BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3290

By: Guillen

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided governments with coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds to invest in the needs of each fund recipient. Under current law, the next generation 9-1-1 service fund receives funds from this source and from other federal sources, but clarification is needed with respect to the use of these funds and the availability of other funds that may be used for enhancing the state administration of emergency communications. C.S.H.B. 3290 seeks to address this issue by providing for the distribution of these federal funds to emergency communication districts to support the deployment and reliable operation of next generation 9-1-1 service and additionally providing for the distribution of state funds to ensure that the next generation 9-1-1 service in Texas is adequately funded and efficiently deployed.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3290 amends the Health and Safety Code to postpone from September 1, 2025, to December 31, 2028, the expiration of statutory provisions governing the next generation 9-1-1 service fund. The bill provides for state funding of the fund, which currently includes only federal coronavirus recovery funds by requiring the comptroller of public accounts to transfer any amount available from any state governmental source to the credit of the fund as soon as practicable after the effective date of the most recent legislative appropriation for purposes of the state administration of emergency communications. The bill requires the Commission on State Emergency Communications (CSEC), from money appropriated to it for that purpose, to distribute to each emergency communications district that does not participate in the state system a portion of the appropriated money in an amount proportional to the population of the district's service area compared to the state's population. The bill requires the CSEC, for each emergency communication district created under statutory provisions governing local administration of emergency communications that is entitled to a portion of that distributed money, to reduce the portion to which that district is entitled by an amount equal to nine percent of that portion and distribute that resulting amount in equal shares to all the emergency communication districts created under those provisions and distribute to that district the remainder of the portion to which the district is entitled that is not distributed per that reduction. The bill requires the remaining money appropriated to the CSEC for the state administration of emergency communications not otherwise distributed under these bill provisions to be deposited to the 9-1-1 services fee account.

C.S.H.B. 3290 postpones the deadlines for the distribution and the expenditure of all federal money in the fund from December 31, 2022, and December 31, 2024, respectively, to August 31, 2024, and December 31, 2026.

C.S.H.B. 3290 applies beginning with the 2024-2025 state fiscal biennium.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3290 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Whereas the introduced postponed the expiration of statutory provisions governing the next generation 9-1-1 service fund to December 31, 2026, the substitute further postpones this expiration to December 31, 2028.

While both the introduced and the substitute require the comptroller to transfer certain money as soon as practicable following the effective date of the most recent legislative appropriation for a certain purpose, the substitute clarifies that this purpose is for the state administration of emergency communications.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced establishing that the bill's provisions apply beginning with the 2024-2025 state fiscal biennium.