Intergovernmental Relations Interim Report Published

The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations has released their interim report to the 85^th Legislature which includes background, analysis, recommendations, and letters to the Chair. Below is a spotlight on the recommendations directly from the report; however, for complete details please refer to the report.
 
Shared recommendations for Charge 1, Charge 2, and Charge 6 – Unique recommendations for each individual charge are covered in the recommendations for specific charges

• The legislature should consider providing consistency and eliminating the possibility of variances by strengthening the uniformity in ordinance procedures and standards.
• The legislature should improve transparency and find a more appropriate balance between drafting ordinances and providing ordinance information to voters by supporting reforms that provide increased transparency through best practices in Texas statutes that provide a common-sense standard in regard to the process, form, and model language.
• The legislature should weigh-in and afford, at minimum, critical criteria to ensure that ballot language is not misleading by codifying the recent Texas Supreme Court decision  that establishes the "definiteness and certainty" standard in the wording of the ordinances.
• The legislature should take steps to ensure that when local jurisdictions are found by a court of law to have purposely included misleading chief features of an ordinance, measured through their word choice, that safeguards are provided in statutes to eliminate the burden on taxpayers challenging propositions that lack definiteness and certainty.
• The legislature should consider developing a process or establishing an advisory entity that can develop model guidelines, language, and enforcement measures to ensure greater transparency and compliance with state law in ordinance development, drafting, and balloting.
• The legislature should find a better balance in election contests so as to encourage greater citizen participation, while safeguarding the integrity of ordinance making by jurisdictions.
• The legislature should strengthen the delicate balance between cities wishing to expand their jurisdiction and safeguarding private property rights by increasing transparency in the annexation process through greater notice requirements for impacted stakeholders.
• In order to improve the annexation process and provide greater transparency and informed consent to those impacted, the legislature should consider updating the annexation process to provide guidance regarding parcels of land subject to a 3-year annexation plan.
• The legislature should strengthen the annexation process by encouraging greater citizen participation from those impacted by a proposed annexation plan.
• The legislature should ensure uniform structure and procedures that eliminate unnecessary and burdensome administrative requirements that impede citizen interaction in locally-driven petitions.
• The legislature should build-in better statutory safeguards to facilitate greater citizen compliance with administrative petition requirements.
• In order to enhance greater citizen participation and increase uniformity, the legislature should establish uniform thresholds for citizen petitions.
• The legislature should consider providing basic essential information that will inform voters of the potential impact of the issuance of new fiscal obligations.
• The legislature should consider the different possibilities of informing potential voters of the chief measures found in aggregate-item elections.
• The term of new bond debt should not exceed the life of the capital improvements financed by bond proceeds; and unspent bond proceeds should not be used for projects other than those approved by voters at the ballot box.

Interim Charge 3 Specific Recommendations

• Direct the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the General Land Office to do the following:
  • Emphasize disaster mitigation and preparedness in goals of each agency;
  • Enhance training outreach efforts to new emergency management coordinators;
  • Prioritize mitigation resources, financial assistance, and staffing to "hot-spot" regions of Texas, as identified by the Texas Division of Emergency Management;
  • Assist, to the extent possible, local political subdivisions with facilitating immediate disaster recovery federal and state government responsibilities, including accounting and damage assessments; and
  • Work with the legislature to codify best practices learned from recent disaster recoveries.
• The legislature should assess the staffing demands of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the General Land Office.
• The legislature should work with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to find the most effective way to implement a certification track for emergency management coordinators and personnel, online or otherwise.
• The legislature should work with the General Land Office to have available model off the-shelf housing plans that local jurisdictions can utilize immediately after a disaster.
• The legislature should consider providing greater resources to communities in the aftermath of disasters and maximize the leveraging of Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements for up-front costs.
• Review historical local government resource and technical assistance needs and recommend reforms that would decrease administrative burdens and reduce delays in administering disaster recovery funds, and urge the Texas congressional delegation to encourage federal counterparts to do the same.
• The legislature should establish uniform guidelines in order to provide consistency and increase the potential for more participation in disaster response.
• The legislature should develop reforms so that the state’s reconstruction system runs parallel to federal requirements in order to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of rapid housing reconstruction.
• The legislature should work with the Texas congressional delegation to encourage federal agencies to reform their disaster recovery requirements so as to alleviate accounting requirements.
• In order to help victims of disaster, Texas should do the following:
  • Codify goals for disaster recovery in statute, including a timeframe for replacement into permanent housing for those displaced by disasters;
  • Prioritize relationships with community groups and private industry to assist with disaster response preparation;
  • Encourage local jurisdictions to plan before a disaster strikes to encourage local based solutions;
  • Work with nationally renowned Texas A&M University's mitigation center so as to assist local community develop pre-disaster planning;
  • Codify in statute the rapid response demonstration project that maximizes temporary-to-permanent solutions in order to minimize inadequacies and funding waste currently found in the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer procurement program; and
  • Encourage local jurisdictions to plan ahead before disasters strike and develop rebuilding plans in order to have efficient, expedient, and sustaining recovery solutions.
• The legislature should develop guidelines and templates for contract procurement to minimize bureaucratic red-tape and expedite reconstruction.
• The legislature should work with governor’s office in order to have a permanent state agency to oversee all disaster reconstruction efforts in the state to ensure timely decisions, consistency, and effectiveness in all parts of reconstruction.
• The legislature should make SB 1376, out of the 84th Regular Legislative Session, the standard for disaster reconstruction in the State of Texas.

Interim Charge 4 Specific Recommendations

• The Committee should adopt policies that specifically confirm that all required notices relating to the creation of management districts have occurred prior to considering a creation or legislative annexation bill.
• When proposing the creation of a new management district or annexation of land into an existing management district, the Committee should adopt procedures to confirm that, if there are special purpose districts within the boundaries of the proposed district or the territory to be annexed, that written notice has been provided to the registered agent (as reflected in Texas Commission on Environmental Quality records) of any existing special purpose district.
• The Committee should ensure that the same notices given to land owners being included in a new management district are given when a land owner's property has been included in a proposed legislative annexation into an existing management district.
• When proposing the creation of a new management district, the Committee should ensure that, in addition to the initial notice required by Section 313.006 of the Government Code, a second written notice is given after a bill has been filed that includes the bill number(s) corresponding to the proposed district. In this way, the affected property owner(s) can more easily track the legislation and attend committee hearings or take any actions needed in regard to the legislation during the legislative process.

Interim Charge 5 Specific Recommendations

• To continue the strides the State of Texas has made in ensuring fair federal housing tax credit allocation scorings, the legislature should consider increasing the impact of local input as the local community is impacted daily by the decisions made by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
• To offer clarity in the State of Texas’ goal of continuing federal low-income housing, the legislature should amend the enabling statute for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to include in the Department's purpose and duties: "[…]further Fair Housing and provide inclusive housing opportunities[…]."
• Require the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to report to the legislature on a regular basis as to how it implements fair housing through a set of performance measures, and outline any corrective actions if the Department is noncompliant.
• The legislature should work with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to ensure the Qualified Allocation Plan is considerate of the uniqueness and diversity of the different regions of the state and of the different types of developments, and does not solely respond to the circumstances of the five county area covered in the initial Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. lawsuit.