Austin is continuing its expanded outreach and enforcement of public encampments that ramped up this spring and has since cleared dozens of sites across the city.

The details: Earlier this year, Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations announced it would be sending out more city crews on a regular basis to address encampments in public areas. That new Homeless Encampment Management, or HEM, program started in May and led to hundreds of site visits citywide in its first month. Dozens of people were connected to shelter or services in that time.

The first 30 days of HEM cost just over $719,000, the majority of which went to city employee and contractor pay. Those costs largely fell under ongoing camping enforcement, officials said, and the program doesn't represent significant new spending.

A new public mapping tool is now live online allowing residents to see where encampments are being cleared and monitored, and the city will share more data on the program later this year.

New wayfinding signs and gateway monuments may soon be installed along Hwy. 290 following a 3-2 vote by the Dripping Springs City Council at a Sep. 1 meeting.

“We just want to remind everyone that it’s more than signs,” People and Communications Director Lisa Sullivan said. “It helps visitors and residents easily navigate Dripping Springs. This is especially important in Dripping Springs, as most of our main shopping area is off [Hwy.] 290.”

The overview: City Council voted to award the project to Fazzone Builders, Inc. on behalf of Southwest Monument and Sign, which submitted the lowest bid by nearly $100,000.

The $260,000 project includes the construction and installation of:

• 20 wayfinding signs

• Three gateway monuments

How it’s funded: The signs will be funded entirely by hotel occupancy tax revenue.

Budgeted funding includes:

• $111,000 from the fiscal year 2025-26 budget

• $150,000 from the FY 2026-27 budget, once adopted by council

The Texas comptroller's office is requesting that lawmakers provide more than $2 billion for the second and third years of the state's education savings account program, which gives participating families taxpayer dollars for private education and homeschooling.

How we got here: The legislature created Texas Education Freedom Accounts in 2025 and allocated $1 billion for the program's first year, the 2026-27 school year.

Nearly 110,000 students have received state dollars from the program so far, and officials said providing another $1 billion annually would ensure the state can "maintain our current participation" in the next two years.

Zooming in: According to the comptroller's legislative appropriations request for the 2028-29 biennium, it would cost approximately $4 billion to maintain funding for current participants, accept the siblings of participating children who will soon qualify for the program and admit more than 106,000 waitlisted students.

Something to note: The comptroller's $2 billion base budget request would not fully cover the waitlist and interest list, which would cost nearly $4 billion for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years.

Three candidates are running to lead the Texas Department of Agriculture in the Nov. 3 election.

The details: Libertarian Austin R. Kelly, Republican Nate Sheets and Democrat Clayton Tucker are vying to become Texas' next commissioner of agriculture. The commissioner's duties include regulating agriculture, administering nutrition programs and providing rural economic development assistance.

How we got here: There is no incumbent in this race after Sheets beat sitting Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in the March Republican primary. Tucker ran uncontested in the March Democratic primary, while Kelly was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.

The winner of the November midterm will be sworn in to succeed Miller in January.

Looking ahead: Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30 in the midterm election, and Election Day is Nov. 3.