Ann Kitchen | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Member of Austin City Council from the 5th district | |
In office January 6, 2015 –January 6, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Ryan Alter |
Member of the TexasHouseofRepresentatives from the 48th district | |
In office January 9,2001 –January 14,2003 | |
Preceded by | Sherri Greenberg |
Succeeded by | Todd Baxter |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] | December 15,1954
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Mark Yznaga |
Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin (BA,JD) [1] [2] |
Ann Elizabeth Kitchen (born December 15,1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 5th district from 2015 to 2023 and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 2001 to 2003. She is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Kitchen also served as a policy adviser to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She began her career in the Texas Attorney General's consumer protection division. [3]
Ann Kitchen was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives,District 48,in the election of 2000. [4] She was defeated for reelection in 2002 by Republican Todd Baxter following the 2000 redistricting in Texas. [5]
In the legislature,she is best remembered for her contributions to House Bill 1156,which expanded women's access to health care,and Senate Bill 11,the Medical Records Privacy Act. [6]
After leaving the legislature,Ann Kitchen was Executive Director of the Indigent Care Collaboration (ICC) a regional collaboration of public and private hospitals,clinics,MHMR,public health departments,university medical departments,and medical society responsible for providing care for uninsured individuals. [7]
Ann Kitchen was Vice Chair of the City of Austin Charter Revision Committee and the City Councilmember for District 5. [8] Kitchen was elected to Austin City Council District 5 on November 4, 2014. She garnered 54% of the vote in a field of seven candidates and avoided a runoff election. She was sworn in on January 6, 2015. [9] [10]
In 2015, Kitchen proposed regulations on ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. These regulations were presented as necessary for public safety, such as a requirement for fingerprinting rideshare drivers. Opponents, noting that Kitchen received campaign contributions from taxi companies, [11] claimed that the gross receipts tax, rules on fares, and other regulations included in the proposal threatened to drive those companies out of Austin.
On May 9, Kitchen's proposed regulations went into effect after a ballot proposition to alter them, backed by an $8 million Uber/Lyft-funded PAC, [12] was defeated in a special election. In response, Uber and Lyft ceased services in Austin.
In May 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 100, which overruled local ride-share regulations and removed the fingerprint-screening requirement. The non-profit Texans for Public Justice reports that Uber and Lyft spent up to $2.3 million in support of the statewide legislation. [13]
In 2018, Ann Kitchen was elected to her second term in City Council after running unopposed. [14] She did not seek reelection in 2022 and was succeeded by attorney and former state Capitol staffer Ryan Alter. [15]
In January 2016, a recall petition against Kitchen was circulated and submitted to the City Clerk in February 2016 by the Austin4All PAC. Austin4All was criticized by city leaders [16] and many Austinites for its purported lack of transparency and multiple ethics complaints were filed against the PAC, claiming Austin4All violated state election law by knowingly accepting political contributions and making political expenditure over $500 without filing a campaign treasurer appointment. Groups supporting Councilwoman Kitchen were formed as well in order to oppose Austin4All's petition.
In February 2016, Austin4All submitted 5,289 signatures to the city clerk's office. City Clerk Jannette Goodall rejected the recall petition shortly after, citing the group's failure to sign petition sheets in the presence of a notary. [17]
Kitchen is married to Mark Yznaga, a lobbyist with the City of Austin. [18] Prior to her election to the State Legislature, Kitchen was an attorney, [19] and later managed the health care regulatory group of Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Robert Alton "Bob" Gammage was a Texas politician, having served as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas State Senate, and the United States House of Representatives.
Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin, Texas since 2023, previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
Mary M. Cheh is an American Democratic politician from Washington, D.C. From 2007 to 2023, she served on the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 3.
Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand at the time of the booking and are quoted to the customer in advance, and receives a commission from each booking. Lyft is the second-largest ridesharing company in the United States after Uber.
Deborah Young Riddle is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 150, which encompasses much of northwest Harris County in and about Houston, Texas. Riddle was defeated in the Republican primary by Valoree Swanson of Spring, Texas, who then claimed the seat in the general election held on November 8, 2016.
Brian Weinstein is a former Washington State Senator representing the 41st Legislative District.
Ellie Boldman is an American attorney and politician serving as a Democratic member of the Montana Senate, representing District 45. Previously, she served in the Montana House of Representatives, representing District 90, which includes central Missoula, Montana, from 2011 through 2019. Due to state constitutional term limits, Boldman was unable to file for re-election to the Montana House of Representatives and subsequently filed for election to the Montana Senate Seat 45 in 2020.
The law of Texas is derived from the Constitution of Texas and consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory law, as well as case law and local laws and regulations.
A ridesharing company, ride-hailing service, is a company that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street.
Sylvester Turner is an American attorney and politician who was the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 2016. He attended the University of Houston and Harvard Law School. Turner ran for mayor of Houston in 1991, losing in the runoff election to Bob Lanier. He lost again in 2003, coming in third and thus missing the runoff.
The legality of ridesharing companies by jurisdiction varies; in some areas they are considered to be illegal taxi operations, while in other areas, they are subject to regulations that can include requirements for driver background checks, fares, caps on the number of drivers in an area, insurance, licensing, and minimum wage.
Marc Berman is an American lawyer and politician who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2016. He is a Democrat representing the 23rd Assembly District, encompassing parts of the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley, including Campbell, Mountain View, and Saratoga. Before being elected to the Assembly, he was a member of the Palo Alto City Council.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 36 U.S. representatives from the state of Texas, one from each of the state's 36 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the U.S. Senate and various state and local elections. Primaries were held on March 3 and run-offs were held on July 14.
John Harden Bucy III is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 136th District, which includes Northwest Austin, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Round Rock, and the Brushy Creek area in Williamson County.
California Assembly Bill 5 or AB 5 is a state statute that expands a landmark Supreme Court of California case from 2018, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court ("Dynamex"). In that case, the court held that most wage-earning workers are employees and ought to be classified as such, and that the burden of proof for classifying individuals as independent contractors belongs to the hiring entity. AB 5 extends that decision to all workers. It entitles them to be classified as employees with the usual labor protections, such as minimum wage laws, sick leave, and unemployment and workers' compensation benefits, which do not apply to independent contractors. Concerns over employee misclassification, especially in the gig economy, drove support for the bill, but it remains divisive.
Proposition 22 was a ballot initiative in California that became law after the November 2020 state election, passing with 59% of the vote and granting app-based transportation and delivery companies an exception to Assembly Bill 5 by classifying their drivers as "independent contractors", rather than "employees". The law exempts employers from providing the full suite of mandated employee benefits while instead giving drivers new protections:
Emma Greenman is an American politician who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Greenman represents District 63B, which includes parts of south Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
The 2022 Austin mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022 to elect the next mayor of Austin, Texas. The election was nonpartisan; candidates' party affiliations did not appear on the ballot. Incumbent mayor Steve Adler was term-limited and could not run for re-election. In the general election, state representative Celia Israel and former mayor Kirk Watson took the first two spots, leading realtor Jennifer Virden and several other candidates. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the race proceeded to a runoff election between Israel and Watson on December 13, which Watson won by 30 votes.
The 2023 Houston mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, with a runoff on December 9 because no candidate won a majority of the vote in the first round. It was held to elect the mayor of Houston, Texas. Incumbent Democratic mayor Sylvester Turner was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. Municipal elections in Texas are officially nonpartisan.
The 2022 Austin, Texas municipal elections took place on January 25, May 7, November 8, and December 13, 2022.