| 1 | 1 | | 83R12880 BPG-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Cortez H.R. No. 987 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Public Assistance Program of the Federal |
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| 7 | 7 | | Emergency Management Agency provides grants to state and local |
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| 8 | 8 | | governments to assist them with their response to and recovery from |
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| 9 | 9 | | disasters; and |
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| 10 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Under current FEMA policy, the agency sets a |
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| 11 | 11 | | gross-value financial damage threshold that must be met before a |
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| 12 | 12 | | disaster declaration is issued to allow qualification for the |
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| 13 | 13 | | Public Assistance Program; and |
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| 14 | 14 | | WHEREAS, Property values often vary greatly in counties and |
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| 15 | 15 | | cities struck by catastrophic events, and some communities within |
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| 16 | 16 | | an affected area have lower than average property values that place |
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| 17 | 17 | | them at a severe disadvantage in seeking aid; and |
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| 18 | 18 | | WHEREAS, An economically distressed community may suffer the |
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| 19 | 19 | | same degree of destruction as an affluent neighborhood nearby, but |
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| 20 | 20 | | the dollar amount of damage would be less because the original |
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| 21 | 21 | | property value was much lower; as a result, a less prosperous |
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| 22 | 22 | | community might not be able to meet the gross-value financial |
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| 23 | 23 | | damage threshold established by FEMA, even if the impact of the |
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| 24 | 24 | | disaster was just as significant as in the other communities; and |
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| 25 | 25 | | WHEREAS, The need for disaster relief in a community is not |
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| 26 | 26 | | evenly reflected in the dollar amount of damage, and communities |
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| 27 | 27 | | should not be penalized because they were less affluent than their |
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| 28 | 28 | | neighbors before misfortune befell the entire area; now, therefore, |
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| 29 | 29 | | be it |
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| 30 | 30 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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| 31 | 31 | | Legislature hereby respectfully request that the Federal Emergency |
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| 32 | 32 | | Management Agency amend its financial threshold criteria for |
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| 33 | 33 | | providing disaster aid to allow assistance to communities whose |
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| 34 | 34 | | average property value is lower than the applicable local county or |
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| 35 | 35 | | city average; and, be it further |
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| 36 | 36 | | RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward an official copy of |
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| 37 | 37 | | this resolution to the administrator of the Federal Emergency |
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| 38 | 38 | | Management Agency. |
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