Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1510 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Isaac (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 1510
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2017;
3		-	May 12, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
4		-	Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 19, 2017, reported
5		-	favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 19, 2017,
6		-	sent to printer.)
7		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	H.B. No. 1510
8	2
9	3
10		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	4		AN ACT
12	5		relating to the transfer of certain functions related to emergency
13	6		services districts from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas
14	7		Division of Emergency Management.
15	8		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
16	9		SECTION 1. Section 487.061, Government Code, is transferred
17	10		to Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, redesignated as
18	11		Section 418.053, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
19	12		Sec. 418.053 [487.061]. EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT
20	13		PROGRAM. (a) The division [department] shall serve as a resource
21	14		to provide interested rural communities with:
22	15		(1) general information about emergency services
23	16		districts; and
24	17		(2) information and training related to the
25	18		establishment of an emergency services district.
26	19		(b) The division [department] may:
27	20		(1) provide to fire departments in rural areas
28	21		information relating to assistance programs offered to rural
29	22		volunteer firefighters, including the federal Staffing for
30	23		Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program to help fire
31	24		departments increase staffing and deployment capabilities; and
32	25		(2) provide to rural homeowners information relating
33	26		to the benefits of volunteer fire departments, including a
34	27		reduction in homeowners insurance risk ratings, lower homeowners
35	28		insurance rates, and better fire protection.
36	29		SECTION 2. Sections 775.083(a), (b), and (c), Health and
37	30		Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
38	31		(a) On or before January 1 of each year, a district shall
39	32		file with the Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department of
40	33		Rural Affairs] an annual report that includes the following:
41	34		(1) the district's name;
42	35		(2) the name of each county in which the district is
43	36		located;
44	37		(3) the district's business address;
45	38		(4) the name, mailing address, and term of office of
46	39		each commissioner;
47	40		(5) the name, mailing address, and term of office of
48	41		the district's general manager, executive director, and fire chief;
49	42		(6) the name of each legal counsel or other consultant
50	43		for the district; and
51	44		(7) the district's annual budget and tax rate for the
52	45		preceding fiscal year.
53	46		(b) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department
54	47		of Rural Affairs] may not charge a fee for filing the report.
55	48		(c) The Texas Division of Emergency Management [Department
56	49		of Rural Affairs] shall develop and maintain an Internet-based
57	50		system that enables:
58	51		(1) a district to securely file the report and update
59	52		the district's information; and
60	53		(2) the public to view, in a searchable format, the
61	54		reports filed by districts under this section.
62	55		SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2018, the following are
63	56		transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Texas
64	57		Division of Emergency Management:
65	58		(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and
66	59		activities of the Department of Agriculture relating to the duties
67	60		described by Section 418.053, Government Code, as transferred,
68	61		redesignated, and amended by this Act;
69	62		(2) any obligations and contracts of the Department of
70	63		Agriculture that are directly related to implementing a power,
71	64		duty, function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1)
72	65		of this section; and
73	66		(3) all property and records in the custody of the
74	67		Department of Agriculture that are related to a power, duty,
75	68		function, program, or activity described by Subdivision (1) of this
76	69		section and all funds appropriated by the legislature for that
77	70		power, duty, function, program, or activity.
78	71		SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
79	72		775.083, Health and Safety Code, applies only to an annual report
80	73		due on or after January 1, 2019. An annual report due before
81	74		January 1, 2019, is governed by the law as it existed immediately
82	75		before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
83	76		effect for that purpose.
84	77		SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
85		-	* * * * *
	78	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	79	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	80	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1510 was passed by the House on May 4,
	81	+	2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	82	+	voting.
	83	+	______________________________
	84	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	85	+	I certify that H.B. No. 1510 was passed by the Senate on May
	86	+	24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	87	+	______________________________
	88	+	Secretary of the Senate
	89	+	APPROVED: _____________________
	90	+	Date
	91	+	_____________________
	92	+	Governor