Texas would beef up its disaster-response system after a deadly summer of flooding

Texas would tighten the way the state plans for and recovers from disasters under a sweeping rewrite of the emergency-management statute that the Senate passed during the first called special session. The bill (SB 1) reorganizes preparedness, response, and recovery duties across state agencies, requires a new occupational license for certain disaster-recovery contractors, and authorizes fees to fund the regulatory program.

The measure was the lead vehicle in Gov. Greg Abbott's special-session disaster package, drafted in the wake of the July Hill Country flash floods that killed more than a hundred people. Sen. Perry filed the bill and ushered it through the upper chamber, picking up coauthors from both parties as it moved.

The Senate passed SB 1 on August 11. It cleared the upper chamber as engrossed and was sent to the House for further work, where lawmakers continued tinkering with provisions on contractor licensing and adjustment-authority appropriations.