BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 6

By: Morrison

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There have been calls for the state to do more to ensure that local jurisdictions are equipped to respond to and recover from devastating natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey. C.S.H.B. 6 seeks to answer those calls through the development of a disaster recovery task force.

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. 6 amends the Government Code to require the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to develop a disaster recovery task force to operate throughout the long-term recovery period following natural and man-made disasters by providing specialized assistance for communities and individuals to address financial issues, available federal assistance programs, and recovery and resiliency planning to speed local-level recovery efforts. The bill authorizes the task force to include and use the resources of any appropriate state agencies, including institutions of higher education, and of organized volunteer groups. The bill requires the task force to develop procedures for preparing and issuing a report listing each project related to a disaster that qualifies for federal assistance and requires a report to be submitted to the appropriate federal agencies as soon as practicable after any disaster. The bill requires the task force to provide a quarterly briefing to members of the legislature, legislative staff, and state agency personnel on the response and recovery efforts for previous disasters and on any preparation or planning for potential future hazards, threats, or disasters.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 6 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute does not include The Texas A&M University System specifically as an entity that the task force may include and whose resources the task force may use, but the substitute provides that the task force may include and use the resources of institutions of higher education.