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Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to cut off more than $2 million in state grants for the City of Austin because of police policies on cooperating with federal immigration authorities. This follows Attorney General Ken Paxton launching an investigation into the same policies.
City of Austin leaders got their first peek at the budget forecast for the next fiscal year. Now, city leaders must decide which programs could lose their funding as the city attempts to make up a deficit of millions.
Austinites have plenty of entertainment to choose from this weekend with the Fusebox Festival and Austin Reggae Fest. We’ll tell you about the performances you don’t want to miss.
Austin Signal is made possible by listeners like you. You can support our work by making a donation at supportthispodcast.org
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to cut off more than $2 million in state grants for the city of Austin because of police policies on cooperating with federal immigration authorities. This follows Attorney General Ken Paxton launching an investigation into the same policies. And city of austin leaders got their first peak at the budget forecast for the next fiscal year. That means deciding which programs could lose their funding as the city attempts to make up a deficit of millions of dollars. More about these stories coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:37] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:42] Plus, Austinites have plenty of entertainment to choose from this weekend with Fusebox Festival and Austin Reggae Fest. We’ll let you know about the performances you do not want to miss. That is coming up next, and it’s right here on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, happy Friday, you are listening to Austin Signal here on community powered public radio. This is KUT News, I’m your host Jerry Kuhnel, it’s April 17th, thank you for tuning in. After a high profile case where a woman and her child were deported after calling the Austin police for help, city council and the chief of police adjusted their policies dealing with detailing, excuse me, how APD officers interact with ICE. Now that policy change has drawn the ire of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott. For more about that story, we are talking with KUT’s Government Accountability Reporter Andrew Weber. Andrew, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me, Drew. So what is Austin Police’s current policy when it comes to dealing with ICE and how did it change?
Andrew Weber [00:01:53] Yeah, it changed back in March after the case that you mentioned. It basically says that an officer has to clear any communication with ICE with a supervisor. So, and obviously like an officer that’s, you know, they’re superior on a shift, but specifically in cases with administrative warrants. And those are non-criminal warrants that basically, you know that an immigration judge says you’ve violated XYZ. And you can’t be in the country anymore. It’s not a criminal warrant. So in the past, APD has had this discretion whether they want to reach out to ICE and say, I pulled this person over for a non-violent offense, but they have this administrative warrant. Austin decided to change that policy internally at the police department, and that went into effect and that’s the current policy.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:51] And what has been the state government’s backlash to it so far?
Andrew Weber [00:02:55] They say that that policy limits ICE’s ability to do its job, basically. And Austin, I should note, is not the only city that does this. Houston and Dallas have similar policies, but they’re different in the sense that APD’s policy gives an officer discretion. Houston’s policy is a little more prescriptive and it was passed by city council. In Austin, it was just an administrative tweak in the department. Dallas did a similar thing, but they’ve all come under the microscope of late because Governor Greg Abbott says, and Attorney General Ken Paxton say that they’re basically preventing us from doing the jobs.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:35] And Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to pull $2.5 million in grants to Austin over these ICE policies. Can the governor withhold money from a city like that and how would that affect the city of Austin?
Andrew Weber [00:03:46] Yeah, he absolutely can. I mean, this is the governor’s public safety office, so it’s under his purview. He can say, I don’t think that you’re handling this money well, and I’m gonna take it back. And in the instance of Austin, he didn’t specifically say that the city is violating state law, Senate Bill 4, which requires any police department to basically cooperate with ICE. He did say that it violated the standards. Of the grant application, I should say. They said that they were gonna do this thing. APD changed its policy in March after they’d already signed this grant.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:23] That makes sense. Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching an investigation into these same policies. What could be a potential negative outcome for the city in a case like that?
Andrew Weber [00:04:33] It could lead to a lawsuit. That’s what’s going on in Houston. Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit yesterday against the city about these policies. And that could also lead to, it could lead a couple of things. It could to something that would be a huge deal, which is clawing back any state or federal funding related to law enforcement and immigration, stuff like that. That would obviously be a big deal, but it would- the attorney general, Ken Paxton, would have his way, it would basically order the city to change their policies. He announced this investigation of Austin earlier this week, but has been very quiet about it. With Houston, he said he was investigating and then filed a lawsuit, so it’s not really what Austin’s going to face.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:22] As you mentioned, a lot of this has been happening this week. What have you heard from the city so far in response?
Andrew Weber [00:05:27] I talked with Chito Vela on Monday when news came down that Paxton was investigating Austin. He is an immigration attorney, he obviously is a policymaker. He said that the city is within the guidelines of state law, that the cities lawyers have pored over this law and that they are not violating it. And APD said, you know, we’ll cooperate with the investigation, but they believe that they are they’ve sort of threaded that needle and they’re following state law. Allowing police to cooperate with ICE, but putting a little bit more oversight into the situation.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:04] That is Andrew Weber he is KUT’s government and accountability reporter. Thank you for speaking with us Andrew
Andrew Weber [00:06:10] Thank you very much, Jarek.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:11] And we’re going to have a link to his report is reporting in today’s show notes. The city of Austin is preparing its budget for the next fiscal year, and doing so means considering which programs will receive the funding needed to keep their services going. This year’s budget process is happening after the failure last November of Proposition Q that was a controversial city-backed plan to raise more than $100 million in property tax revenue to pay for city projects. For more about the budget process, we’re speaking with Luz Moreno-Lozano, she’s KUT’s City Hall reporter, she is with us now. Hi Luz!
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:06:56] Hey, thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:57] Of course, thanks for coming back. So a first draft of the budget was released this week. What did it look like?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:07:04] Well, so the first draft is looking at how the city can provide this basic city services without raising a portion of property taxes. Okay. It’s called the No New Revenue Tax.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:18] Yeah, I read about that in your story. What is that?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:07:20] So it’s basically the part of the property tax rate that would generate the same amount of money in property taxes as the city generated in the previous year. So the way that Mayor Watson kind of explained this to me is like, if you were to take 51 cents of, it’s 52 cents I think, if you where to take a portion of that tax rate and it’s like 39 cents, if we left that 39 cents the same, what would the budget look like? What could we fund if we didn’t raise that part of the property tax rate? And essentially what we found yesterday is that if we don’t change that tax rate, the city would project a deficit of like $26.4 million.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:03] Okay, I’d say a little bit more about the 17 million dollars in cuts that’s happening. That’s part of the deficit, correct?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:08:09] Yes, so the $17 million is what the city would cut in social services contracts. Those are the things that pay for permanent supportive housing, programs that help domestic violence survivors and sexual assault survivors, kids programs, those kinds of things. But that $17,000,000 cut is included in that $26.4 million. So even if the city… Cuts all of those social services contracts, they would still see a $26.4 million deficit.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:40] Okay, so tell us more about some of the projects and some of city programs that are being looked at closely.
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:08:46] Yeah, so this money will still cover some really big things. They had raised wages for public safety, so that’s included. They wanna keep that marshaling yard emergency shelter open and they’ve made it very clear. So there’s money in there for that. But they’re looking at if they were to make cuts, if they had to decide that this is what happens, permanent supportive housing is on there. I saw several. Funding line items that go toward that. I saw some that were like adult education programs, the Austin ISD and the city of Austin provide funding for these programs for people who are, they have like English as a second language, they might be immigrants, those kinds of things. And the other one was like, if we were to cut library programs, those kinds things, they’re like, everything is basically on the table.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:38] Have there been any other considerations from the City Council when it comes to providing money for the budget?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:09:44] Yeah, they are still considering going to Voters for a Bond. There was a lot of talk about somewhere around $700 million. And what that would mean for property taxes is still to be determined. But yeah, on that Bond project list are things like library improvements and park upgrades and bike lanes, things that kind of improve pedestrian and biker safety for people. Um, so that’s still a possibility. Now they haven’t called for it yet. I, I, um, I’ll be curious to see how that plays out considering that they’re like, we need to like address affordability and how do you do that? If you ask people for more money, uh, so we’ll see if that happens. Um, but yeah, I think that will be another way that they are going to try to fill the gap if they can’t fund everything.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:31] Yeah, and I’m sure there might be a little hesitancy as well considering what happened with proposition Q last November So you made clear that this is the first step in the process. What happens next or what are you watching for next?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:10:43] Yeah, so they’ll give another presentation to the city council as a whole next week. You know, they won’t start having these budget discussions until July, like publicly. Now the next couple of months, we’ll give them a chance to be like, okay, what is it that is top priority for me and for my constituents and how do we come to an agreement? But those initial like big discussions that we will have as a community won’t start until July and then they will adopt it in August.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:09] All right, we have been speaking with Luz Moreno Lozano. She is KUT City Hall reporter. We’re gonna have a link to her latest reporting in today’s show notes. Luz, thank you for your time. Thanks, Jerry. And thank you for spending your Friday here with us. This is Austin Signal. We’ll be back after a break. This is Austin Signal, welcome back. The Rude Mechanicals have created and performed original work for the theater since 1996. During this year’s Fusebox Festival, they’ll present the latest version of their piece, Not Every Mountain. For KUT’s art beat, Karen Bernstein visited the group to find out what it’s like working as a collective and sharing artistic vision.
Karen Bernstein [00:11:53] On a beautiful spring day in Austin, I pull up to Crash Box. It’s a small theater in rehearsal space in what looks like an industrial parking garage. It’s dark, dusty, crammed full of posters and props, all from the 30 years that the Rude Mechanicals have brought award-winning theater to Austin and the world. The Rude mechanicals, or Rude Mechs, as they call themselves, have innovated and performed original and often challenging work for the theater since 1996. They describe themselves as genre averse.
Madge Darlington [00:12:30] It keeps hot though, it’s warm. Johnny! We’re up here! Today!
Karen Bernstein [00:12:34] But today they are chatting about a work in progress that has been in progress since 2017. Not every mountain. I ask them to introduce themselves.
Madge Darlington [00:12:46] Madge Darlington, and I’m one of the co-producing artistic directors of Rude Mix.
Shawn Sides [00:12:51] This is Shawn Sides and I am also one of the co-producing artistic directors of Rune Mic.
Thomas Graves [00:12:57] This is Thomas Graves, and I’m also one of the co-producing artistic directors of the Rude Max.
Kirk Lynn [00:13:04] Lynn, and I am also one of the co-producing artistic directors of The Rude Max.
Peter Stopschinski [00:13:10] I’m Peter Stapschinski. I’m the composer for Not Every Mountain. And decidedly not a co- producing artistic director.
Karen Bernstein [00:13:19] All the members, except the composer, are co-pads, or co-producing artistic directors. That means they share responsibilities and artistic vision. Here’s writer Kirk Lynn to explain.
Kirk Lynn [00:13:32] We talk sometimes about the feeling like a cycling team that different people can take the lead at different times and different people can sort of draft off of other people’s energy. There’s a lot of active love that we have to talk a lot and listen a lot and love in that full sense of like family and really close friends and partners where we have rattle with each other. There doesn’t seem to be a way out of the collective. So we have to stay in and love one another even as we drive each other crazy.
Karen Bernstein [00:14:01] Like Lynn, Madge Darlington and Sean Sides have been with Rude Mechanical since its inception. They’re hard-pressed to talk about the downsides of working as a collective in the theater, but…
Madge Darlington [00:14:15] Is that instead of paying one artistic director salary, we’ve had to spread that over many artistic directors. Yeah, it’s a difficult model.
Shawn Sides [00:14:24] Difficult model, but I think that it’s, I think, that is why the longevity. Yeah, because we have to, like, it’s slow. Disadvantage. Slow. Decision making is very slow. We have to, like, find consensus with everyone, but, um, like you can get down to what it is that’s bothering you about something, and then, like get everybody in on, like okay, well let’s solve for that.
Karen Bernstein [00:14:52] A haunting musical score seeps in as the rude mechs begin rehearsal. The composer was fascinated by a scientific theory of Earth’s cavity emitting magnetic waves silent to the human ear. That hum is popularly known as the Earth’s heartbeat. Thomas Graves is the set designer and a performer in Not Every Mountain.
Thomas Graves [00:15:18] Not Every Mountain, the audience is seated in the round and at one end of the space there’s a reader and at the other end of this space there is musician Piepstapschinsky with the composer playing a live score. And the reader is reading a text, an original text by Kirk Lynn, and pretty much every sentence starts with Not Every Mountains.
Karen Bernstein [00:15:41] Here’s the playwright Kirk Linegan.
Kirk Lynn [00:15:45] The action on the stage is that a mountain is slowly built over the course of an hour or so. And the mountain is built out of a lot of engineering that Thomas did in a really obsessive and I think pleasurable way. He made these cardboard pentahedrons and tetrahedrons that tessellate and they have rare earth magnets in it and they make a really satisfying click when they go together. And you can build beautiful shapes with it.
Karen Bernstein [00:16:14] Not Every Mountain was first performed in 2017 and again at Austin’s Fusebox Festival in 2019. Lynn wants to know how the audience at this year’s festival will respond.
Kirk Lynn [00:16:29] What feelings did they have, and then what resonates with them in terms of relationship of the mountain to their own life, to creation and destruction in their own life. As Thomas pointed out, it’s in the round. We also get to watch the audience throughout and it’s really a joy to see what their experience is.
Karen Bernstein [00:16:48] The Rude Mechanicals will perform Not Every Mountain as part of the Fusebox Festival. For KUT’s Art Beat, I’m Karen Bernstein in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:05] Austin Reg A-Fest kicked off today and continues through the weekend across the city. For more, we are talking with Jack Anderson, a producer for KUT and KUTX. Jack, welcome to the Austin Signal. Thanks for having me, Jerry. So tell us a little bit about Reg A Fest for somebody who might not be familiar. How long has this been going on here in Austin?
Jack Anderson [00:17:23] Reggae Fest has been going on here in Austin since 1994. So yeah, over three decades now, it’s a beloved institution. It’s always got a kind of communal aspect to it. Used to be that you could just bring a couple cans of food and that would get you entry. These days they do have ticketing, but a percentage of the proceeds does directly benefit Central Texas Food Bank. It’s a always a great amount of international acts and they’re right here in our backyard.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:50] Yeah, yeah, we have lots of great acts to get to and some great music that we’re going to share with you right now So let’s start with tonight. Well, what’s going on tonight?
Jack Anderson [00:17:59] So tonight is definitely the one I’m most excited for. There’s a lot of great acts. You have a Bermudian artist named Kali Budds. He’s gonna be doing it this afternoon. You’ve got the headliner, Stephen Marley. I feel like I don’t need to say much about Stephen Marlee, if you know anything about reggae, but the one that I’m the most excited for tonight is the act playing seven to eight p.m., and that is Steel Pulse.
Steel Pulse [00:18:22] Repatriation Buildin’ us a brand new nation Nation Ooh Only then the prejudice and bigotry will leave us alone
Jack Anderson [00:18:37] They are a group from England. And yeah, they’re actually the very first group to win the Grammy for Best Reggae Album that’s not from Jamaica.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:47] Okay, okay, okay so they know what they’re doing.
Jack Anderson [00:18:49] They know what they’re doing, they have been doing this since 1975, so over half a century of playing great reggae, and yeah, definitely a legacy act, to say the least.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:59] Okay, cool. Well, Reggae Fest is going on through Sunday, so let’s talk about a Saturday. Who are you excited to hear from?
Jack Anderson [00:19:06] Saturday, I am most excited for the headliner of that, which is Original Coffee. She is from Jamaica. She was the youngest artist to get the award for best reggae album, the Grammy Award. And she was also the first female artist. She did that when she was just 19.
Thomas Graves [00:19:34] Side of me is dead, I said what I said I get out of bed, make sure it’s spread then wash my dreads
Jack Anderson [00:19:40] Now she’s in her mid-20s, so she changed her name from Coffee, and that’s with a K, to Original Coffee last year, slight change, but she really is the younger generation for this modern era of contemporary reggae, a lot of infusions of soul, hip-hop, kind of the more dance hall Afro beats, a lot more for the younger folks, very, very modern sound.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:04] Okay well it sounds like there’s some heavy hitters there, you’ve already mentioned a couple of Grammy winners Friday, Saturday. What’s happening on the last day of the fest?
Jack Anderson [00:20:12] Sunday the one I’m most excited for is somebody who actually Original Coffee called as a sort of inspiration to her and that is fellow Jamaican artist Protoje and that’s spelled P-R-O-T-O J-E That’s gonna be 7 to 8 p.m. And this one I’m mainly excited about because well number one I haven’t seen him before But number two because his tenth album the art of acceptance just came out today
Madge Darlington [00:20:39] Now you can’t let nothing They don’t know your pain
Jack Anderson [00:20:55] Brand new album, it’s going to basically be one of his first appearances, if not his first appearance, playing the new material for everybody. And that album features fellow acts from Reggae Fest this year, Stephen Marley and Jesse Royal. So, going to be great music and because of that kind of overlap might be, you know, some surprise features on stage. Could be some, you now, guests coming up at the last minute. And that’s true of so many of the acts all across the whole weekend.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:20] Yeah, well, a Fusebox festival is also happening this weekend in addition to Austin Reggae Festival. There is obviously a lot to choose from here in Austin, but what do you love so much about Austin Reggaefest?
Jack Anderson [00:21:32] I just love, you know, I’m born and raised here, Jerry, and I’ve been going since I was in middle school. I have very fond memories there. It’s just, it’s so consistent and it’s just a kind of genre that you don’t always expect to have a home in Austin outside of, of course, Flamingo Cantina. But it’s lovely. It’s a very good sense of community. Kids under 10 get in free with a paid parent or guardian. So you see kids there, there’s usually dogs, everyone’s having a good time, it’s just a very positive vibe all around.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:02] And it sounds like a very Austin vibe all around as well. We have been speaking with Jack Anderson. He is a producer here at KUT and KUTX. Jack, thanks for your time. Thank you, Jerry.
Madge Darlington [00:22:12] And now we are on the road, coaching us alone, and we bumping up clothes
Jerry Quijano [00:22:19] And Jack shared three recommendations here with you on the show today. He has even more at KUTX dot or we’re going to have a link to that. In today’s show notes. That is it for today’s show and for this week of Austin Signal. Thank you for tuning in. We couldn’t do this without you and we appreciate you. You can find more from us at kut.org slash signal. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director and Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. I’m your host Jerry Quijano. Have a great weekend. This is Austin Signal.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
