85R23081 SMT-D

By: Isaac H.B. No. 1510

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1510:

By: Alvarado C.S.H.B. No. 1510

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the transfer of certain functions related to emergency services districts from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 487.061, Government Code, is transferred to Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, redesignated as Section 418.053, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 418.053 [487.061]. EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT PROGRAM. (a) The division [department] shall serve as a resource to provide interested rural communities with:

(1) general information about emergency services districts; and

(2) information and training related to the establishment of an emergency services district.

(b) The division [department] may:

(1) provide to fire departments in rural areas information relating to assistance programs offered to rural volunteer firefighters, including the federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program to help fire departments increase staffing and deployment capabilities; and

(2) provide to rural homeowners information relating to the benefits of volunteer fire departments, including a reduction in homeowners insurance risk ratings, lower homeowners insurance rates, and better fire protection.

SECTION 2. Sections 775.083(a), (b), and (c), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) On or before January 1 of each year, a district shall file with the Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department of Rural Affairs] an annual report that includes the following:

(1) the district's name;

(2) the name of each county in which the district is located;

(3) the district's business address;

(4) the name, mailing address, and term of office of each commissioner;

(5) the name, mailing address, and term of office of the district's general manager, executive director, and fire chief;

(6) the name of each legal counsel or other consultant for the district; and

(7) the district's annual budget and tax rate for the preceding fiscal year.

(b) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department of Rural Affairs] may not charge a fee for filing the report.

(c) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department of Rural Affairs] shall develop and maintain an Internet-based system that enables:

(1) a district to securely file the report and update the district's information; and

(2) the public to view, in a searchable format, the reports filed by districts under this section.

SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2018, the following are transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas Division of Emergency Management:

(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and activities of the Department of Agriculture relating to the duties described by Section 418.053, Government Code, as transferred, redesignated, and amended by this Act;

(2) any obligations and contracts of the Department of Agriculture that are directly related to implementing a power, duty, function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1) of this section; and

(3) all property and records in the custody of the Department of Agriculture that are related to a power, duty, function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1) of this section and all funds appropriated by the legislature for that power, duty, function, program, or activity.

SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section 775.083, Health and Safety Code, applies only to an annual report due on or after January 1, 2019. An annual report due before January 1, 2019, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.