DISASTER AND EMERGENCY FUND PAYOUTS                                            H.B. 4610 (H-1):

                                                                               SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL

                                                                                                         IN COMMITTEE

House Bill 4610 (Substitute H-1 as passed by the House)

Sponsor:  Representative Diana Farrington

House Committee:  Appropriations

Senate Committee:  Appropriations

Date Completed:  4-10-18

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Emergency Management Act to increase the cap on disaster assistance grants available to local units of government from the Disaster and Emergency Contingency Fund (DECF) from $100,000 or 10% of the local unit's total operating budget for the preceding fiscal year, whichever is less, to 10% of its total operating budget or the following, whichever was less:

-- $250,000 for a county or municipality with a population under 25,000.

-- $500,000 for a county or municipality with a population between 25,000 and 75,000.

-- $1.0 million for a county or municipality with a population greater than 75,000.

The population would be determined according to the most recent Federal decennial census.

The bill is tie-barred to House Bill 4609, which would amend the Act to increase the minimum required Fund balance from $1.0 million to $2.5 million.

MCL 30.419                                                                                                            

FISCAL IMPACT

The amount of a given award of disaster assistance from the DECF could increase under the provisions of the bill, dependent upon appropriations made to the DECF (which currently shows a balance of $10.7 million), the amount of eligible costs, the population of a county or municipality, and the amount of its prior year total operating budget. As a result of an earlier amendment to the Act, Public Act 110 of 2013, which raised the cap on eligible disaster assistance grants from $30,000 to $100,000, many units of government received assistance greater than they would have received under previous statutory provisions. By the same token, larger awards would be expected in certain cases under House Bill 4610 (H-1). Table 1 shows some examples of how the bill could affect awards given under current criteria.

                                                                                     Fiscal Analyst:  Bruce R Baker
[Please see the PDF version of this analysis, if available, to view this image.]

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.