By: Perry S.B. No. 1897
(Frullo)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the declaration of a local state of disaster.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 418.108, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (b-1) and
(d-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the presiding
officer of the governing body of a political subdivision may
declare a local state of disaster if the presiding officer finds a
disaster has occurred or that the occurrence or threat of disaster
is imminent.
(b-1) An order or proclamation declaring, continuing, or
terminating a local state of disaster must include:
(1) a description of the nature of the disaster;
(2) a designation of the area threatened; and
(3) a description of the conditions that have brought
the local state of disaster about or made possible the termination
of the local state of disaster.
(c) An order or proclamation issued under this section
[declaring, continuing, or terminating a local state of disaster]
shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed
promptly with the city secretary, the county clerk, or the joint
board's official records, as applicable. If a political
subdivision to which the order or proclamation applies maintains an
Internet website, the political subdivision shall post a copy of
the order on the political subdivision's Internet website.
(d-1) On request of the presiding officer of the governing
body of a political subdivision, the governor may waive or suspend a
deadline imposed by a statute or the orders or rules of a state
agency on the political subdivision, including a deadline relating
to a budget or ad valorem tax, if the waiver or suspension is
reasonably necessary for the political subdivision to cope with a
local state of disaster declared under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.