Local Match - Senate Bill 7
Senate Bill 7 was authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton and carried in the House by Rep. Dade Phelan. The bill provides the "Local Match" for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) projects for the City of Houston along with political subdivisions throughout the state affected by Hurricane Harvey for both Public Assistance (PA) and Hazard Mitigation Grant Projects (HMGP).
The bill is a combination of Rep. Phelan's House Bill 13, which creates a Flood Infrastructure Fund managed by the Texas Water Development Board, and Sen. Creighton's various funds outlined in Senate Bill 7.
The City of Houston was primarily focused on the Hurricane Harvey Account, which was set up to fund the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) financing for projects related to Hurricane Harvey.
Mayor Sylvester Turner and other Gulf Coast officials had advocated for the Texas Legislature to tap the Economic Stabilization Fund — or "Rainy Day Fund" — to provide the Local Match because of massive return on its investment for flood projects.
For FEMA Public Assistance projects, such as repairing buildings and parks and replacing equipment, local governments will get $9 for every $1 spent. For FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Projects, the state pulls down $7.50 in federal aid for every $2.50 spent.
Permanent repairs and reconstruction of the Harvey-damaged facilities, such as police stations, theatre facilities, and City Hall will occur over the next several years. FEMA's PA program will fund repairs or replacement of these facilities. Importantly, the funding will also cover mitigation strategies, i.e. redesigns that will avoid the cost of damage from future disasters.
Over the last year, the City has focused on the need to assess the extent of damages and gain concurrences from FEMA. The City is well advanced in developing approximately 400 site inspection worksheets based on joint damage assessments with FEMA.
Harvey caused significant wind and inundation damage to Houston Public Works' (HPW) water and wastewater operations. Specifically, some 400 wastewater and drinking water lines throughout the City were impacted. The City has deployed technical experts to assess the electrical and mechanical damages and will be working with FEMA over the next year on a plan for wastewater treatment plan consolidation to mitigate future disasters.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) is designed to support cost-effective post-disaster projects in areas following a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration. The amount of HMGP funding available is based on the estimated total federal assistance, subject to a sliding scale formula.
Following Hurricane Harvey, the total calculated amount for HMGP funding in Texas is expected to be over $1 billion. Based on extensive engagement with TDEM and FEMA, the City Recovery Team has estimated that Houston will be eligible for approximately $230 million of HMGP project grants. The City of Houston has evaluated a range of different projects and has submitted 5 applications, totaling $354.5 million in estimated project costs.
Senate Bill 500, the Supplemental Appropriations bill, contains the maximum $273 million to pull down funding for HMGP statewide as well as $365 million for PA for the Texas Division of Emergency Management to distribute to cities and counties.
The Government Relations team was pleased to work with Rep. Dan Huberty, Rep. Jim Murphy, and Rep. Armando Walle on an amendment that helps Houston pull down funds for projects throughout the city. This amendment was critical in ensuring grant dollars help directly finance FEMA projects with minimal bureaucratic delays.
The amendment did three things for Houston: First, it ensured the money for the Hurricane Harvey Account for PA and HMGP projects would be grant money, not loans. Second, it eliminated Public Assistance projects from a priority point system, funding every PA project without competition. This makes sense as PA projects repair damage to existing facilities and shouldn’t be ranked. Finally, it strikes a section requiring that Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding be used as the local match portion, which would have tied Housing and Urban Development (HUD) associated funding strings to these FEMA projects.
The Recovery Team estimates that between Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant projects, the City of Houston will pull down more than $200 million from Senate Bill 7. This makes it one of the most important measures for the City of Houston for the 86th Legislative Session.