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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the creation and administration of a disaster recovery |
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fund. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Chapter 418, Government Code, is amended by |
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adding Subchapter I to read as follows: |
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SUBCHAPTER I. DISASTER RECOVERY FUND |
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Sec. 418.201. PURPOSE; INTENT. It is the intent of the |
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legislature that in recovering from a disaster, the first recourse |
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of state and local governmental entities and volunteer |
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organizations should be to the money regularly appropriated to |
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those entities or money received by those entities from other |
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sources in the normal course of operations. Assistance grants |
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provided under this subchapter are intended to mitigate |
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extraordinary burdens of state or local governmental entities and |
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volunteer organizations in relation to available resources. |
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Sec. 418.202. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "fund" means |
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the disaster recovery fund account. |
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Sec. 418.203. DISASTER RECOVERY FUND ACCOUNT. (a) The |
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disaster recovery fund is an account in the general revenue fund to |
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be administered by the division. Money in the fund may be |
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appropriated only for a grant awarded under this subchapter. |
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(b) The fund consists of: |
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(1) money credited, appropriated, or transferred to |
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the fund at the direction of the legislature; |
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(2) federal money credited or transferred to the fund; |
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and |
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(3) gifts and grants contributed to the fund. |
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Sec. 418.204. USE OF MONEY IN DISASTER RECOVERY FUND. The |
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division may award from the fund a grant to a state or local |
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governmental entity or a volunteer fire department that |
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participates in disaster recovery in an area where the governor has |
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declared a state of disaster to assist in the payment of the |
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entity's costs incurred for its recovery efforts. Money granted |
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from the fund may be used only for: |
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(1) a nonfederal match required for a Federal |
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Emergency Management Agency qualifying project; |
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(2) a disaster recovery project to remedy the public |
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damage and direct loss incurred as a result of a disaster; and |
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(3) reimbursement of the entity for costs incurred by |
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compensating its employees for disaster recovery-related |
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activities that are performed in response to the disaster and that |
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are outside of the scope of the employees' normal duties. |
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Sec. 418.205. APPLICATION FOR GRANT FROM DISASTER RECOVERY |
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FUND. The division shall develop and implement rules, procedures, |
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and an application process for an entity to request a grant from the |
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fund. An application for a grant must include: |
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(1) a description of the purposes for which the |
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applicant is requesting the grant assistance; |
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(2) an estimated amount of the cost of the relevant |
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damages sustained by the applicant as a result of the disaster, |
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based on a preliminary damage assessment conducted by the applicant |
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or other relevant information; |
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(3) a certification of the applicant's exhaustion of |
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local effort, including evidence of an applicant's uninsured |
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losses, anticipated revenues and expenditures, and projected |
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losses in local revenue as a result of the disaster; |
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(4) evidence that the applicant is located in a county |
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for which the countywide loss threshold has been exceeded because |
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of the declared disaster, as calculated using the Federal Emergency |
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Management Agency's countywide per capita impact indicator; and |
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(5) evidence that the applicant has staff, policies, |
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and procedures in place adequate to administer the grant. |
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Sec. 418.206. POST-APPLICATION PROCEDURES. (a) On receipt |
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of an application requesting a grant from the fund, and before |
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awarding money in response to the application, the division shall: |
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(1) substantiate the damage estimate provided by the |
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applicant; |
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(2) review the emergency management program and plan |
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in the jurisdiction where the applicant is located; |
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(3) review the information on the staff, policies, and |
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procedures in place to administer the grant submitted by the |
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applicant; and |
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(4) verify that the program, plan, staff, policies, |
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and procedures in place to administer the grant are adequate. |
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(b) The division shall prioritize grants and select grant |
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recipients based on information provided by the applicants, other |
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information available to the division, and criteria adopted by the |
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division. |
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Sec. 418.207. REIMBURSEMENT OF FUND. (a) An entity that |
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receives a grant from the fund and subsequently receives |
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reimbursement from the federal government, an insurer, or another |
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source for the costs for which the grant was awarded shall reimburse |
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the fund for the amounts reimbursed to the eligible entity. |
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(b) The division shall prescribe accounting and other |
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procedures as necessary to ensure that the fund is reimbursed as |
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provided by Subsection (a). |
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SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 614.104, Government |
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Code, the comptroller shall transfer $30 million from the volunteer |
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fire department assistance fund account in the general revenue fund |
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to the disaster recovery fund account created by this Act. The |
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transfer of money required by this section may not be considered for |
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purposes of an assessment under Section 2007.002, Insurance Code. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a |
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vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |