86R11574 JRJ-D
 
  By: Morrison H.B. No. 2794
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the administration of emergency management in this
  state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.003(6), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
               (6)  "Other agency of higher education" means The
  University of Texas System, System Administration; The University
  of Texas at El Paso [Western University] Museum; The Texas A&M
  University System, Administrative and General Offices; Texas A&M
  AgriLife Research [Agricultural Experiment Station]; Texas A&M
  AgriLife [Agricultural] Extension Service; Rodent and Predatory
  Animal Control Service (a part of the Texas A&M AgriLife 
  [Agricultural] Extension Service); Texas A&M Engineering
  Experiment Station (including the Texas A&M Transportation
  Institute); Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service; Texas A&M 
  Forest Service; Texas Division of Emergency Management; Texas Tech
  University Museum; Texas State University System, System
  Administration; Sam Houston Memorial Museum; Panhandle-Plains
  Historical Museum; Cotton Research Committee of Texas; Texas Water
  Resources Institute [of Texas]; Texas A&M Veterinary Medical
  Diagnostic Laboratory; and any other unit, division, institution,
  or agency which shall be so designated by statute or which may be
  established to operate as a component part of any public senior
  college or university, or which may be so classified as provided in
  this chapter.
         SECTION 2.  Section 88.001, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 88.001.  AGENCIES AND SERVICES. The agencies and
  services of the Texas A&M [A & M] University System are:
               (1)  the Texas A&M Forest Service (see Subchapter B of
  this chapter);
               (2)  [the] Texas A&M AgriLife Research [Agricultural
  Experiment Station] (see Subchapter C of this chapter);
               (3)  the Texas A&M AgriLife [Agricultural] Extension
  Service, established by action of the board of directors;
               (4)  the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station,
  established by action of the board of directors;
               (5)  the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service,
  established by action of the board of directors;
               (6)  the Texas Division of Emergency Management (see
  Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code); and
               (7) [(6)]  other agencies and services that may be
  established by law or by action of the board of directors.
         SECTION 3.  Section 418.013(b), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  The emergency management council is composed of
  representatives of state agencies, boards, commissions, and
  organized volunteer groups designated by the head of each entity.
  At least once each biennium, the governor shall review the
  composition of the council and, if necessary, update or expand the
  participating entities.
         SECTION 4.  Section 418.041, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 418.041.  ORGANIZATION. (a) The Texas Division of
  Emergency Management is a component [division] of The Texas A&M
  University System [the department].
         (b)  The division is managed by a chief appointed by the
  [public safety director of the department, with the approval of
  the] governor.  The chief serves at the pleasure of the governor
  [public safety director]. The chief must possess professional
  training and knowledge consisting of not less than five years of
  managerial or strategic planning experience in matters relating to
  public safety, security, emergency services, and emergency
  response.
         (c)  At least once every two months, the following shall meet
  to coordinate efforts, prevent overlap of activities, and ensure
  that the state's approach to emergency management and homeland
  security is unified:
               (1)  a representative of the department;
               (2)  a representative of the division;
               (3)  [a representative of the governor's office of
  homeland security;
               [(4)]  the presiding officer of the Homeland Security
  Council; and
               (4) [(5)]  a state agency representative from the
  emergency management council, selected by the chair of the
  emergency management council.
         (d)  The division shall employ other coordinating and
  planning officers and other professional, technical, secretarial,
  and clerical personnel necessary to the performance of its
  functions.
         (e)  The division shall manage and staff the state operations
  center under an agreement with the department.
         SECTION 5.  Section 418.050(c), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  The division, in consultation with representatives of
  affected parties and local emergency management directors, shall
  develop a reentry credentialing process.  The division shall
  include the credentialing process in the phased reentry plan.  The
  department [Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas]
  shall provide support for the credentialing process.
         SECTION 6.  Section 418.051(c), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (c)  The communications coordination group consists of
  members selected by the division, including representatives of:
               (1)  the Texas military forces;
               (2)  the department [Department of Public Safety of the
  State of Texas];
               (3)  the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
               (4)  federal agencies that comprise Emergency Support
  Function No. 2;
               (5)  the telecommunications industry, including cable
  service providers, as defined by Section 66.002, Utilities Code;
               (6)  electric utilities, as defined by Section 31.002,
  Utilities Code;
               (7)  gas utilities, as defined by Sections 101.003 and
  121.001, Utilities Code;
               (8)  the National Guard's Joint Continental United
  States Communications Support Environment;
               (9)  the National Guard Bureau;
               (10)  amateur radio operator groups;
               (11)  the Texas A&M Forest Service;
               (12)  the Texas Department of Transportation;
               (13)  the General Land Office;
               (14)  the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service [of
  The Texas A&M University System];
               (15)  the Public Utility Commission of Texas;
               (16)  the Railroad Commission of Texas;
               (17)  the Department of State Health Services;
               (18)  the judicial branch of state government;
               (19)  the Texas Association of Regional Councils;
               (20)  the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air
  Patrol, Texas Wing;
               (21)  each trauma service area regional advisory
  council;
               (22)  state agencies, counties, and municipalities
  affected by the emergency, including 9-1-1 agencies; and
               (23)  other agencies as determined by the division.
         SECTION 7.  (a)  On January 1, 2020:
               (1)  the administration of the Texas Division of
  Emergency Management shall be transferred from the Department of
  Public Safety of the State of Texas to The Texas A&M University
  System;
               (2)  all rules, policies, procedures, and decisions of
  the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas relating to
  the administration of the Texas Division of Emergency Management
  are continued in effect as rules, policies, procedures, and
  decisions of The Texas A&M University System until superseded by a
  rule or other appropriate action by The Texas A&M University
  System;
               (3)  an employee of the Texas Division of Emergency
  Management as operated by the Department of Public Safety of the
  State of Texas becomes an employee of the Texas Division of
  Emergency Management under The Texas A&M University System, and all
  plans and benefits related to that employee are continued in effect
  and without interruption; and
               (4)  a reference in law or administrative rule to the
  Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas relating to the
  administration of the Texas Division of Emergency Management means
  The Texas A&M University System.
         (b)  For purposes of Subsection (a) of this section, an
  employee described by that subsection is:
               (1)  eligible to transfer service credit between the
  Employees Retirement System of Texas and the Teacher Retirement
  System of Texas, as provided by Chapter 805, Government Code,
  without regard to the years of service credit held in either system;
  and
               (2)  eligible to participate in the group benefits
  program under Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, effective on the date
  of transfer and is not subject to the waiting period under Section
  1551.1055, Insurance Code.
         (c)  Not later than October 1, 2019, the Department of Public
  Safety of the State of Texas and The Texas A&M University System
  shall enter into a memorandum of understanding relating to the
  transfer of the administration of the Texas Division of Emergency
  Management from the Department of Public Safety of the State of
  Texas to The Texas A&M University System as provided by this Act.
  The memorandum must include:
               (1)  a timetable and specific steps and methods for the
  transfer on January 1, 2020, of all powers, duties, obligations,
  rights, contracts, leases, records, real or personal property, and
  unspent and unobligated appropriations and other funds relating to
  the administration of the Texas Division of Emergency Management
  from the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas to The
  Texas A&M University System;
               (2)  measures to ensure against any unnecessary
  disruption to the operation of the Texas Division of Emergency
  Management during the transfer process; and
               (3)  a provision that the terms of any memorandum of
  understanding entered into previously by the governor, The Texas
  A&M University System, the Department of Public Safety of the State
  of Texas, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management and
  related to the transfer remain in effect until the transfer is
  completed.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.