Governor signs disaster relief bills in Houston

HOUSTON (FOX 26) – Governor Greg Abbott will be in Houston on Thursday to sign legislation related to disaster relief and preparedness.

Gov. Abbott will host the bill signing ceremony at Gallery Furniture. He will be joined by local elected officials and members of the Houston community.

The governor’s office says he will sign the following bills:

House Bill 5 (Phelan, Kolkhorst) requires the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to develop a catastrophic debris management plan and training and establishes a work group to make recommendations on how local governments and property owners’ associations can assist with recovery efforts. It also requires TDEM to develop a model contract for debris removal.

House Bill 7 (Morrison, Huffman) requires the Office of the Governor to develop a list of waivers that could be implemented following a disaster, and requires TDEM to develop a plan to assist local communities with disaster preparation contracts for services.

Senate Bill 6 (Kolkhorst, Morrison) requires TDEM to develop a disaster response model guide and a wet debris study group for local communities. SB 6 also creates a disaster recovery loan program within TDEM for communities that suffered significant infrastructure damage.

Senate Bill 7 (Creighton, Phelan) establishes the framework for providing a total of $1.6 billion through the Texas Infrastructure Resilience Fund (TIRF) as matching funds available to those communities hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey, and through the Flood Infrastructure Fund for statewide infrastructure projects to mitigate future flooding events.