BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 1296

By: Davis, Sarah

Homeland Security & Public Safety

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Concerns have been raised regarding the inefficiency of the process through which an individual may apply for housing-related disaster assistance following a disaster. It has been noted that individuals wishing to apply for such assistance must complete and submit individual applications to various entities offering aid, including the General Land Office (GLO), organized volunteer groups, and local nonprofit organizations. C.S.H.B. 1296 seeks to streamline the application process by requiring the GLO to establish an electronic disaster case management system whereby individuals may submit one application for housing-related disaster assistance to multiple entities.

 

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. 1296 amends the Government Code to require the General Land Office (GLO) to develop and maintain an electronic disaster case management system. The bill requires the system to collect all information needed to obtain disaster assistance from an individual who needs housing-related assistance as a result of a disaster and to allow the individual to designate the entities to which an application for assistance and other information may be sent, including the GLO, organized volunteer groups, and local nonprofit organizations. The bill authorizes the GLO to coordinate with federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental entities, including private nonprofit organizations, for use of the system to gather data from and share information with and between those entities to streamline applications submitted by individual households to relevant disaster assistance providers.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

September 1, 2019.

 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 1296 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 revises the authorization for the GLO to coordinate with FEMA for use of the electronic disaster case management system to share information between state and federal agencies relating to disaster assistance by:

·       expanding the entities with whom GLO coordinates to include federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental entities, including nonprofit organizations;

·       adding the gathering of data from those entities as one of the uses of the system; and

·       adding as a purpose of the data gathering and information sharing the streamlining of applications submitted by individual households to relevant disaster assistance providers.