LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

March 15, 2009

TO:	Honorable Frank Corte, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Defense & Veterans' Affairs
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1998 by McCall (Relating to temporary housing and emergency shelters provided by a political subdivision for disaster victims.), As Introduced

The fiscal impact to the state cannot be determined due to the unknown size, duration, and location of any future disaster.

The bill requires that the state reimburse a city or county that provides temporary housing or emergency shelters during an emergency or disaster declared by the Governor. The bill provides reimbursable costs are all expenses, including lost revenue, associated with the use of public facilities for temporary housing or emergency shelters, and salaries and benefits of city/county personnel performing duties associated with the evacuation of persons during an emergency or disaster.

 

Currently, during a federally declared disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimburses local entities for costs associated with the operation of emergency shelters, including overtime for government employees, shelter security, food, water, and basic medical care. However, FEMA does not reimburse for regular-time salaries or lost revenue for facilities used as emergency shelters.

 

Currently, there are no comprehensive estimates of lost revenues and regular-time salary costs associated with previous disasters for cities and counties in Texas. In addition, the nature of future disasters (size, duration, and location) is unknown. As a result, the fiscal impact to the state cannot be determined.

Local Government Impact

The bill would amend the Government Code adding emergency shelters to the current law that requires a political subdivision to provide to disaster victims during a declared emergency. The bill would allow a political subdivision that provides the main temporary housing or emergency shelters for persons evacuated by order of the Governor to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred, including lost revenue, and salaries and benefits of permanent employees who assist with the evacuation.
 
The number and amount of distributions to an eligible local government from resources available to the state would depend on the amount of available funds, the number of declared disasters in the state in any given fiscal year, and the number of applications for assistance made to the state.

Source Agencies:

301 Office of the Governor, 405 Department of Public Safety

LBB Staff:

JOB, KK, MS, BTA, TP