Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House passes emergency-response bill to streamline disaster-era requirements
Summary
The House approved Senate Bill 4 (substituted for House Bill 2), a measure supporters said will reduce administrative steps to speed state disaster response, including temporarily waiving certain requirements affecting unemployment and enabling faster deployment of state agencies.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee House of Representatives on Jan. 30 approved Senate Bill 4 (substituted for House Bill 2), a measure intended to streamline state procedures during declared emergencies and to reduce bureaucratic steps that officials said slowed response efforts.
House Republican Leader Lou Cochran moved the substitute to conform to Senate Bill 4 and then moved passage on third and final consideration. Cochran told the body the bill “will make the response to disaster response more efficient by waiving certain requirements, involving unemployment as well as making it easier for TEMA to come in and quickly respond to those disasters from a simple request from the local government.”
There was no extended debate on the floor after the sponsor renewed his motion; the clerk recorded that the constitutional majority was received and the bill was declared passed.
The legislation as described on the floor is intended to reduce steps and paperwork for state agencies responding to disasters; the House record did not include further implementation detail during the floor debate and committees will handle rules and execution.
