Texas Senate passes flood disaster relief bills amid political tensions

The Texas Senate moved forward Tuesday with a package of bills aimed at disaster relief in the wake of the deadly Independence Day floods in Central Texas.

The upper chamber took up three bills Monday, each shaped by concerns raised during multiple committee hearings following the July 4 flooding. Before the bills came to the floor, the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus staged a walkout to highlight the congressional redistricting standoff that has stalled the Texas House through a quorum break.

State Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) attempted to move the disaster relief bills to the top of the daily calendar but was unsuccessful. “State leaders have a choice: move the funds immediately or keep playing political games with Texans’ lives. If the special session ends without flood relief, Texans will know exactly who to blame — and it’s not the Democrats who are fighting for them,” Menéndez said.

Three-Bill Disaster Relief Package

Senate Bill 1, authored by State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) and described as the “natural disaster omnibus bill,” creates a training program for justices of the peace managing mass fatality events, establishes a command structure priority order, and sets up both a statewide volunteer management system and a mass fatality operations rapid response team. The bill also mandates flood-risk campgrounds have emergency evacuation plans and tasks a new meteorological work group with developing a statewide system of flood gauges and weather-monitoring equipment.

“The hearings were absolutely the best resource for this bill,” Perry said. “They were clear. People knew exactly what went wrong, and they tell us in very articulate terms, and the members did a good job of it together.”

SB 2, offered by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), will require outdoor warning sirens in flood-prone areas. “So we're really adding an auditory component, in these river flood watersheds, to go along with the system alerts that people are getting on their cell phones,” Bettencourt said.

SB 3, from State Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), allocates up to $200 million to match FEMA disaster funds, plus $50 million for flood sirens, $24 million for atmospheric monitoring improvements, and $20 million to establish swift-water rescue training in Texas for Harris and Fort Bend County emergency responders.

All three bills passed the Senate unanimously after the Democratic Caucus returned to the floor. With the disaster relief package approved, the chamber has now cleared most of its priorities for the current special session.