Horns Up: City Council Supports raising minimum wage for part-time city employees

On Thursday, the Austin City Council passed a resolution supporting a minimum wage of $11 per hour for all part-time city employees — the same minimum wage that full-time city employees currently make. On April 18, the council also passed a resolution expressing support for an increased state minimum wage or the ability of local municipalities to set their own minimum wages, which they currently cannot do. Horns up to the council for doing what they can to support raising the minimum wage, because $7.25 per hour is simply not enough to make ends meet in Austin. We hope that more city councils around the state will follow suit, and that the Texas legislature will do something about this pressing issue in the upcoming 2015 session.

Horns Up: Austin breweries can now sell beer on-site

Last Thursday, the Austin City Council unanimously passed an amendment that would reverse language in the City Code restricting beer sales at breweries. The reversal comes after the state legislature passed a law allowing Texas breweries to sell their beer on-site last June. For a few months, the delicious craft alcohol was flowing in Austin. However, Austin City Officials soon realized that selling beer on-site, while no longer prohibited under state law, was still in some cases a violation of city code. Consequently, the breweries were forced to turn off their taps. The limitation, according to the Austin American-Statesman, lowered some local breweries’ sales. Thursday’s decision will offer the breweries more leeway to sell on-site; however, breweries within 540 feet of a family home will have to either acquire a conditional use permit or challenge the zoning laws. Still, progress is progress, and summer is coming — so Horns Up to the Austin City Council for making a change that benefits both local businesses and our chances of getting a frothy glass of cold beer.