Bill Text: MS SB2897 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State-Managed Disaster Assistance Program; establish.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [SB2897 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-SB2897-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Harkins
Senate Bill 2897
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE STATE-MANAGED DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO ENABLE THE MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY TO ADMINISTER STATE-FUNDED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY; TO CREATE THE STATE-MANAGED DISASTER ASSISTANCE TRUST FUND AND PRESCRIBE ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS; TO PROVIDE FOR WORK PERFORMED BY CONTRACT AND THE ADVANCE OF FUNDS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the State-Managed Disaster Act of 2026.
SECTION 2. Legislative intent. The Legislature finds and declares the following: the role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in assisting state and local governments in responding to disasters is changing. Federal emergency management law and policy is being reviewed and amended to increase the responsibilities of states and local governments in disaster funding. It is anticipated that the state and local governments will be expected to fund emergency preparedness, response, and recovery at substantially higher thresholds before federal aid will be available. The provisions of this article will enable the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to administer the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Program.
SECTION 3. Definitions. All terms used in this article shall, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, have the same meaning as the definitions in Title 33, Chapter 15, Articles 1 through 11, with the exception of "trust fund," which in this article shall mean the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund established in this article.
SECTION 4. Administration of provisions. (1) The director shall administer this article and shall have the authority to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this article.
(2) A state agency, when requested by the director, shall render services and perform duties within its areas of responsibility necessary to carry out the purpose of this article.
(3) Each project application executed between a local agency and the director pursuant to the rules and regulations adopted shall contain a provision under which the local agency agrees to hold the state harmless from damages due to the work for which funds were allocated.
(4) Before the convening of the Legislature each year, the director shall submit a written report to the Governor and the Legislature relating to the operation of the trust fund established in Section 5 of this act.
(5) When certified by the director and approved by the Governor, requests for reimbursements, advances, or final payments from local or state agencies shall be presented to the Department of Finance and Administration for payment out of the trust fund.
SECTION 5. State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund. (1) The provisions of this article shall be invoked only pursuant to a state of emergency declared by the Governor, or pursuant to an executive order of the Governor, or administrative order of the director issued with consultation with the Governor, in order to provide state or local government resources and personnel or in nondeclared times for administrative and training costs associated with state disaster response and recovery programs. Each declaration shall cite the cause for the declaration and define the area eligible for assistance and the type of assistance to be provided.
(2) The State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund is created as a special fund in the State Treasury into which shall be paid any funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature for disaster assistance.
(3) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund shall be used for purposes established in the Disaster Assistance Act of 1993 as well any other lawful purpose deemed necessary to provide assistance in accordance with this article by the director with the concurrence of the Governor, including, but not limited to, any costs incurred by MEMA associated with the provision of assistance services by the Mississippi Department of Transportation or the Mississippi National Guard may be reimbursed when so tasked by the Governor to provide support.
(4) If funds within the trust are insufficient or otherwise unavailable, and whenever the director determines that funds are immediately needed in the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund to provide for disaster assistance under this article, he or she shall notify the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration of this determination and may requisition the amount of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature not to exceed the limit set forth in Section 6 of this act. At the same time the requisition is made, the director shall notify the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the respective Chairmen of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee of the determination of the need for the funds and the amount that has been requisitioned. Upon receipt of such a requisition from the director, the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall ascertain if the amount requisitioned is available and may transfer that amount to the trust fund.
(5) When requesting funds for the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund, the director shall request the amount determined necessary for assistance following the preliminary damage assessment, which shall not exceed the annual per capita impact indicator.
(6) Unexpended state funds in the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund but shall remain in the trust fund for use under this article for as long as the funds are needed for the particular purpose for which they were appropriated, deposited or transferred into the trust fund. After any state funds in the trust fund are no longer needed for the particular purpose for which they were appropriated, deposited or transferred into the trust fund, the director may use those funds for any other purpose under this article for which they currently are needed and for which other funds are not available. If there is no current need for such funds for any purpose under this article the funds may be transferred back to the particular fund or funds in the State Treasury from which they were appropriated or transferred into the trust fund, upon certification of the director to the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration that the funds are not currently needed.
SECTION 6. Trust fund allocations to agencies. (1) The director shall make allocations from the trust fund in such amounts as is determined to be necessary to state agencies, excluding MEMA, for out-of-pocket expenditures incurred for emergency response, preliminary damage assessments, estimates, reports and training of state agency personnel. The director may make allocations to any state agency or office from the trust fund or other funds available therefore in such amounts, up to an aggregate of Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000), as are necessary to administer the provisions of this article.
(2) Any state agency receiving funds from the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund under this section may escalate its budget and expend such funds in accordance with rules and regulations of the Department of Finance and Administration.
SECTION 7. Eligibility for funds. (1) Subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the director in accordance with this article, the director shall allocate funds from the trust fund to meet the cost of any one or more projects. The completion of all or part of a project before application for funds under this article shall not disqualify such project or any part thereof.
(2) To be eligible for state funding, the governing body of the local agency must declare a local emergency and forward such declaration to the Governor and/or Governor's authorized representative.
(3) A state or local agency shall make application to the director for state financial assistance in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with this article.
SECTION 8. Work performed by contract. Work performed by contract with a state or local agency shall be subject to the provisions of Title 31, Chapter 5, and Title 31, Chapter 7, Mississippi Code of 1972. Neither the state or any officer or employee thereof shall have any responsibility in connection with any work performed by a local agency.
SECTION 9. Advance of funds. (1) Under procedures prescribed by the director, a state or local agency may receive an advance of funds to initiate a project.
(2) State contributions for the repair and restoration of facilities shall be reduced by an amount equal to the insurance settlement received or an amount equal to the amount the local agency would have recovered from an insurance settlement, if necessary, adequate and reasonably available insurance had been maintained.
SECTION 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
