Bill Text: TX HB3324 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the operations and monitoring of fusion centers in this state.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB3324 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB3324-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 3324 |
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relating to the operations and monitoring of fusion centers in this | ||
state. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 421.001, Government Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subdivisions (2-a), (4), and (5) to read as follows: | ||
(2-a) "Fusion center" means a state or regional | ||
multidisciplinary collaborative effort of two or more agencies that | ||
combine resources, expertise, and intelligence and other | ||
information with the goal of maximizing the ability of those | ||
agencies to detect, prevent, and respond to criminal activities or | ||
to otherwise engage in homeland security activities. | ||
(4) "Intelligence" means the product of systematic | ||
gathering, evaluation, and synthesis of raw data on individuals or | ||
activities suspected of being, or known to be, criminal in nature. | ||
(5) "Recognized fusion center" means a fusion center | ||
operating in this state that has been recognized by the director of | ||
Texas Homeland Security as meeting the fusion center mission | ||
identified in the governor's homeland security strategy and in the | ||
Department of Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional Fusion | ||
Center Initiative established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 421.002(b), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(b) The governor's homeland security strategy shall | ||
coordinate homeland security activities among and between local, | ||
state, and federal agencies and the private sector and must include | ||
specific plans for: | ||
(1) intelligence gathering and analysis; | ||
(2) information sharing; | ||
(3) reducing the state's vulnerability to homeland | ||
security emergencies; | ||
(4) protecting critical infrastructure; | ||
(5) protecting the state's international border, | ||
ports, and airports; | ||
(6) detecting, deterring, and defending against | ||
terrorism, including cyber-terrorism and biological, chemical, and | ||
nuclear terrorism; | ||
(7) positioning equipment, technology, and personnel | ||
to improve the state's ability to respond to a homeland security | ||
emergency; | ||
(8) directing the Texas Fusion [ |
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forms of authority to implement the governor's homeland security | ||
strategy; and | ||
(9) using technological resources to: | ||
(A) facilitate the interoperability of | ||
government technological resources, including data, networks, and | ||
applications; | ||
(B) coordinate the warning and alert systems of | ||
state and local agencies; | ||
(C) incorporate multidisciplinary approaches to | ||
homeland security; and | ||
(D) improve the security of governmental and | ||
private sector information technology and information resources. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 421.071, Government Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 421.071. COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE. A state or local | ||
agency that performs a homeland security activity or a | ||
nongovernmental entity that contracts with a state or local agency | ||
to perform a homeland security activity shall cooperate with and | ||
assist the office of the governor, the Homeland Security Council, | ||
the Texas Fusion [ |
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Center, and the National Infrastructure Protection Center in the | ||
performance of their duties under this chapter and other state or | ||
federal law. | ||
SECTION 4. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 421, | ||
Government Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER E. TEXAS FUSION CENTER AND OTHER FUSION CENTERS | ||
OPERATING IN THIS STATE | ||
SECTION 5. Sections 421.082(a) and (b), Government Code, | ||
are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The Texas Fusion Center [ |
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state's primary entity for the planning, coordination, and | ||
integration of government communications capabilities to help | ||
implement the governor's homeland security strategy and ensure an | ||
effective response in the event of a homeland security emergency. | ||
(b) The center's duties include: | ||
(1) promotion of emergency preparedness; | ||
(2) receipt and analysis of information, assessment of | ||
threats, and issuance of public warnings related to homeland | ||
security emergencies; [ |
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(3) authorization and facilitation of cooperative | ||
efforts related to emergency response and recovery efforts in the | ||
event of a homeland security emergency; and | ||
(4) making recommendations to the Department of Public | ||
Safety regarding the monitoring of fusion centers operating in this | ||
state and regarding the functions of the Texas Fusion Center Policy | ||
Council created under Section 421.083. | ||
SECTION 6. Subchapter E, Chapter 421, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 421.083, 421.084, 421.085, and 421.086 | ||
to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 421.083. TEXAS FUSION CENTER POLICY COUNCIL. (a) The | ||
Department of Public Safety shall create the Texas Fusion Center | ||
Policy Council and the bylaws for the council to assist the | ||
department in monitoring fusion center activities in this state. | ||
(b) The policy council is composed of one executive | ||
representative from each recognized fusion center operating in this | ||
state. | ||
(c) The policy council shall: | ||
(1) develop and disseminate strategies to: | ||
(A) facilitate the implementation of applicable | ||
federal standards and programs on a statewide basis by each fusion | ||
center operating in this state; | ||
(B) expand and enhance the statewide | ||
intelligence capacity to reduce the threat of terrorism and | ||
criminal enterprises; and | ||
(C) continuously review critical issues | ||
pertaining to homeland security activities; | ||
(2) establish a privacy advisory group, with at least | ||
one member who is a privacy advocate, to advise the policy council | ||
and to meet at the direction of the policy council; and | ||
(3) recommend best practices for each fusion center | ||
operating in this state, including: | ||
(A) best practices to ensure that the center | ||
adheres to 28 C.F.R. Part 23 and any other federal or state law | ||
designed to protect privacy and the other legal rights of | ||
individuals; and | ||
(B) best practices for the smooth exchange of | ||
information among all fusion centers operating in this state. | ||
Sec. 421.084. FUSION CENTERS OPERATING IN THIS STATE: | ||
RULES AND MONITORING. (a) After considering the recommendations | ||
of the Texas Fusion Center under Section 421.082(b)(4) and the | ||
Texas Fusion Center Policy Council under Section 421.083(c)(3), the | ||
Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules to govern the | ||
operations of fusion centers in this state, including guidelines | ||
to: | ||
(1) for any fusion center operating in this state, | ||
establish a common concept of operations to provide clear baseline | ||
standards for each aspect of the center's activities; | ||
(2) inform and define the monitoring of those | ||
activities by the Texas Fusion Center Policy Council; and | ||
(3) ensure that any fusion center operating in this | ||
state adheres to federal and state laws designed to protect privacy | ||
and the other legal rights of individuals, including 28 C.F.R. Part | ||
23 and any other law that provides clear standards for the treatment | ||
of intelligence or for the collection and storage of noncriminal | ||
information, personally identifiable information, or protected | ||
health information. | ||
(b) The Department of Public Safety may require that a | ||
fusion center audited under applicable department rules pay any | ||
costs incurred by the policy council in relation to the audit. | ||
(c) A member of the policy council may not receive | ||
compensation but is entitled to reimbursement for the member's | ||
travel expenses as provided by Chapter 660 and the General | ||
Appropriations Act. | ||
(d) A fusion center may not receive state grant money if the | ||
center adopts a rule, order, ordinance, or policy under which the | ||
center fails or refuses to comply with rules adopted by the | ||
Department of Public Safety under Subsection (a), beginning with | ||
the first state fiscal year occurring after the center adopts the | ||
rule, order, ordinance, or policy. | ||
Sec. 421.085. PRIVACY POLICY REQUIRED. (a) Each fusion | ||
center operating in this state shall adopt a privacy policy | ||
providing at a minimum that, with respect to an individual or | ||
organization, the fusion center: | ||
(1) will not seek, collect, or retain information that | ||
is based solely on any of the following factors, as applicable to | ||
that individual or organization: | ||
(A) religious, political, or social views or | ||
activities; | ||
(B) participation in a particular organization | ||
or event; or | ||
(C) race, ethnicity, citizenship, place of | ||
origin, age, disability, gender, or sexual orientation; and | ||
(2) will take steps to ensure that any agency that | ||
submits information to the fusion center does not submit | ||
information based solely on a factor described by Subdivision (1). | ||
(b) In a criminal investigation, a factor described by | ||
Subsection (a)(1) may not alone give rise to reasonable suspicion. | ||
However, a factor described by Subsection (a)(1) may be used in | ||
connection with a specific description of a suspect in the | ||
investigation. | ||
Sec. 421.086. REPORT. The Texas Fusion Center Policy | ||
Council annually shall submit to the governor and to each house of | ||
the legislature a report that contains, with respect to the | ||
preceding year: | ||
(1) the council's progress in developing and | ||
coordinating the statewide fusion effort and intelligence network | ||
described by the governor's homeland security strategy; | ||
(2) the progress made by fusion centers operating in | ||
this state in meeting the fusion center guidelines developed under | ||
the Department of Homeland Security State, Local, and Regional | ||
Fusion Center Initiative established under 6 U.S.C. Section 124h; | ||
and | ||
(3) a summary of fusion center audits or reviews | ||
conducted under applicable rules adopted by the Department of | ||
Public Safety. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 3324 was passed by the House on May | ||
13, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not | ||
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
No. 3324 on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, | ||
2 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 3324 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays | ||
0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |