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House approves disaster-preparedness bill creating volunteer management and mass-fatality rules
Summary
The House passed Senate Bill 2, which creates training for justices of the peace handling mass-fatality events, a statewide volunteer management system run by TDEM, clarified command succession during disasters, and authority to neutralize drones in disaster zones.
The Texas House passed Senate Bill 2 on final reading after debate over training standards for officials and the scope of authority to neutralize unmanned aircraft during disasters. The final recorded vote was 132 ayes and 4 nays.
Representative King, who laid out SB 2’s provisions, said the bill “seeks to implement some of these” recommendations from post-flood hearings and described the measure as strengthening disaster response and command continuity. "Being prepared and being ready to respond to a disaster is what we owe the citizens of Texas," King said on the floor.
Key provisions include a requirement that a Justice of the Peace in counties without a…
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