Disaster Declaration Renewed for Portions of Texas

Friday, Governor Abbott extended the state disaster declaration for 60 Texas Counties.

On Friday, the Governor Greg Abbott renewed the state level Disaster Declaration for 60-counties in the Gulf Coast region. Generally, disaster declarations have a 30-day shelf life–or earlier if the state legislature decides the state of disaster should be terminated. [1] After that, it requires a renewal to ensure the disaster conditions still exist. [2] It is unclear though whether more than one renewal is required.

The current language of Tex. Gov’t Code §418.014(c) is somewhat vague though. The section states that “A state of disaster may not continue for more than 30-days unless renewed by the governor.”

Though it may sound specific at first, the code seems to leave the issue of subsequent renewals open for interpretation. There are two ways this could be potentially read: (a) the 30-day rule is for the initial declaration, with the first renewal having potentially perpetual duration; or (b) declaration must be renewed every 30-days, or risk expiring.

There is essentially no case law to help determine what the section really intends to convey. It’s likely that the legislature didn’t foresee a disaster striking that would require more than 30-days of response & initial recovery.

Read the Renewed Declaration & Proclamation by clicking here.

References:

[1] Tex. Gov’t Code §418.014(c)

[2] Tex. Gov’t Code §418.014(b), (c).