BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4878

By: Rogers

County Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Constituents of House District 60 have raised concerns regarding the authority that an emergency services district has to determine whether another person may provide those services. C.S.H.B. 4878 seeks to resolve this issue by providing for the exclusive authority of an emergency services district to determine when another person may provide services in the district.

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. 4878 amends the Health and Safety Code to establish the following regarding the emergency services that an emergency services district is authorized to provide:

· the district has the exclusive authority to determine whether another person may provide those services in the district, including when the district's territory overlaps with the territory of another political subdivision authorized to provide those services; but

· the district may not prohibit a county or municipality from providing services in the district under the following circumstances:

o the territory in the district overlaps with the boundaries of the county or municipality; and

o the county or municipality began providing the services to the territory in the district before January 1, 2023, or, for a district created on or after that date, before the date the district was created.

C.S.H.B. 4878 requires a district's board of emergency services commissioners to post a map on the district's website displaying the territory of each authorized emergency service provider in the district and to provide a copy of the map to each political subdivision that overlaps with the district's boundaries and to each public safety answering point that serves the district. The bill's provisions apply only to services provided under a contract entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 4878 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision not present in the introduced that prohibits a district from prohibiting a county or municipality from providing services in the district that the district is authorized to provide if the territory in the district overlaps with the county's or municipality's boundaries and the county or municipality began providing the services in the district before a certain date.

The substitute includes a requirement not present in the introduced for a district's board of emergency services commissioners to post a map on the district's website displaying the territory of each authorized emergency service provider in the district and provide a copy of the map to each applicable political subdivision and public safety answering point.

The substitute changes the bill's effective date to provide for its possible immediate effect, contingent on receiving the requisite constitutional vote, whereas the introduced provided only for the bill to take effect September 1, 2023, with no possibility for immediate effect.