Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Response Trailers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee backs five additional mass-fatality response trailers with one-time funding
Summary
The Senate Standing Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection recommended Senate Bill 84, authorizing five additional emergency response trailers (one per district) and roughly $200,000 in one-time start-up funding; replacement supplies would be eligible for FEMA reimbursement after a declared disaster.
At its second 2026 session, the Senate Standing Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection gave a favorable recommendation to Senate Bill 84, a measure to add five mass-fatality response trailers across the state and provide a small, one-time appropriation to equip them.
Sponsor Senator Matt Deneen said the trailers would fill gaps in the state (The committee transcript contains the sponsor's full description.)
"This bill does have a, opportunity, for a very small amount of funding, in the in the realm of $200,000," Deneen said, framing the request as an initial, limited state investment to equip trailers that would later be replenished with FEMA funds if used in declared disasters.
Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore and other county coroners told the panel the state (transcript excerpt summarizes coroner testimony.)
"The trailers presently we have are in excess of 20 years old," Pat Elmore said, urging updated equipment and faster response times in counties hit by tornadoes, floods and winter storms.
Committee members asked operational questions. Senator Smith asked whether the trailers would include standby power and generators; witnesses and the sponsor said generator capability would be part of how the county coroner associations recommend equipping each trailer. Senator Boswell suggested the measure might be funded out of the Military Affairs budget rather than general funds; the sponsor did not commit to a specific appropriation source at the hearing.
After brief discussion Senator Richardson moved the bill and Senator Tichenor seconded. The clerk called the roll and senators present answered "Aye." The committee passed SB84 with a favorable recommendation, and the sponsor noted the committee (the committee transmitted that the bill "should pass").
The bill would add five trailers (one per district), bring the total number of dedicated mass-fatality trailers up from the five currently in use, and request about $200,000 in one-time funding; replacement of used supplies would be sought through FEMA after declared disasters. The committee record did not show a detailed procurement plan or an exact appropriation line; those details would appear in subsequent fiscal materials.
