State-Managed Disaster Assistance Program; establish.

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To: Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Harkins

SENATE BILL NO. 2897

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE STATE-MANAGED DISASTER ASSISTANCE 1
PROGRAM TO ENABLE THE MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY TO 2
ADMINISTER STATE-FUNDED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND 3
RECOVERY; TO CREATE THE STATE-MANAGED DISASTER ASSISTANCE TRUST 4
FUND AND PRESCRIBE ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS; TO PROVIDE FOR WORK 5
PERFORMED BY CONTRACT AND THE ADVANCE OF FUNDS; AND FOR RELATED 6
PURPOSES. 7
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 8
SECTION 1. Short title. This article shall be known and may 9
be cited as the State-Managed Disaster Act of 2026. 10
SECTION 2. Legislative intent. The Legislature finds and 11
declares the following: the role of the Federal Emergency 12
Management Agency (FEMA) in assisting state and local governments 13
in responding to disasters is changing. Federal emergency 14
management law and policy is being reviewed and amended to 15
increase the responsibilities of states and local governments in 16
disaster funding. It is anticipated that the state and local 17
governments will be expected to fund emergency preparedness, 18
response, and recovery at substantially higher thresholds before 19
federal aid will be available. The provisions of this article 20
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will enable the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to 21
administer the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Program. 22
SECTION 3. Definitions. All terms used in this article 23
shall, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the 24
context, have the same meaning as the definitions in Title 33, 25
Chapter 15, Articles 1 through 11, with the exception of "trust 26
fund," which in this article shall mean the State-Managed Disaster 27
Assistance Trust Fund established in this article. 28
SECTION 4. Administration of provisions. (1) The director 29
shall administer this article and shall have the authority to 30
adopt reasonable rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes 31
of this article. 32
(2) A state agency, when requested by the director, shall 33
render services and perform duties within its areas of 34
responsibility necessary to carry out the purpose of this article. 35
(3) Each project application executed between a local agency 36
and the director pursuant to the rules and regulations adopted 37
shall contain a provision under which the local agency agrees to 38
hold the state harmless from damages due to the work for which 39
funds were allocated. 40
(4) Before the convening of the Legislature each year, the 41
director shall submit a written report to the Governor and the 42
Legislature relating to the operation of the trust fund 43
established in Section 5 of this act. 44
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(5) When certified by the director and approved by the 45
Governor, requests for reimbursements, advances, or final payments 46
from local or state agencies shall be presented to the Department 47
of Finance and Administration for payment out of the trust fund. 48
SECTION 5. State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund. 49
(1) The provisions of this article shall be invoked only pursuant 50
to a state of emergency declared by the Governor, or pursuant to 51
an executive order of the Governor, or administrative order of the 52
director issued with consultation with the Governor, in order to 53
provide state or local government resources and personnel or in 54
nondeclared times for administrative and training costs associated 55
with state disaster response and recovery programs. Each 56
declaration shall cite the cause for the declaration and define 57
the area eligible for assistance and the type of assistance to be 58
provided. 59
(2) The State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust Fund is 60
created as a special fund in the State Treasury into which shall 61
be paid any funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the 62
Legislature for disaster assistance. 63
(3) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the State-Managed 64
Disaster Assistance Trust Fund shall be used for purposes 65
established in the Disaster Assistance Act of 1993 as well any 66
other lawful purpose deemed necessary to provide assistance in 67
accordance with this article by the director with the concurrence 68
of the Governor, including, but not limited to, any costs incurred 69
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by MEMA associated with the provision of assistance services by 70
the Mississippi Department of Transportation or the Mississippi 71
National Guard may be reimbursed when so tasked by the Governor to 72
provide support. 73
(4) If funds within the trust are insufficient or otherwise 74
unavailable, and whenever the director determines that funds are 75
immediately needed in the State-Managed Disaster Assistance Trust 76
Fund to provide for disaster assistance under this article, he or 77
she shall notify the Executive Director of the Department of 78
Finance and Administration of this determination and may 79
requisition the amount of funds appropriated or otherwise made 80
available by the Legislature not to exceed the limit set forth in 81
Section 6 of this act. At the same time the requisition is made, 82
the director shall notify the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of 83
the House of Representatives and the respective Chairmen of the 84
Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the 85
House Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means 86
Committee of the determination of the need for the funds and the 87
amount that has been requisitioned. Upon receipt of such a 88
requisition from the director, the Executive Director of the 89
Department of Finance and Administration shall ascertain if the 90
amount requisitioned is available and may transfer that amount to 91
the trust fund. 92
(5) When requesting funds for the State-Managed Disaster 93
Assistance Trust Fund, the director shall request the amount 94
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determined necessary for assistance following the preliminary 95
damage assessment, which shall not exceed the annual per capita 96
impact indicator. 97
(6) Unexpended state funds in the State-Managed Disaster 98
Assistance Trust Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse 99
into the State General Fund but shall remain in the trust fund for 100
use under this article for as long as the funds are needed for the 101
particular purpose for which they were appropriated, deposited or 102
transferred into the trust fund. After any state funds in the 103
trust fund are no longer needed for the particular purpose for 104
which they were appropriated, deposited or transferred into the 105
trust fund, the director may use those funds for any other purpose 106
under this article for which they currently are needed and for 107
which other funds are not available. If there is no current need 108
for such funds for any purpose under this article the funds may be 109
transferred back to the particular fund or funds in the State 110
Treasury from which they were appropriated or transferred into the 111
trust fund, upon certification of the director to the Executive 112
Director of the Department of Finance and Administration that the 113
funds are not currently needed. 114
SECTION 6. Trust fund allocations to agencies. (1) The 115
director shall make allocations from the trust fund in such 116
amounts as is determined to be necessary to state agencies, 117
excluding MEMA, for out-of-pocket expenditures incurred for 118
emergency response, preliminary damage assessments, estimates, 119
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reports and training of state agency personnel. The director may 120
make allocations to any state agency or office from the trust fund 121
or other funds available therefore in such amounts, up to an 122
aggregate of Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000), as are 123
necessary to administer the provisions of this article. 124
(2) Any state agency receiving funds from the State-Managed 125
Disaster Assistance Trust Fund under this section may escalate its 126
budget and expend such funds in accordance with rules and 127
regulations of the Department of Finance and Administration. 128
SECTION 7. Eligibility for funds. (1) Subject to the rules 129
and regulations promulgated by the director in accordance with 130
this article, the director shall allocate funds from the trust 131
fund to meet the cost of any one or more projects. The completion 132
of all or part of a project before application for funds under 133
this article shall not disqualify such project or any part 134
thereof. 135
(2) To be eligible for state funding, the governing body of 136
the local agency must declare a local emergency and forward such 137
declaration to the Governor and/or Governor's authorized 138
representative. 139
(3) A state or local agency shall make application to the 140
director for state financial assistance in accordance with the 141
rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with this article. 142
SECTION 8. Work performed by contract. Work performed by 143
contract with a state or local agency shall be subject to the 144
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ST: State-Managed Disaster Assistance Program;
establish.
provisions of Title 31, Chapter 5, and Title 31, Chapter 7, 145
Mississippi Code of 1972. Neither the state or any officer or 146
employee thereof shall have any responsibility in connection with 147
any work performed by a local agency. 148
SECTION 9. Advance of funds. (1) Under procedures 149
prescribed by the director, a state or local agency may receive an 150
advance of funds to initiate a project. 151
(2) State contributions for the repair and restoration of 152
facilities shall be reduced by an amount equal to the insurance 153
settlement received or an amount equal to the amount the local 154
agency would have recovered from an insurance settlement, if 155
necessary, adequate and reasonably available insurance had been 156
maintained. 157
SECTION 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from 158
and after July 1, 2026. 159