BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3178 |
By: Phillips |
Homeland Security & Public Safety |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
When a natural disaster occurs, part of the recovery process may include seeking disaster relief assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). However, interested parties report that FEMA has cited parts of current Texas law regarding the statewide mutual disaster aid system as a reason to decline disaster relief to some jurisdictions. Under the law, local governments may enter into mutual aid agreements to assist one another when response needs exceed an individual jurisdiction's capabilities. While the law was originally intended to encourage local governments in a planning region to work together within the region, critics assert that local governments and others involved in emergency management have found that certain procedures and requirements for regional mutual aid overstep local control of emergency management planning and thus have not endorsed or adhered to the policies. FEMA has identified this situation as a reason to decline federal funding. C.S.H.B. 3178 seeks to address this issue.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3178 amends the Government Code to repeal statutory procedures for mutual aid provided under the Texas Statewide Mutual Aid System by the political subdivisions in a state planning region in response to a request by a political subdivision in the region or outside of the region, or by the state. The bill removes the deadline for confirming in writing a verbal request for mutual aid and makes the requirement that a local government entity requesting mutual aid assistance from another such entity under the system reimburse the actual costs of providing the assistance to the entity contingent on the assistance requiring a response that exceeds 12 consecutive hours.
C.S.H.B. 3178 repeals Section 418.114, Government Code.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3178 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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