next?”
A Texas Supreme Court order put a temporary halt to eviction proceedings from March 19 to May 19. No evictions could go ahead in court — people couldn’t get kicked out just for nonpayment — but landlords could still file evictions and wait until courts opened back up to move ahead. Bledsoe’s landlord filed his eviction on April 27.
Harris County justice of the peace courts — where evictions take place — are ready to pick up eviction proceedings in June. Each of the 16 courts takes its own approach: Some aren’t beginning proceedings until the middle of the month. Others plan on teleconferencing proceedings. Others have a stacked docket on Monday, starting with the evictions filed before the courts closed and then moving to the newer cases.
Many of those newer cases were filed mid-pandemic against people who couldn’t make payments because they were laid off during the virus. Bledsoe had been working at a temp agency for $7.10 an hour. His latest placement was making calls for a law firm.
“I don’t think the bad guy is the landlord. I don’t think the bad guy is the tenant,” said Dana Karni, an attorney at Lone Star Legal Aid. “The problem is that there’s a pandemic and we are not prepared to deal with all the consequences.”
The city of Houston put $15 million of the federal funds it received toward rental relief for qualified tenants. The funds were used up in 90 minutes. Michael Knight, executive director of Better World Properties, said more than 50 residents across the company’s eight Houston apartments got assistance.
Other areas enacted stronger protections for tenants during the virus. Maryland’s governor signed an executive order that banned evictions for any reason related to the coronavirus, including nonpayment of rent. Austin City Council approved a 60-day grace period for renters impacted by the virus." Houston Chronicle
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"‘This is not what we set out to do’: Police chief apologizes for people injured during Austin protests,"The Austin American-Statesman's Heather Osbourne -- "Brad Ayala, 16, had just finished his shift at an Austin sandwich shop on Saturday when he joined the protests along Interstate 35 calling for an end to police brutality.
He ended up in the hospital that night after Austin police hit him in the head with a beanbag round and seriously injured him.
“He’s conscious and in a lot of pain because he was shot right in the middle of his forehead,” his sister Valarie Sanchez said. “The bullet stayed inside of his head for five hours. The front of his head is fractured and dented and he had some bleeding.”
Ayala is one of several people — including a 20-year-old man in critical condition — whom Austin police injured with bean bag rounds last weekend, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Monday.
When asked what he would say to the families of the two young men who suffered the worst injuries, Manley paused, unable to speak for a moment.
“My heart is with you,” he said. “I am praying for your child, and I hope that they have a complete and quick recovery.”" Austin American-Statesman
"Dallas protests continue just outside curfew zone, end with mass arrests on bridge,"The Dallas Morning News' Tom Steele, Nic Garcia, Joseph Hoyt, Cassandra Jaramillo, Nataly Keomoungkhoun, Kevin Krause and LaVendrick Smith -- "Hundreds of protesters marched Monday evening to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, west of downtown in an effort to stay outside the area where police were enforcing a 7 p.m. curfew.
But before the night had ended, police had conducted mass arrests atop the bridge, prompting Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to say that he was troubled by how the situation played out..
“I have serious concerns about what happened on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge tonight, but I will not have further comment until I hear a full explanation from the city manager and police commanders tomorrow,” he told WFAA-TV (Channel 8)
Immediately after the protesters were detained, doubts began to emerge that police would follow through on charging them. Shortly before 11 p.m., shuttle buses and vans began releasing them outside the Frank Crowley courthouse.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said he “fully support[ed] not booking them.”
But after reports began circulating that District Attorney John Creuzot was urging police to let the protesters go, but his spokeswoman released a statement saying, “The DA never interferes with police agencies doing their job. Any cases that come into the DA's office will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis."
Police officials could not be reached for further comment.
Downtown Dallas was empty of protesters Monday evening, the second night a curfew was enforced for the area, which had seen some vandalism and looting in the first days of the protests.
After law enforcement made people leave public areas in downtown Sunday and took several dozen demonstrators into custody, most protesters the next evening decamped to the Frank Crowley courthouse just west of downtown — and just outside the curfew’s boundary." Dallas Morning News
"Houston officials expect large, respectful crowd at Tuesday George Floyd march,"The Houston Chronicle's Jasper Scherer and Marcy de Luna -- "Two prominent Houston rappers and Mayor Sylvester Turner will join the family of George Floyd in a downtown march Tuesday afternoon that officials are expecting to be widely attended but peaceful.
Trae Tha Truth, a longtime friend of Floyd, and Bun B are coordinating with Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams to organize the rally and subsequent march to City Hall, according to Bun B, whose real name is Bernard Freeman. Turner and Police Chief Art Acevedo are participating in the event, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at Discovery Green downtown.
“It’s important that we fight for justice,” said Trae Tha Truth, whose given name is Frazier Thompson III. “We can’t stand back and watch. We have to protect each other.”
Though Turner and Acevedo are participating in the rally, the mayor said Thompson and Freeman are the “principal organizers.” It is not an official city event, the mayor said, but city officials “certainly will support the efforts to make sure that things are done in a peaceful and orderly fashion.”
Turner said city officials “are ramping up for a large crowd tomorrow” but did not anticipate violence or destructive behavior that was seen at times during protests here Friday evening.
“This is a salute to George and an acknowledgment that he should not have died the way he did,” Turner said. “If you are standing for George Floyd, why would you want to create problems for his family? And if you are true to the cause, why would you want to do anything to take away from this special, emotional moment for his family and for his friends?”
Houston police will continue to oversee the march and rally in coordination with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and “federal agents,” Turner said. The mayor also kept open the possibility of enacting a city curfew, a measure implemented in some other large cities but not in Houston so far.
“There was no need to do it on Saturday, there was no need to do it last night, and I’m hoping there will not be a need to do it tonight or in the days to come,” Turner said." Houston Chronicle
"San Antonio police chief: Out-of-state 'extremists' infiltrating peaceful protests,"The San Antonio Express-News' Brian Chasnoff and Peggy O'Hare -- "Clad in Hawaiian shirts and tactical vests, the group of white men on East Houston Street kept their high-powered rifles pointed downward as they exchanged words Saturday with residents protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
One toted an odd flag: a variant of the American colors, but in black and white, with an igloo and a palm tree in place of the stars and a red Hawaiian print replacing one of the stripes.
Another man, a handgun tucked in his vest, sought to find common ground with black protesters, some of whom were yelling taunts and accusations at the group from a few feet away.
“We’re against the state,” he told them. “We don’t like the state. Y’all don’t like the state, we don’t like the state. We just don’t want you touching the monuments. If y’all go burn down the police station, we won’t stop you. We won’t stop you burning down the police station.”
The men were members of the Boogaloo Boys, an anti-government extremist group that sprang two years ago from online message boards with an expressed desire for civil war. Bryan Ramirez, a local filmmaker documenting San Antonio’s weekend protests, captured the exchange on video.
The group was just one ingredient in a stew of local opportunists and out-of-town extremists, both far-right and far-left, who likely caused a peaceful protest here to devolve into chaotic confrontation and vandalism as night fell Saturday and Sunday.
It was a scene that repeatedly played out in major cities across America, police and experts said.
In San Antonio, rioters broke windows and otherwise damaged at least 39 businesses. Looters ransacked a jewelry store. Agitators hurled bottles and bricks at officers, injuring at least three, in faceoffs that disintegrated into shrieking, shoving and punching.
Whether anyone deliberately provoked it, here and across the country, remains unclear.
“The question is who, indeed, is exploiting this violence?” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. “Because both the hard left and certain folks in the far right have expressed interest in doing so.
“I think the bulk of the actual individuals out there doing damage are opportunistic looters or hard left,” Levin added. “But that being said, I know that there have been expressions of interest to exploit these rallies to make black people look bad and to also have them confront police. I think there are an array of extremists who have both a motive and an opportunity to infiltrate these protests.”
Police Chief William McManus said federal authorities believe that “violent extremists” from out of town are behind most of the violence, looting and rioting.
“There is a strong belief that that’s an accurate statement,” McManus said. “That type of protest doesn’t happen in San Antonio, the violent extremism. That’s the first one in 14 years that I’ve been here.”
Police now will forward information about protest-related arrests of anyone from out of state to the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for possible prosecution, McManus said.
The six people arrested in San Antonio’s weekend confrontations had no immediately obvious ties to any political groups, a review of public records and social media accounts shows." San Antonio Express-News
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
"Trump invokes attack on machete-wielding Dallas man as he mobilizes military to quell riots nationwide,"The Dallas Morning News' Todd Gillman -- "President Donald Trump, blaming the beating of machete-wielding man in downtown Dallas on antifa despite a lack of evidence for that, cited that incident and others on Monday night to justify deployment of troops around the country.
In a remarkable speech from the Rose Garden Monday night, moments after police blasted tear gas at peaceful protesters outside the White House, Trump invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807, a law that authorizes the president to order U.S. military to quell civil disturbance.
“Innocent people have been savagely beaten, like the young man in Dallas, Texas, who was left dying on the street,” he said, adding that “I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property."
The Dallas man he referred to, however, was in stable condition, according to police. Footage of the incident showed the shrieking and brandishing the machete as he chased young men who seconds later pummeled him to the ground Saturday night, and it wasn’t clear who provoked whom.
Military police. U.S. Park Service police and uniformed Secret Service officers in riot gear and gas masks deployed tear gas on protesters in Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, where a peaceful protest had been underway for hours." Dallas Morning News
"Laredo orphanage allows government to survey land for future border wall," The Laredo Morning Times' Julia Wallace -- "On May 19, Sacred Heart Children’s Home came to an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security allowing them to survey their 68-acre property in south Laredo to determine the feasibility of building a border wall through it.
This decision came off the heals of a viral moment for the 113-year-old orphanage and the congregation of Catholic sisters who run it. Laredo Morning Times published an article last month detailing that the Trump administration had filed a lawsuit against Sacred Heart to condemn their land for these surveys, a story that Newsweek published two weeks ago bringing more national attention to the subject. And Faithful America, a Christian social justice group, then created a petition for the Department of Justice to drop their lawsuit against Sacred Heart. It has been signed by over 18,000 people.
“I think that the sisters were really feeling a lot, a lot of pressure,” Rio Grande International Study Center Executive Director Tricia Cortez told reporters on a press call last week.
The orphanage is one of 24 Laredo properties that has been sued by the government for the right of entry, Cortez noted, the largest of which is nearly 1,000 acres owned by the City of Laredo." Laredo Morning Times
'MACK ON POLITICS' PODCAST
LATEST "MACK ON POLITICS" PODCAST: The state of the Coronavirus is the subject of the 190th episode.
Our returning guest is former HHS secretary Dr. Tom Price.
In this conversation we examine the U.S. government response, the status of testing, treatment and a vaccine, the Gates Foundation’s financial commitment, whether a vaccine will be mandatory, how he views the risk of a second wave, and reflections on his time at HHS.
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and on the web at http://www.MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com.
BOOK MATT MACKOWIAK AS A SPEAKER
Would you like to have Matt Mackowiak speak to your group?
Matt Mackowiak will preview the 2020 election and review the 2019 legislative session for your company, association, convention or meeting.
Contact us for rates and dates.
---
"I am not always up to date on current news. I know I can count on Matt to give me the 'cliff notes' version of the most important news of the day. I rely on Matt to keep me informed with news that is important to me. He is my news source, and should be yours." - Debra Coffey, TFRW Patron's Co-Chair, former First TFRW VP
"Matt is a straight shooter. He says what he thinks and his analysis is educated and bold. As a repeat presenter at our association meetings he has continually wowed the crowd." - Clayton Stewart, PAC Director, Texas Medical Association
“Wanting a candid and thorough assessment of the statewide primary ballot, I arranged for Matt to speak to members from across the state during a board meeting. For more than an hour, he provided insights into the campaign environment and looked ahead to the 2015 legislative session in ways that our members found valuable, useful and clearly helpful. This portion of the board meeting was a big hit for our members, and have been talking about it for months. Matt has the contacts, experience and balanced insight to give a behind the scenes perspective that provides value.” - Jerry Valdez, Executive Director, Career Colleges & Schools of Texas
---
UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS:
June 10 - Boys State (Austin, TX)