Bill Text: TX HB4479 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of a grant program and task force relating to disaster issues affecting persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-26 - Referred to Homeland Security & Public Safety [HB4479 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB4479-Introduced.html

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86R14738 AAF-D
By: Walle H.B. No. 4479

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a grant program and task force
relating to disaster issues affecting persons who are elderly and
persons with disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 418, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter F-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F-1. DISASTER ISSUES AFFECTING PERSONS WHO ARE ELDERLY
AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Sec. 418.131. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Disability" means, with respect to an individual,
a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits at least
one major life activity of that individual.
(2) "Task force" means the task force established
under Section 418.132.
Sec. 418.132. ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE. The task force on
disaster issues affecting persons who are elderly and persons with
disabilities is established to:
(1) administer the grant program under Section
418.134; and
(2) study methods to more effectively:
(A) assist persons who are elderly and persons
with disabilities during a disaster or emergency evacuation; and
(B) accommodate persons who are elderly and
persons with disabilities in emergency shelters.
Sec. 418.133. COMPOSITION. (a) The task force is composed
of 11 members appointed by the governor, including:
(1) three members who are first responders;
(2) one member who represents municipalities;
(3) one member who represents counties; and
(4) six members who represent persons with
disabilities, including one who represents persons who are blind,
one who represents persons who are deaf, and one selected from a
list provided by ADAPT of Texas.
(b) A majority of the members appointed to the task force
must be persons with disabilities or guardians of children with
disabilities.
(c) Members serve staggered six-year terms with the terms of
three or four members expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered
year.
(d) The governor shall designate one member of the task
force to serve as the presiding officer of the task force. The
presiding officer serves in that capacity at the pleasure of the
governor.
Sec. 418.134. GRANT PROGRAM. (a) From funds appropriated
for the purpose and gifts, grants, and donations accepted for the
purpose, the division shall award grants as provided by this
subchapter to provide financial support for:
(1) activities that include persons who are elderly
and persons with disabilities in the preparation for, response to,
recovery from, and mitigation of disasters;
(2) strategies and procedures that implement
community-level practices that decrease deaths, injuries, and harm
resulting from disasters to persons who are elderly and persons
with disabilities;
(3) the development of state and local policies that
reinforce and promote the inclusion of persons who are elderly and
persons with disabilities in community preparation for disasters;
and
(4) research related to disasters and persons who are
elderly and persons with disabilities.
(b) The task force shall review grant proposals and
recommend grant recipients to the division. The division shall
award grants based on those recommendations.
(c) The division shall establish procedures to administer
the grant program, including a procedure for the submission of a
proposal.
(d) The division shall enter into a contract with each grant
recipient that includes performance requirements. The division
shall monitor and enforce the terms of the contract. The contract
must authorize the division to recoup grant money from a grant
recipient for failure of the grant recipient to comply with the
terms of the contract.
(e) The division may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
donations from any source for the purpose of awarding grants under
this section.
Sec. 418.135. TASK FORCE STUDY. (a) The task force shall
study methods to more effectively accommodate persons who are
elderly and persons with disabilities during a disaster or
emergency evacuation. The study must examine and make
recommendations on:
(1) the provision of informational materials to
persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities before a
disaster occurs on disaster or emergency evacuation;
(2) the accessibility of transportation and medical
supplies to persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities
during a disaster;
(3) different solutions for accommodating persons who
are elderly and persons with disabilities during a disaster or
emergency evacuation of a rural or urban area;
(4) the ability to effectively communicate with
persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities during a
disaster; and
(5) the availability of volunteers to assist persons
who are elderly and persons with disabilities during an emergency
evacuation.
(b) The task force shall develop and submit a written report
of the study and recommendations developed by the task force to the
governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
representatives, and each member of the legislature not later than
December 1, 2020.
(c) This section expires June 1, 2021.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.