Every Texan is an independent research organization that, for 40 years, has advocated for public policy for better access to quality health care, food security, education, fairer taxation and good jobs for all Texans. At a time when Texans are grappling with the devastating impacts of a natural disaster, this special session should be used to dedicate resources and build infrastructure that mitigates and prevents harm from disasters. We support SB 3.
The Legislature’s top priority for this and any subsequent special sessions must be to address the immediate aftermath of the July 4 flood. The state has a vital role to play in helping those communities rebuild and prepare to manage and mitigate harm from future disasters. Several items on the special session call, including congressional redistricting, are not emergencies and therefore should not be the focus.
The special House and Senate committees on the flood disaster have held substantive hearings this month and are advancing a number of good bills to improve coordination and communication. But, those proposals will cost money. Governments have a core responsibility to use public funds to help communities prepare for and recover from disasters – this is why we pay taxes. Local policymakers can raise revenue after a disaster when it makes sense for the community, but the state should not force disaster-stricken Texans to bear the costs of recovery while adding to local governments’ existing, unfunded mandates.
The Legislature is right to use the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) as needed to support the immediate needs for recovery and rebuilding – an appropriate use of the largest rainy day fund in the country. SB 3 would appropriate funds from the ESF for four things: $200 million for FEMA funding match; $50 million for local grants for sirens, gauges, warning equipment; $24 million for grants for improved weather forecasting; and $20 million to construct a swift water training facility. Identified as priorities in committee testimony over the last few weeks, these items are a good place to start. Given that these funds flow through the Office of the Governor, we should ensure proper accountability and as much transparency as possible.
We must also leverage as much federal funding as possible, regardless of which party holds the Presidency or Congress. This is true for all policy areas: disaster recovery and mitigation funding, Medicaid expansion, Summer EBT, or the Inflation Reduction Act for clean energy development and climate impact mitigation. The public suffers the consequences when our elected officials turn down federal funding simply for political grandstanding. That being said, we should also keep in mind that some federal funding may be rescinded.
Furthermore, coordinating and preparing for the next disaster is just as important as recovering from this one. Flood control and preparation is executed by a patchwork of river authorities, cities, and counties that share the responsibility. The Legislature should clarify and coordinate their efforts.
While the TWDB commissioned a study (published in 2025) measuring a flood-specific vulnerability index for census tracts in Texas, we must remember our state is uniquely vulnerable to many types of natural disasters. The next may not be a flood – it could be more wildfires, another Harvey, another Uri, a power grid meltdown, drought, or another pandemic. And, it’s possible we’ll be experiencing more than one disaster at a time going forward. Climate change is likely to make weather more unpredictable, therefore causing more dangerous and frequent disasters.
In all disasters, low-income communities are not only hit the hardest, but take the longest to recover – they should be given special consideration. The CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) measures communities’ overall disaster susceptibility in combination with other factors, including socioeconomic and household characteristics, to provide a comprehensive risk assessment. By that measure, 64 Texas counties were classified as having high SVIs in 2022, including a large number in the Rio Grande Valley and East Texas. The state should leverage that data to focus on these communities when planning for future disasters. Our recommendation corresponds with TWDB’s legislative recommendation 2 in the 2024 State Flood Plan, which encouraged investment in community financial and technical assistance targeting historically disadvantaged, small, remote, or rural communities.