Building bipartisan policies in Austin
Why it matters: Republicans have a tight grip on the state House and Senate, and Texas is not known for bipartisan policymaking.
How it works: Builders, the nonpartisan nonprofit, is bringing its Citizen Solutions initiative this fall. The nonprofit was co-founded by Daniel Lubetzky, who also founded KIND Snacks.
It will assemble residents from across the state and political spectrum to discuss health care policy.
The aim is to come up with practical policy proposals for the Texas Legislature.
What they're saying:"A lot of the issues that our country is dealing with, Texas is dealing with," Lubetzky tells Axios.
The latest: Builders last week released polling that highlighted areas in which Democratic, Republican and independent Texans agree, including allowing pharmacists to test and treat common illnesses and requiring employers to contribute to their employees' child care costs.
Zoom in: The nonprofit also released polling of Travis County residents.
87% of Travis County residents polled support spending money on modernizing and maintaining the local electric grid to make it more weather-resilient, even if it slightly increases utility rates in the short term.
74% support the Austin Police Department prioritizing the creation and implementation of a recruiting plan to fill police officer vacancies.
61% support the use of automated license plate recognition cameras to allow police to detect stolen vehicles and other criminal activity.
Reality check: Polling is one thing; politics is another.
In June, the city of Austin shut down a license plate camera program over fears the surveillance technology could be used to track immigrants or Texans seeking abortions.
The intrigue: Last year, Lubetzky contributed $160,000 to the campaign of Jeremy Sylestine, who framed himself as a moderate in his unsuccessful Democratic primary bid to unseat Travis County district attorney José Garza.
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