CCS SB 101: "An Act relating to disasters and to the disaster relief fund."
00CONFERENCE CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 101 01 "An Act relating to disasters and to the disaster relief fund." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature that this Act does not alter the 04 present authority of the governor to request and receive federal disaster relief and emergency 05 assistance. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 26.23.020(c) is amended to read: 07 (c) If the governor finds that a disaster has occurred or that a disaster is 08 imminent or threatened, the governor shall, by proclamation, declare a condition of 09 disaster emergency. The disaster emergency remains in effect until the governor finds 10 that the danger has passed or the disaster has been dealt with so that the emergency 11 no longer exists. The governor may terminate the disaster emergency by proclamation. 12 A proclamation of disaster emergency may not remain in effect longer than 30 days 13 unless extended by the legislature by law [A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION]. The 14 proclamation must indicate the nature of the disaster, the area threatened or affected,
01 and the conditions that have brought it about or that make possible the termination of 02 the disaster emergency. A proclamation to declare a condition of disaster 03 emergency must also state whether the governor proposes to expend state funds 04 to respond to the disaster under (i) or (j) of this section. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 26.23.020 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 06 (h) The governor may expend during a fiscal year not more than $500,000 of 07 state funds per incident to prevent, minimize, or respond to the effects of an incident 08 that may occur or occurs in the state and that, in the determination of the governor, 09 poses a direct and imminent threat of sufficient magnitude and severity to justify state 10 action. Before expending funds under this subsection to respond to an incident, the 11 governor shall provide a financing plan to cope with the incident to the legislature in 12 the same manner prescribed for disaster emergencies under AS 26.23.025(a). 13 (i) If the governor declares a condition of disaster emergency, the governor 14 may expend during a fiscal year not more than $1,000,000 of state funds per disaster 15 declaration, including the assets of the disaster relief fund, to 16 (1) save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or lessen 17 or avert the threat of the disaster that poses a direct and imminent threat of sufficient 18 severity and magnitude to justify state action; 19 (2) implement provisions of law relating to disaster relief to cope with 20 the disaster; 21 (3) alleviate the effects of the disaster by making grants or loans to 22 persons or political subdivisions on terms the governor considers appropriate or by 23 other means the governor considers appropriate. 24 (j) If the disaster described in the governor's proclamation to declare a 25 condition of disaster emergency is a fire, the governor may expend state funds as 26 necessary to save lives or protect property and public health and safety. 27 (k) The governor may expend more than $500,000 of state funds to cope with 28 an incident under (h) of this section or more than $1,000,000 of state funds to cope 29 with a disaster under (i) of this section under the following circumstances: 30 (1) if the legislature is in session, the legislature approves a financing 31 plan to cope with the incident or disaster that identifies the amount in excess of the
01 expenditure limits that is to be expended from state funds; or 02 (2) if the legislature is not in session, either 03 (A) the governor convenes a special session of the legislature 04 within five days after declaring the condition of disaster emergency or within 05 five days after providing a financing plan to cope with an incident to the 06 legislature and the legislature convenes in special session and approves a 07 financing plan to cope with the incident or disaster that identifies the amount 08 in excess of the expenditure limits that is to be expended from state funds; or 09 (B) the presiding officers of both the house of representatives 10 and the senate, or their designees, inform the governor in writing, after polling 11 members of the respective houses of the legislature and receiving a response 12 from a majority of the members of each house, that a majority of the members 13 of each house do not object to the financing plan and that a majority of the 14 members of each house do not find that a special session is necessary; the poll 15 of members of the legislature may be conducted by telephone, telephonic 16 facsimile, by electronic mail, or by other means of communication. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 26.23.025 is repealed and reenacted to read: 18 Sec. 26.23.025. The legislature and disaster emergencies. (a) When the 19 governor declares a condition of disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020(c), 20 concurrently with the issuance of the proclamation, the governor shall prepare and 21 deliver to the presiding officers of the legislature and to the persons who chair the 22 finance committees in each house of the legislature a financing plan describing the 23 amount by fund source of money, including the amount of state match for federal 24 funds, that the governor proposes to use to cope with the disaster, the estimated total 25 expenditures necessary to cope with the disaster, and the estimated time frame 26 necessary to cope with the disaster. 27 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if the declaration of 28 a disaster emergency occurs while the legislature is in session or if a special session 29 is held, actions taken by the governor under this chapter after the close of the session 30 that are not ratified by law adopted during that session are void. 31 (c) The legislature may terminate a disaster emergency at any time by law.
01 * Sec. 5. AS 26.23.300(b) is amended to read: 02 (b) Subject to the restrictions of AS 26.23.020(h) - (k) [(d) OF THIS 03 SECTION], the governor may [, WITHOUT ADDITIONAL LEGISLATIVE 04 AUTHORIZATION,] expend [NOT MORE THAN $1,000,000 OF] the assets of the 05 disaster relief fund for the following purposes: 06 (1) to implement provisions of law relating to disaster relief in the case 07 of a disaster or an incident ; 08 (2) to alleviate the effects of a disaster or an incident by making 09 grants or loans to persons or political subdivisions on terms the governor considers 10 appropriate or by other means the governor considers appropriate. 11 * Sec. 6. AS 26.23.900(2) is amended to read: 12 (2) "disaster" means the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread 13 or severe damage, injury, [OR] loss of life or property , or shortage of food, water, 14 or fuel resulting from [A NATURAL OR MAN-MADE CAUSE, INCLUDING] 15 (A) an incident such as storm, high water, wind-driven 16 water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, 17 mudslide, avalanche, snowstorm, prolonged extreme cold, drought, fire, 18 flood, [EARTHQUAKE, LANDSLIDE, MUDSLIDE, AVALANCHE, WIND- 19 DRIVEN WATER, WEATHER CONDITION, TSUNAMI, VOLCANIC ACTIVITY,] 20 epidemic, [AIR CONTAMINATION, BLIGHT, INFESTATION,] explosion, or riot [, OR 21 SHORTAGE OF FOOD, WATER, FUEL, OR CLOTHING]; 22 (B) the release of oil or a hazardous substance [,] if the release 23 requires prompt action to avert environmental danger or mitigate 24 environmental damage; or [AND] 25 (C) equipment failure [,] if the failure is not a predictably 26 frequent or recurring event or preventable by adequate equipment maintenance 27 or operation; 28 * Sec. 7. AS 26.23.300(c) is repealed.