House adopts conference report on disaster relief funding; $200M for grants, $50M for county monitoring

The Texas House adopted the conference committee report on Senate Bill 5, approving a package of disaster‑related funding that includes $200 million for governor’s disaster grants and FEMA match support, $50 million for river monitoring and county preparedness in July flood areas, $28 million for meteorological equipment and a contingent appropriation tied to implementation of camp safety legislation (SB 1).

“First, it has $200,000,000 that will go to the governor’s office for disaster grants,” Representative Bonin said while explaining the report. He said the funding covers FEMA matches from the July 4 floods and improves capitalization to respond to future disasters. Bonin described an additional $50 million to allow counties in the disaster area to improve river monitoring and alert systems and $28 million for meteorological equipment to strengthen forecasting and situational awareness.

The conference committee report also includes contingent funding that will be available to the Department of State Health Services if SB 1 is enacted, Bonin said. Members debated whether the conference report should have included more funding for statewide communications interoperability; Representative Bonin and others said the package focused on immediate capital and matching needs and on meteorological capacity.

The House adopted the conference committee report on a recorded vote, 129‑0.